Recruitment rantings
Following a recruitment survey on TheCrewReport.com, we bring you some of the anecdotes from crewmembers about their interesting and at times unbelievable experiences with the superyacht crew recruitment sector.…
With an estimated 48,000 crew out there today, the recruitment industry is busier than ever and we are hearing more and more stories from crew about their fascinating and sometimes disquieting experiences within this sector. Following a survey on TheCrewReport.com where we asked crew to share their experiences of the recruitment sector, we bring you some of the most thought-provoking responses.
“I was once put forward for a job that turned out to be the job I had just left! The crew agent did not do their homework and forwarded my CV to my previous employer. I don’t know what is more embarrassing: the agent’s mistake or the owner wondering why I applied and wanted my job back?”
“When I went to my first job interview I was prepared for a thorough questioning and instead had a walk-around on the boat that was still in the yard and after that had a short friendly chat, and I left a bit confused – but got the job the same day on my way home.”
“A placement specialist that I had known for years placed a temp stew on board who she assured me would do a great job. Everything was working out well until the owner invited her to join them out on the town. Not even seeking permission from me she willingly accepted and not only went out on the town but didn’t even vacate the owner’s cabin until three hours after the on-deck call the next morning. Needless to say I didn’t use my friend for anymore crew requests.”
“I had a candidate turn up once who had a very long criminal record that strangely was not on his CV!”
“Years ago when I first started yachting we were looking for a stewardess. A very pretty girl turned up to see the captain but he wasn’t on board. I told her to come back later and if she wore a bikini she would stand a better chance of getting a job. She did exactly as I said but sadly didn’t get the job. I still feel terrible doing this and would like to apologise if I ever meet her again.”
“I had an interview with an owner who found me on a free crew website. He offered me the job and gave me a contract. I asked if I could see the boat and after 14 days of waiting I received an email saying he had not purchased the boat.”
“I had a second engineer beat up a deckhand. I fired him and eight months later he is working on another yacht. I contacted the crew agent that placed the second engineer and asked him why he was placed again after he knew what he had done. The answer I got back was, ‘I need engineers.’”
“I fired a few the next day or two days [after hiring them because of] alcohol. Found one drinking crew drunks until five in the morning and on the third day his cabin mate found him naked on the floor. He showed up at 09.45 to cook lunch in a very bad state and was in a taxi to the airport at 13.00 on his own expense. A deckhand [also] woke up in the shared shower on his first day. He never even got to start; he didn’t need to unpack.”
“I was doing an interview in Antibes and met an English deckhand at a café at around 3pm, as the yacht I work on is in Italy. He arrived and ordered a beer, while he could see I had a coffee. He also did not bring his CV or any certificates; he thought it was not relevant to bring them to an interview. At the end of the interview, when I commented about the beer, he said, ‘you should not have conducted an interview at a café.’ No wonder he was struggling to find work.”
Read the full write-up of the recruitment survey here.
Click here to take our current survey on what makes the perfect crewmember.
“I was once put forward for a job that turned out to be the job I had just left! The crew agent did not do their homework and forwarded my CV to my previous employer. I don’t know what is more embarrassing: the agent’s mistake or the owner wondering why I applied and wanted my job back?”
“When I went to my first job interview I was prepared for a thorough questioning and instead had a walk-around on the boat that was still in the yard and after that had a short friendly chat, and I left a bit confused – but got the job the same day on my way home.”
“A placement specialist that I had known for years placed a temp stew on board who she assured me would do a great job. Everything was working out well until the owner invited her to join them out on the town. Not even seeking permission from me she willingly accepted and not only went out on the town but didn’t even vacate the owner’s cabin until three hours after the on-deck call the next morning. Needless to say I didn’t use my friend for anymore crew requests.”
“I had a candidate turn up once who had a very long criminal record that strangely was not on his CV!”
“Years ago when I first started yachting we were looking for a stewardess. A very pretty girl turned up to see the captain but he wasn’t on board. I told her to come back later and if she wore a bikini she would stand a better chance of getting a job. She did exactly as I said but sadly didn’t get the job. I still feel terrible doing this and would like to apologise if I ever meet her again.”
“I was once put forward for a job that turned out to be the job I had just left!"
“I had an interview with an owner who found me on a free crew website. He offered me the job and gave me a contract. I asked if I could see the boat and after 14 days of waiting I received an email saying he had not purchased the boat.”
“I had a second engineer beat up a deckhand. I fired him and eight months later he is working on another yacht. I contacted the crew agent that placed the second engineer and asked him why he was placed again after he knew what he had done. The answer I got back was, ‘I need engineers.’”
“I fired a few the next day or two days [after hiring them because of] alcohol. Found one drinking crew drunks until five in the morning and on the third day his cabin mate found him naked on the floor. He showed up at 09.45 to cook lunch in a very bad state and was in a taxi to the airport at 13.00 on his own expense. A deckhand [also] woke up in the shared shower on his first day. He never even got to start; he didn’t need to unpack.”
“I was doing an interview in Antibes and met an English deckhand at a café at around 3pm, as the yacht I work on is in Italy. He arrived and ordered a beer, while he could see I had a coffee. He also did not bring his CV or any certificates; he thought it was not relevant to bring them to an interview. At the end of the interview, when I commented about the beer, he said, ‘you should not have conducted an interview at a café.’ No wonder he was struggling to find work.”
Read the full write-up of the recruitment survey here.
Click here to take our current survey on what makes the perfect crewmember.
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