To get work, let’s get to work! Jobs don’t fall out of the sky, or they don’t generally do anyway. Having a well-prepared CV is crucial in yachting, an industry that prides itself on its attention to detail. If your CV has a blurry photo, spelling errors and overall doesn’t look professional, it will make you look unprofessional too.
What you should look out for:
- Photo: No Selfies. No revealing photos (i.e. bikini/beach shots). Try and have a friend take a head&shoulders shot of you with a “nature” background, ie. the sea, a lake, a forest. If not available go for a white background. Make sure to show a beautiful SMILE. Whomever is recruiting will be looking at you as if a guest were to be looking at you. You want to look welcoming and approachable.
- Spelling: Spell Check. And then Spell Check again. Then send it to a friend and have them Spell Check it again.
- Fonts and Colours: Keep it simple. A little colour and design is great but very often, your CV will be printed and no-one wants to waste a ton of ink just because it looks great on screen.
- File Type: Have your CV ready as a PDF and Word document. Crew Agencies will often want to have a word copy of your CV as they will delete your contact details to make sure the captains/head of departments go through them, rather than to you directly. This is in order not to lose out on their commission… Yes, agents get paid to place you. However – you should never pay an agent. They get paid by the yacht. It is illegal for them to ask for payment from you).
- File Name: Name your CV something sensible like “CV Stew Jane Smith” and not “CV second copy”.
- File Size: Many yachts have limited internet, especially when they’re underway. Try to limit your CV file to 250 Kb. You can easily compress PDFs online for free on I Love PDF.
You can find a basic Word CV here. Feel free to use it as a template to design your own yachting CV. Crew agents often want a Word copy of your CV as they will delete you contact details (to make sure the captain doesn’t contact you directly and they loose out on their commission) and to make any alterations they believe can help in your application.
Alternatively you can create a more swanky CV by using an online editor, such as canva.com CVs. They have beautiful designs though you can only download the final results as a PDF. As you cannot convert it into a Word document and they tend to be heavy on colours, I still prefer good old Word CVs with a touch of colour (maybe in the headers, or one side of the CV only).
Have fun creating your CV! It’s your business card and first step into this industry so make sure it looks professional and represents you. Also… don’t bother lying, it will come out eventually.
If you’re still unsure about how to get started on your CV/Resume and you would like some help, you can contact me via the contact page.
