Experienced or not, your crew CV is usually the first thing to be viewed in the recruitment process. It’s not only your chance to give a great first impression, but your opportunity to leave a lasting one with a recruiter or yacht.
Whether you’re looking for your first yacht job or your fifth, your CV should always be 100% accurate and well presented. If it’s not, you could be overlooked for the perfect role and disregarded for any future opportunities.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s often the most experienced candidates who make the most obvious mistakes. But know this – your experience and reputation will not always trump a badly written CV, so make sure it’s up to scratch.
1. Out of date role history
Even if you are not actively looking for a superyacht job, always make sure you update your CV with your current role as soon as you start it. Many recruiters will headhunt for roles, and if you’re still down as a deckhand rather than a Bosun, you won’t be contacted.
2. Irrelevant role history
Four or five years into your superyacht career? Then your daywork while dockwalking six years ago is completely immaterial, as is your bistro summer job when you were 20. Yes, this actually happens.
3. No clear career goals
Particularly important if you are actively looking for roles, make sure you include a summary sentence at the top of your CV which details what you are looking for. If you’re a 2nd stew looking for a Chief Stew role, specify this. If you want a full-time position to get more sea days for tickets, tell us. It will mean your CV will come up in more searches and that you’ll only be contacted for the most relevant roles.
4. No references
We will always want to speak to your current/most recent HOD/Captain before putting you forward for another role. Having their names and contact details available will make this easier for us. Also state whether you are looking confidentially so we don’t contact your current yacht without you knowing.
5. Hedging your bets
If you’re in the job market for multiple roles, don’t be lazy and send out the same one. If you want a Captain role then have a Captain specific CV, not one which also says you want a Chief Officer role.
Crew CV basics
Among the other more common crew CV mistakes are some blindingly obvious ones, for which there are no excuses whatsoever!
6. Wrong email address or telephone number – we want your personal and current email address and mobile number with dialling code. It’s insane how many people have incorrect contact info.
7. Spelling mistakes and typos – literally the most frustrating thing on a crew CV. Check, check, and check again, and get someone else to proof read too.
8. Unclear start and end dates on jobs – saying you did a season on Yacht X or were with Yacht Y from 2021 to 2022 is not helpful. We need months and years so we can see the amount of experience you have and if there have been any unexplained gaps.
9. Bad photo – we do not want to see your junior stew/3rd engineer photo from 10 years ago when you’re now a Head of Service/Chief Engo. No full beards, heavy make-up, excessive piercings and unkempt hair (top knots seem to be all the rage right now).
You can update your Quay Crew CV by logging in here.
