Cadetship queries & info

[OD999]

Evening all,

This post is gonna be a bit of a text wall but I’m just looking to find some information regarding cadetships etc... A bit of background about myself may help so I’ll start of with me being 19 and from Northern Ireland.

So pretty much I had previously applied for the role of a Deck Officer Cadet within the RFA, things went the way they did and I ended up not getting selected for the SIFT, I don’t know why but it can’t be undone so no point being upset about it. However, I know I want to work on ships so I’m looking down the main route of joining the merchant navy.

I’ve sent in an application to Clyde Maritime Training and from here I’m a bit stuck to be quite frank. I’ve read that if you were to be accepted etc you just show up and get told what company you will be doing your cadetship with but after having visited the websites of different companies I notice you can apply for cadetships directly with them, is that just another way of gaining one or do you have to email different companies requesting to be taken on??? What way does it actually work?

I’d also like to just gauge from people’s personal opinions on whether or not joining this industry with the current state of the world would be something they would personally advise as after some reading through various different threads it would seem the job hunts taking place are pretty chaotic.

Pretty much everything from me for now but I’m sure I’ll have more questions in the future. Thanks for reading and for anyone that responds, I appreciate it.

[Puddle]

Best way is to apply direct to companies for a cadetship as they are likely to hire you afterwards. I know from looking earlier James Fisher Tankers are currently hiring Cadets on their website.

[alistairuk]

I’ve sent in an application to Clyde Maritime Training and from here I’m a bit stuck to be quite frank. I’ve read that if you were to be accepted etc you just show up and get told what company you will be doing your cadetship with but after having visited the websites of different companies I notice you can apply for cadetships directly with them, is that just another way of gaining one or do you have to email different companies requesting to be taken on??? What way does it actually work?

Clyde Marine are an agency, they recruit and manage the cadetship program on behalf of a number of clients. In general you are accepting a cadetship with Clyde Marine - they will process your application, if they believe you meet their requirements they will interview you and then if you accept they will then allocate you to one of their clients based on their needs and availability - you have no say over this part of the process although you can specify a preference but that can also be totally ignored if there is no availability with those choices. There are some exceptions - some of their clients (such as RCCL and Northern Marine) want to choose their cadets themselves and hold their own interviews with whoever Clyde forward to them as potential candidates - if you are one of the few to be selected by one of these companies you may know before you commence college but for the majority of persons with Clyde you will find out your sponsor during the first week at college.

In addition to Clyde Marine there are other agencies such as SSTG and Chiltern Maritime who manage cadetship programs on behalf of some other companies, with these two agencies you do generally know who your sponsor is before starting college.

Some shipping companies also manage their own cadetship programs and do not use agencies, these are companies like BP, Shell, Carnival UK, Cunard, etc. If you are interested in a cadetship with them you would need to apply to them directly.

I’d also like to just gauge from people’s personal opinions on whether or not joining this industry with the current state of the world would be something they would personally advise as after some reading through various different threads it would seem the job hunts taking place are pretty chaotic.

This has already been discussed at length on various other threads and generally turns negative. All I will say on the matter is what I've always said, if you want to be rich then this is not the career for you. Yes you have the opportunity to make good money as you progress with your career but the days are long gone when salaries were some of the highest around (long before I even started 14+ years ago). If you don't enjoy working at sea, it's not a life for you - job market - like most is pretty **** and not helped by the current COVID situation but the same can be said for most markets - just ask most university graduates!

[OD999]

Best way is to apply direct to companies for a cadetship as they are likely to hire you afterwards. I know from looking earlier James Fisher Tankers are currently hiring Cadets on their website.

I think I had a look at their website today too, I may as well submit an application and try my luck.

[OD999]

In addition to Clyde Marine there are other agencies such as SSTG and Chiltern Maritime who manage cadetship programs on behalf of some other companies, with these two agencies you do generally know who your sponsor is before starting college.

Some shipping companies also manage their own cadetship programs and do not use agencies, these are companies like BP, Shell, Carnival UK, Cunard, etc. If you are interested in a cadetship with them you would need to apply to them directly.

Thanks for the long reply, I appreciate it. I’ve noticed that there are some other agencies that would be able to help and will look into applying with them too. I’ve also seen that there are ship management companies, what exactly are they as they offer cadetships but when I look at their “What we do” pages they never seem to show any vessels or anything.