Embarking on the journey to secure your first Chief Stew position on a superyacht is both exciting and challenging. As a Senior Stew, you’ve honed your skills, learned the ropes and now aspire to lead and manage your own interior team.
But how can you successfully navigate this pivotal career transition? Especially at a time when there are more candidates than jobs, and you will be further down the pecking order as a candidate with no HOD experience?
Enhance your skills and knowledge
Investing in professional development is crucial. Consider taking advanced courses in:
- Leadership and management: Equip yourself with skills to effectively lead and motivate your team. This is key and not everyone is a great leader so arming yourself with some actual learned skills in this area is a great move! As a leader you will need to adapt your leadership style to your individual stews as there is no blanket way of leading. This is likely one of the biggest challenges you will face moving into a Chief Stew role!
- Interior management: Learn about budgeting, inventory management, accounting and other admin tasks that will now be solely on your desk! All those hours you see your Chief Stew behind her desk, she isn’t playing Solitaire, she is squirreling away doing all the behind-the-scenes work that half the yacht and the owner never sees!
- Specialty courses: Wine and cocktail knowledge, floral arrangements, and event planning can set you apart. In my opinion, wine and cocktail knowledge are paramount to being a good Chief Stew. In the UHNW world you really do need to know your chardonnay from your sauvignon and you need to be able to whip up a decent cocktail at the drop of a hat!
Build a strong track record
Gaining a decent amount of relevant experience as 2nd Stew or in other senior interior positions will be invaluable. Focus on:
- Good longevity: Be able to show on your CV that you are committed is a huge thing! Showing you have stuck out the 2nd Stew role for a few years, on maybe one or two maximum yachts will go a long way in helping you secure your first Chief Stew role.
- Diverse experience: Working on a couple of different yacht will show you have some varied experience, dealing with different owners, a few Captains and working under a few Chief Stews. This will give you a well rounded skill set and show you will be able to adapt better when things are thrown at you! This is not to encourage yacht hopping though!
- Seek mentorship: Learn from seasoned Chief Stews who can provide guidance and support, and tell them you want to learn from them.
- Network: Attend industry events, join yacht crew forums, and participate in online groups to connect with industry professionals.
Become a leader
As mentioned above, the leadership aspect of stepping up to Chief Stew will likely be the biggest learning curve.
Of course, you will need to be a good communicator and listener, be able to make fast and informed decisions, adapt and react to unexpected situations and handle conflict resolution swiftly.
But being a good leader also means being kind, compassionate and understanding. Lead by example and maintain a positive attitude, inspiring your team with both your enthusiasm and professionalism.
When you are confident you are ready to take on your first Chief Stew role, make all of the above stand out in your CV and highlight why you are the perfect candidate to be considered.
Don’t be disheartened by rejection, and instead, thank yachts for considering you and ask for constructive feedback.
I look forward to hopefully working with you to get you that step up you deserve!
