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How To Get A Cruise Ship Job.

How to Secure a Cruise Ship job.

This year is a great year to find a Cruise Ship job.   This article will give you the confidence to get that dream cruise ship job.

Cruise lines and Concessionaire Cruise line companies (Retail, Spa, Casino, Photography) are looking for you. Cruise lines want the next leaders to start a long and successful career onboard cruise ships.  Check out this video I did with Emma Cruises about her recent cruise and how to get a job on cruise ships.

If you are the right candidate, you have experience follow these five steps you can land that job.

  1. Make sure you have a clear CV, and have someone check it; in fact, get a 2nd, 3rd or 4th person to check your CV. Make sure there are no grammatical or spelling mistakes. More information is below about what to highlight first on your CV you will be surprised by the answer.
  2. Always use email etiquette, and practice a reasonable follow-up procedure, don’t email the recruiters every day. You will end up getting your email blocked. Read on for more tips on how to communicate with recruiters.
  3. Stay on point in your application letter, email and CV. See below for what not to do when applying for a position on a ship.  Click here for a guide on how to write a winning CV FREE Winning CV Template to Get a Job on Cruise Ships.
  4. English language, it is remarkable how many crew members and staff I have met that know 2, 3, 4 or more languages and have full command of the English language written and spoken. You must be fluent in spoken English and have basic written English knowledge. See below for what not to say in an interview about this.
  5. If you get rejected, politely email (see point 2 above) and ask for the recruiter’s feedback. Most companies will give you feedback if you ask for it. You can reapply in 12 months. Or take that advice and apply to another company.  See below for more tips.

    Nagasaki, Japan - three crew members take a photo together after work, still wearing their work uniforms.

1.  A Good Clear CV is vital.

You’ll be surprised how many CVs just don’t make sense or have several errors.  Follow these easy steps, update your CV, and make it relevant to grab the attention of the Recruiter:
  • Add a lovely picture of yourself at the top and go for a short CV over a long one (a couple of pages max).
  • Make sure the most relevant information is first.
  • For example, put your work experience first. Yes, that’s right unless you are applying for a position requiring a degree, there is no need to have this first. Most jobs, such a  Food & Beverage, Casino, Retail, Cabin Stewards, Spa, Crew Staff etc., are looking for your work experience first and foremost.   So make sure you add the relevant job experience first. Do add that you have a Degree. It demonstrates dedication, achievement, and skill, but make sure you put it after your work experience.
  • Work experience dates:
    • Make sure these make sense and are correct. Any recruiter will check your dates. It’s so simple to make sure these are correct.
    • If you took a job break, then add it. You don’t need to say why. Just put ‘work break’, or if you want to add why, it will help—things such as taking a break to make a family, studying, etc. Just make sure you add it to the work experience date lineup. Some recruiters will skip past a CV where the dates don’t make sense.
    • Make sure you put the most relevant employment first.
    • Indicate if the job is Part-time (pt) or Full-time (ft). If the dates are the same for several jobs because they were part-time, but you didn’t put this, it will confuse a recruiter.
  • If you are applying for a more skilled position such as Engineer, Marine officer, or Hotel Manager, then, of course, highlight your relevant Degree.
  • Also, make sure your application letter is relevant to the job you are applying for.  If you’re applying to work in the boutiques. Make sure your intro letter and CV highlight your retail skills.
    • If you are also a photographer and are also applying to work as a photographer, that is fine, but define the two and send separate CVs.
    • I send a CV to the Retail Recruiter that says ‘Looking to expand my skills as a Photographer on Cruise Ships‘ this will also confuse the recruiter.
    • If you are applying to work in a retail location (and you may have good retail experience), it’s not going to bode well for your application. So make sure you have a couple of versions of your CV, depending on the position you are applying for.
    • There is also something else wrong with this heading which I will address later in this blog. Can you spot it?
  •  Make sure your CV is in English

Retail Staff posing for a Christmas Picture.

2.  Tips on how to communicate with Recruiters.

Proper communication is essential. It is so important to make sure you read the below on email etiquette.
  • Email etiquette goes without saying, but you will be surprised how demanding and rude some candidates can be. But the main mistake a lot of keen applicants make is the number of times they email recruiters. Here are some things to avoid
    • Asking silly questions, if you have been sent an email from a recruiter asking for more information read the email clearly before you fly a reply back and find yourself not providing the information the Recruiter asked for.
    • Emailing the answer over several emails instead of consolidating everything into one concise email.
  • Present yourself well and show up. Due to travel restrictions, finances and the new world of doing everything online. Recruiters are using digital platforms to assess and recruit staff. If you’re not tech-savvy or don’t have a laptop, perhaps borrow one from a friend.
    • If you have been asked to take part in a Video Screening, which is some written questions that you record the answers to in your own time, here are some tips.
      • Tech issues, try to figure it out by yourself or ask a more techy friend to help you before asking the recruiter to help you connect. It could be your Wi-Fi connection in your area; make sure you check it. Also, the browser might not be compatible with the company’s recruiting platform, so try a different browser. The recruiter can’t help you with Tech issues. You have to figure it out independently and demonstrate your problem-solving skills. It’s all part of the process.
      • Treat it seriously if you are invited to a video screen or video interview, make sure you are in a calm setting, and treat it as a face-to-face interview.  Would you show u to an interview wearing a dressing gown (it has happened)? Sitting in a storage cupboard or while you are walking down the street holding a latte? Go home or sit in a car, do your hair, look presentable and treat it seriously. This is an opportunity for you to put your best self forward to allow yourself to shine in a good light.
      • Practice a good follow-up technique.  Don’t email every day if you send a follow-up email, wait a week or so to follow up if you have not received a response. Recruiters are busy, so emailing every day will irritate them, and again you could end up getting your email blocked. Use email etiquette again and highlight the value and expertise you will bring to their business.

Crew members of Costa Luminosa, cruise ship working onboard during a sea in the Mediterranean

3.  Sounding Desperate or Sob Stories don’t work – stay on point.

Some, not all, but some candidates are desperate to get a job on a Cruise Ship. I understand this, and so do recruiters. Candidates need these jobs to support entire families back home and enjoy long and successful careers on cruise ships. But I promise you your personal story about why you need to get a job on a cruise ship is not part of the recruitment process, so try to avoid getting off-topic and stay on point.
The point is to highlight that you are the right candidate for the position.  You can meet the company’s needs, and find out what the company’s mission and vision are by researching them.  Know everything there is to know about the company.  Then demonstrate how you can help this company reach their goals.  Show that you are dedicated, focused, and a great addition to their team. Make it easy for the recruiter to hire you. That’s it. Here are the five things that will help you get that job.
  1. Demonstrate your work experience.  It costs money to get staff on a ship.  It also costs money, resources and time to get staff off a ship if they don’t have the right experience.  There is no time or training, the moment you arrive at the ship, the work will start.  It’s important to have experience before you start.  It won’t work out if you don’t have enough experience or your English isn’t enough to communicate with guests and fellow crew members.  If the position you are applying for requires experience, highlight this in your CV.  Prepare answers to their questions when they interview you.
  2. Be enthusiastic, smiley, happy and positive.  Being too serious or not allowing your personality to shine through won’t help you.  Most Crew jobs require you to interact with guests and demonstrate a happy, positive attitude.  So make sure you’re relaxed, comfortable, calm and confident and put your best foot forward in the video screening or video interview.
  3. A good command of the English language being able to understand the Recruiter and answer the questions using your great English language skills is necessary.
  4. How you can be an excellent addition to the team, work hard, focus on the job, the skills.  Try not to talk about your own needs etc.
  5. Make sure you can tell stories about when you have gone over and above for customers, what you did do how the customer responded.  Also, how you have dealt with unhappy customers, did you diffuse the situation what was the outcome?  Highlight any promotions you have had in jobs in the past anything like this.  Rather than how you need the job etc., Stay on Point.

Grand Cayman 7 mile beach

4. The English Language most ships have English-speaking guests other than European cruise lines such as Costa and MSC, but I still think you need to know English for these.  Or possibly the Asian Cruise lines that only focus on the Asian markets.  Because this is simple I thought I would list some things not to say to a recruiter about your English during your recruitment process.  Here is something you shouldn’t say during an interview.

You want to work on a Cruise ship to improve your English language.

Even though it is inevitable that once you get a job on a cruise ship your comand of the English language will naturally improve.  If you say this to recruiter they will automatically assume your English right now isn’t good enough to work on a ship and you are only applying to improve your English.

How much to budget for an Alaskan Cruise

5. If you get Rejected

So you have done all the hard work, your CV is tip-top you got assessed and made it to a video screening, once you passed the video screening, you then got that one on one video interview.  Your interview went well, but you received the dreaded rejection email.  Here is what to do if this happens:
  1. Instead of just reapplying with the same email address or changing your email address.  Ask for feedback that you can improve your skills and re-apply in 12 months. This will impress your recruiter and show determination and dedication.  OR
  2. Take this feedback and apply it to your next job application. There are plenty of cruise lines and Concessionaire companies you can send your application to.
One last note, there are a lot of job agency scams out there. You don’t need to pay money to any Agency to get you a job.  Also, if an Agency is guaranteeing a job, I think that is a red flag. Only you can secure your job by following the above tips.  You can apply directly to all cruise lines and cruise line concessionaire companies.  Below are all the links to the career pages for cruise lines and concessionaire companies, there are loads of jobs available, and they are looking for you.

Cruising for the First time to the Mediterranean

Cruise Lines.

Cruise Ship Concessionaire Companies
Here is another great Blog by @Emmacruises Cruise Ship Housekeeping: Responsibilities, Salaries and Benefits – Emma Cruises

Interested in booking a cruise?  Here is a great link Book a Cruise – Emma Cruises