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I would like to persue a 2nd career in the Merchant Mariner field for either Tugs or seagoing vessels as crew?

Veteran

joseph burke Dagsboro, DE

How do I get started on this journey? I have my Merchant Mariner Credential...Master Captain 50 gross ton and TWIC Card so far...How do I apply and what else do I need??? Please help and inform,

8 November 2017 4 replies Career Advancement

Answers

Advisor

Paul Dietrich Staten Island, NY

Joseph, thank you for serving. Suggest you look at related fields which are similar such as oil spill response companies, ferry operators. vessel lighter operators(who ferry supplies, men etc to vessels in the harbors). My friend's son path to tug deckhand was through the oil spill response avenue and it took a while but he is now training for mate. Look for these on line, they are always looking for people and you should have a good shot

14 November 2017 Helpful answer

Veteran

Phillip Batson Tacoma, WA

Joseph,

I have drill this coming weekend and am drilling with a Heavy Boat unit in the Army Reserves. This will be my second weekend with them, but I know at least three of the senior NCOs work on tugs and boats as their civilian career. One of them happens to work on a tug, fire fighting tug, as well as cargo vessels. Shoot me a message to remind me about your questions, what all information specifically you need, and I’ll do my best to get you an answer.

By second career, are you leaving the Navy? Or are you looking at this as a second job? It may be hard to work on a tug and have another job that is land based. And as previously mentioned, presentation is everything. Trust me on this. I presented poorly on some applications and first interviews when I was first getting off active duty Army. I now know why I did not achieve those positions and only have myself to blame. Just like in the military, perception is reality, and can be the difference between landing an interview and a job.

If you haven’t done so, check out LinkedIn, many groups on there that are full of advice from the various industries. Also lots of veteran groups that will help as well. You will hear time and time again to check out What Color is Your Parachute. That seems to be a highly recommended read. Hope this helps.

V/R,
Phil

Advisor

Henry ("Dr. Hank") Stevens Fort Lauderdale, FL

Although my reply is not in direct response to your question, I thought I would share an observation with you. As a lifelong recruiter and now vocational counselor, the first thing I look & listen for are mistakes. In my professional opinion, anyone who communicates in a resume, cover letter, or in this example, your question and has errors of punctuation, grammar, or misspellings, has made a terminal mistake. The communication reflects badly on the author. It says to me that you do not care enough about what you put out there and my strong suspicion is that if you were to work for me, you would not care about my company, your job, or me. If this were in a resume or cover letter, I would read no further and your paperwork would go into the left stack - the one where I put the rejected candidate's material. It may seem a very casual and unimportant thing to you but to me saying that, " . . . . to persue a 2nd career . . . . " says you just do not care.

So, now that I have beaten you up pretty well (sorry!), here are two takeaways: ONE: Read over the material you are about to send out before you hit the execute button and at the least, do a spell check (it is spelled PURSUE.) TWO: Get the book, "What Color is Your Parachute" by Bolles. I think the 2018 edition is out. You will find some sage counsel therein.

Regards and good luck to you!

Advisor

ACP AdvisorNet Staff New York, NY

Hi Joseph!

Thank you for your service, and for taking the time to check out ACP AdvisorNet.

I will openly admit that the Merchant Mariner field is way beyond my expertise, so I did some googling. I found this website that seems like a good place to start:

https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/53-5011.00

The website appears to lay out and detail the various jobs available on ships...it gives details about the credentials you need, skills you should possess, where to look for jobs, salary ranges, and job descriptions. I have specifically linked the page for General Seaman. If that's not the title you were looking for, feel free to poke around the page and find what is relevant to you!

Additionally, I found this website that lists various companies and recruiters available to Mariner's interested in going ashore (located at the very bottom of the page):

http://www.aladdin.st/links/job.html

Best of luck in your search!

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