Before you know it, it will be smack bang in the middle of the winter season. Time will fly, whether it’s busy charters or intense shipyard periods and then, before you know it yet again, you’ll be the number-one person to see for a swarm of dockwalkers looking to secure some daywork or job for the next season.

At a boat show recently, one captain told us that, sometimes being quite separate from the crew from a hierarchical point of view, it was very useful to hear how other captains did things, whether it be managing on-board conflicts or recruiting new crew. So, before the dockwalking season is upon us, we thought we’d bring you a selection of captains’ thoughts on what they like to see from dockwalkers.

“For green dockwalkers, I would suggest first make sure you’re clean and well presented, approach the yacht on your own and don’t ask to talk to someone if you can see the yacht is ready for owner or guests coming on board. But for me, the most important part is the CV,” says captain Laurent Bliekast of M/Y Heliad II.

“You can’t imagine how many horrible CVs we receive. They are not clear, sometimes with unprofessional photos. The biggest thing crew need to work on is their CV. If it’s clear, organised and formatted well, we kept it and will maybe transfer it to a friend or call the crewmember the next year. When I have a look at all the CVs we have on board and find  a nice resume from a well-resented person, I keep it.”

“Generally being an early birds is by far the most important for me,” explains Captain Jonathan Adeline, M/Y G-Force. “It shows eagerness to work and it adds value to their intentions.

“Their presentation need not necessarily be yachting uniforms, but they should be conservatively dressed – I would definitely not take someone on who has body parts showing – and and consequent conversation needs to be clear and concise, followed up with a CV which has links to all their certificates noted on it for future checks.”

Captain Curtis Cook of M/Y Casino Royale favours a single recruitment agency, due to the fact that if things don’t work out the recruitment agency will be there to help hire the next recruit. However, he does hire dayworkers from time to time and, in these situations, it’s left to the heads of departments.

“When choosing who to hire we try to single out people who are dressed professionally, act professionally and are ready to start work immediately. We want to help people get their foot in the door and help the ones who want to make yachting a career. Obviously we can’t decide who is career-minded with a short dock interview, but we can definitely weed out the backpackers looking for a few days’ work in the summer.”

We’d love to hear what you look for when dockwalkers approach your yacht. Email lulu@thesuperyachtgroup.com or leave your comments below.

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