Working at sea is a fast growing field and many people are considering starting up their yachting careers. Among the varied roles available for maritime work, deckhands are of the most sought-after jobs, since they’re a relatively easy role to start with if you don’t have prior work experience. They also offer fantastic opportunities for furthering your career on commercial vessels if you do well.
Here are some of the things you’ll need to know about becoming a certified and effective deckhand.
Get STCW Certified
One thing that is an absolute must for deckhands is having an STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) certification. This is is the minimum legal requirement for any job at sea, so you can’t become a deckhand if you don’t have one.
Luckily we offer yacht crew courses in Cape Town, South Africa, at an extremely affordable rate, so you can get all the training you’ll need while also being able to experience what the famous Mother City has to offer. And all for the same price as full STCW training would cost in Europe.
Courses that are included in the minimum STCW qualification include:
- Elementary First Aid
- Fire Fighting
- Personal Safety (PSSR)
- Personal Survival Techniques (PST)
However, if you really want to give yourself a competitive edge when applying for deckhand jobs, you’ll want to consider getting certified to drive smaller watercraft, like powerboats and jetskis. Most commercial boats have these and so would require qualified crew members to drive them.
Deckhand Job Specifications
Before you dive into applying for deckhand positions, you’ll have to know what you’ll likely be doing as part of your day-to-day duties.
Being a deckhand means you’ll be working with your hands a lot, so it will be beneficially if you maintain physical fitness. Common functions you’ll be carrying out on yachts and other commercial boats include:
- Maintaining a clean deck
- Preparing food for crew and passengers
- Efficiently carrying out instructions as given by senior crew members and captains
- Preserving a safe working environment through safety drills and equipment maintenance
- Subverting emerging safety risks
- Carrying heavy cargo and equipment
- Customer service and other hospitality duties
Hone Your Soft Skills
It’s important to keep in mind that working at sea will require you to have some good people skills, as you’ll likely be working with the same group of people for up to months at a time while sharing the same limited space. So, remember to stay friendly, positive, and humble. If you maintain those relationships, you’ll have a good network of colleagues that will help you tremendously with keeping your foot in the door for future (and maybe even better) crew work.
If you’re starting an entry-level position as a deckhand, don’t be afraid to ask questions if you’re not sure about something. Maintaining an effective team dynamic is extremely important for keeping a ship going, so it’s best that you know exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. Rather do a job right from the start – you’ll learn more quickly and effectively that way.
Do Some Research on Ships
Not all ships are made equal – they can vary to a great extent depending on their purpose and size. So if you want to do a great job as a deckhand, it’s good to know what to expect from the vessel you could be working on. Even doing the most basic research on the layout and inner workings of a ship will benefit you greatly for when you finally start your job on one.
Write the Right CV
You can have all the right qualifications and experience in the world for being a deckhand, but if your CV doesn’t reflect that, then you won’t get a job. Therefore, you should take some time to write up an effective CV that summarizes all your relevant qualifications and experience for yacht crew work. We’ve written a more in-depth article about how to write a killer yacht crew CV – you can read it here.
In sum, these are some of the things to put in your deckhand CV:
- A professional photo
- Contact details
- Personal details
- Relevant headline – in this case “Deckhand”
- A brief summary of your skills and qualifications
- Education
- Experience
Apply, Apply, Apply!
Now that you have everything you need to know about becoming a deckhand, you’re all set! Send out your CV to as many available positions as you can – don’t rely on just one application pulling through. Since crew work is becoming more and more competitive to apply for, you’ll want to cast a wide net in order to maximise your chances of securing a position.
Take the time to personalise your application for every available position, as this will present you as a much more relevant applicant if you tailor your wording to match each opening’s requirements.
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