Female Cadet?

[Chloe]

Hello,
I am a year 9 secondary school student living in England, and I aspire to be a Deck Cadet. I have always been fascinated by ships and I know what I want to get out of my life. I understand that this career will involve hard work and dedication, but I?m pretty certain this is what I want to do.
My GCSEs are coming up and I think that taking Math, Physics and Geography would probably be a good idea- but does anyone else have any ideas?
Also, is it any harder for women to get into this line of work, because I understand that most other cadets tend to be male.
I look forward to hearing back from everyone!

Thank you
Chloe

[size4riggerboots]

Hi Chloe, great choices for GCSE, I'd recommend thinking about doing A-levels too, certainly in Maths and Physics.

Getting into the job isn't any harder for a girl, but sometimes it is sometimes a bit tougher for us girls on the ships, though it shouldn't be. There is a certain amount of sexism still within the industry, but the only way to combat it is to get more girls in proving that there's we can do the job just as professionally and competently as the boys.

Best of luck, and keep us posted

S4

[Chloe]

Thankyou

[GuinnessMan]

Hi Chloe, great choices for GCSE, I'd recommend thinking about doing A-levels too, certainly in Maths and Physics.

Getting into the job isn't any harder for a girl, but sometimes it is sometimes a bit tougher for us girls on the ships, though it shouldn't be. There is a certain amount of sexism still within the industry, but the only way to combat it is to get more girls in proving that there's we can do the job just as professionally and competently as the boys.

Best of luck, and keep us posted

S4

However, a number of companies won't just let you waltz in because of your gender. You will have to prove that you are capable of doing the work assigned to you, "positive discrimination" wouldn't really work in this industry. Besides, if a crew was going to dislike you, it's more likely going to be because you are a cadet. Also, the sexism that i've seen towards women tends to be from the older generation of seafarers, so it is dying out as they retire...

Anywho, as S4 says, try to do the A-Levels as they will better your chances of getting into your chosen company/course. Try to stick with Maths/Physics style courses as those are the foundations of the work we do.

[Andy_S]

Doing A-levels is a really good idea Chloe. It would give you better understanding of the technical and mathematics part of the course, it would be better for your employment prospects I think and also it would give you and couple more years to gain some more "life skills." Don't take that last bit the wrong way but I can imagine going straight into the MN from school could be quite hard to cope with for some people. School is a pretty supportive environment whereas life on a ship probably isn't.

I'm sure the girls on here can answer this one but I would imagine some companies are a lot better for women to work for than others? Some companies seem to get very little negative comments on here and I would assume those are the ones with a high level of professionalism and good training standards and maybe have much more supportive crews.

Anyway good luck with whatever you decide Chloe.

[GuinnessMan]

Doing A-levels is a really good idea Chloe. It would give you better understanding of the technical and mathematics part of the course, it would be better for your employment prospects I think and also it would give you and couple more years to gain some more "life skills." Don't take that last bit the wrong way but I can imagine going straight into the MN from school could be quite hard to cope with for some people. School is a pretty supportive environment whereas life on a ship probably isn't.

I'm sure the girls on here can answer this one but I would imagine some companies are a lot better for women to work for than others? Some companies seem to get very little negative comments on here and I would assume those are the ones with a high level of professionalism and good training standards and maybe have much more supportive crews.

Anyway good luck with whatever you decide Chloe.

What companies like to see is extra curricular activities. Good academics are great, but if all that apply have good grades then it's going to fall down to the interview and what they get up to when they are not studying that will sell them.

Also, as someone who has sailed and gone through the entire course, the level of support you get will differ from crew to crew. I sailed with a British crew who gave me some and I've sailed with a Russian crew who were brilliant. How things go on ship for you will partly fall down to the crew themselves and how you, as a person, deal with them. I'm normally not a fan of taking cadets straight from school. From what I saw in college and a set of statistics from another college, the biggest drop out levels were D&A was not a factor were those in the 16 - 18 year old range. So my advice for the moment, get your A-Levels and then go and volunteer somewhere for a year or so (Mission to Seafarers, etc) and before you do decide to join, try and see if you can do a ship visit (preferably both a cargo and cruise ship) somewhere and see if this is definitely for you.

[Chloe]

What companies like to see is extra curricular activities. Good academics are great, but if all that apply have good grades then it's going to fall down to the interview and what they get up to when they are not studying that will sell them.

Also, as someone who has sailed and gone through the entire course, the level of support you get will differ from crew to crew. I sailed with a British crew who gave me some and I've sailed with a Russian crew who were brilliant. How things go on ship for you will partly fall down to the crew themselves and how you, as a person, deal with them. I'm normally not a fan of taking cadets straight from school. From what I saw in college and a set of statistics from another college, the biggest drop out levels were D&A was not a factor were those in the 16 - 18 year old range. So my advice for the moment, get your A-Levels and then go and volunteer somewhere for a year or so (Mission to Seafarers, etc) and before you do decide to join, try and see if you can do a ship visit (preferably both a cargo and cruise ship) somewhere and see if this is definitely for you.

I will definitely stay at school through sixth-form so that I can get some A-levels under my belt in (hopefully!) Math?s and Physics. You mentioned volunteering abroad (like a gap year sort of thing)- do you think that potential sponsors will look at me more favourably if I do have experience working somewhere else?

[Ash]

It can only look better on your application if you have experience of being able to cope outside your comfort zone.

[Andy_S]

I think a gap year would be an excellent idea as long as it's a worthwhile one. Don't go and waste a load of time and money doing the usual backpacker thing, do something useful and worthwhile and it will set you apart from all the other gap year people.

What companies like to see is extra curricular activities. Good academics are great, but if all that apply have good grades then it's going to fall down to the interview and what they get up to when they are not studying that will sell them.

Also, as someone who has sailed and gone through the entire course, the level of support you get will differ from crew to crew. I sailed with a British crew who gave me some and I've sailed with a Russian crew who were brilliant. How things go on ship for you will partly fall down to the crew themselves and how you, as a person, deal with them. I'm normally not a fan of taking cadets straight from school. From what I saw in college and a set of statistics from another college, the biggest drop out levels were D&A was not a factor were those in the 16 - 18 year old range. So my advice for the moment, get your A-Levels and then go and volunteer somewhere for a year or so (Mission to Seafarers, etc) and before you do decide to join, try and see if you can do a ship visit (preferably both a cargo and cruise ship) somewhere and see if this is definitely for you.

I didn't mean the A-levels were the be all and end all but combined with some good extra curricular activities it would put someone in a good position at interview. How would someone go about getting a ship visit? I was told it was next to impossible but the person from SSTG might have meant in UK ports.

[GuinnessMan]

I will definitely stay at school through sixth-form so that I can get some A-levels under my belt in (hopefully!) Math’s and Physics. You mentioned volunteering abroad (like a gap year sort of thing)- do you think that potential sponsors will look at me more favourably if I do have experience working somewhere else?

It depends on what you decide to do. If you go off and backpack around the world they won't be that bothered about it. Work with a charity, a maritime one, will probably be something they would prefer. If you decide to spend your weekends fundraising for the RNLI or Mission to Seafarers that would probably be looked at quite favourably.

I think a gap year would be an excellent idea as long as it's a worthwhile one. Don't go and waste a load of time and money doing the usual backpacker thing, do something useful and worthwhile and it will set you apart from all the other gap year people.


I didn't mean the A-levels were the be all and end all but combined with some good extra curricular activities it would put someone in a good position at interview. How would someone go about getting a ship visit? I was told it was next to impossible but the person from SSTG might have meant in UK ports.

You want to do a ship visit then the best thing to do is just simply ask. Call a shipping company and tell them that you're interested in becoming a cadet and was wondering if it would be possible for you to go on to a ship at it's next port and meet any of the officers/cadets on board. You'd have to buy your own safety gear to do it, but it would be worth it or if you give us a rough idea where you are based then perhaps one of us could help you.

[Andy_S]

GuinnessMan I will send you a pm.

[GuinnessMan]

GuinnessMan I will send you a pm.

Fair enough.

[BO-AT]

I am a female deck cadet and i am just about to start phase 3, so i have recently just returned from my sea phase which i absolutely loved. Myself and another female cadet were the first 2 females to be sponsored by our shipping company and when on board we discovered that the majority of the crew had never sailed with a female but personally this did not bother me. You just have to get stuck in and prove that we are capable of doing the job. ok on deck it may have taken us a little bit longer to do some of the physical things normally due to my size but i done it! If you are prepared to work had and study just like the guys then you will have no problems at all. the younger generation of seafarers are all for women becoming more prominent in the MN.

Also I started my cadet-ship straight from school, in fact i left school early to start, i had just turned 17 when i began college. Personally i don't think age is anything to do with it, its down to the individual and there maturity levels. but i do agree that extra curricular activities are a good thing to have as I was a sea cadet for nearly 8 years and this became one of the main talking points in my interview.

Good Luck Chloe.

[Andy_S]

Fair enough.

Did you get my pm mate?

[Charlieramsden]

I'm a 22 year old female and have been at sea since I was 16 I started in the royal navy as a rating then the Royal fleet auxiliary for a couple years. I have no a levels and i didnt do very well at GCSE's so don't just concentrate on education and exams, as important as they are it's not everything. Experience is the main thing and building knowledge through doing the job hands on. I am now a cadet with chiltern maritime through MEF and loving every second of it. Sexism comes in different forms and throughout many jobs you may see it. (I did in the royal navy and RFA) but as seen on other posts just do your job to the best of your ability and from past experiences on the deck don't shy away from the strenuous physical work. Get stuck in an just do your job. Being at sea is an excellent career with great pay and benefits and its great more females are getting into it. A gap year is a great way to build confidence and skills as being at sea is only for certain people that can cope with being away etc

Charlie Ramsden