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My Journey
(Apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes as it is very early in the morning!)
Hi all! I am writing about my cadetship application experience so if you are applying you know what to expect!
I have wanted a career at sea for a long time now, living in Southampton and having practically all my family either having served in the Royal Navy or the Merchant navy. My grandfather is really my true aspiration as he was a Chief Engineer and is very supportive of me; he was over the moon when I got my offer! But I will explain how I got there?.
I got into university and was doing a degree in the shore side to the Merchant Navy which is what really made me 100% sure that I did not want a 9 to 5 job in a port or somewhere. However, I was really quite unsure whether to even bother applying as I only got a C in Math?s and pretty much all of the companies ask for a B grade or for you to have done either Math?s or Physics at A Level which I did not do.
I applied to a company in December as a sort of ?oh well, might as well give it a shot? to see what they would say. To my surprise about 3 weeks later I received a phone call offering me an interview, so at this stage I was chuffed to bits and had a massive confidence boost with the whole cadetship idea. Anyway, I did my interview in January and was told that they were very impressed and the interview went very well. As I mentioned before, I have a massive confidence boost so I applied to two more companies later on and I was offered interviews from both. For me, the interview etc. isn?t the worst part; in fact that is the easy part (If you work and prepare for it). The hard part is the waiting for the phone call to say ?We have some good news for you? or ?Unfortunately?. None the less I received three offers but obviously you can only accept one! However, in my mind this was easy as the company that I really wanted to go with was the first one to offer me a place and I just couldn?t say no.
What I would say to people is not to be lured into going to the company who offer the most money, go with the company that will offer you the best variety, that will support you and look after you the best and the one you really want. If they offer you more money then BONUS! But just don?t be tempted to go for the Wonga.
Obviously in order to be offered an interview you must wow them in your application. This means that you should have a good CV and a strong cover letter/strong application. The reason that they want to interview you is so that they can find out more about you and double check your suitability.
As for interviews, prepare and prepare. Research the company and why you want to go to sea. Just remember that it is the first few minutes that will catch the interviewers attention. Just like a CV, if the first part doesn?t impress then they are unlikely to be interested in the second bit (I?m not saying that they will end the interview because they don?t like you but I am sure you can understand!).
Another word of advice is to apply to as many companies as you can! Don?t put all your eggs in one basket because at the end of the day what you need is your ticket and training.
If I missed anything out of have any questions then please do not hesitate to let me know.
Depending on the response I get from this and if people are interested, I will do a blog or video diary. I am also willing for people to phone me/email me to discuss the process and if they feel that they need any help and/or guidance.
**Special thanks go to Hatchorder, My grandfather, Family and Friends**
(Apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes as it is very early in the morning!)
Hi all! I am writing about my cadetship application experience so if you are applying you know what to expect!
I have wanted a career at sea for a long time now, living in Southampton and having practically all my family either having served in the Royal Navy or the Merchant navy. My grandfather is really my true aspiration as he was a Chief Engineer and is very supportive of me; he was over the moon when I got my offer! But I will explain how I got there?.
I got into university and was doing a degree in the shore side to the Merchant Navy which is what really made me 100% sure that I did not want a 9 to 5 job in a port or somewhere. However, I was really quite unsure whether to even bother applying as I only got a C in Math?s and pretty much all of the companies ask for a B grade or for you to have done either Math?s or Physics at A Level which I did not do.
I applied to a company in December as a sort of ?oh well, might as well give it a shot? to see what they would say. To my surprise about 3 weeks later I received a phone call offering me an interview, so at this stage I was chuffed to bits and had a massive confidence boost with the whole cadetship idea. Anyway, I did my interview in January and was told that they were very impressed and the interview went very well. As I mentioned before, I have a massive confidence boost so I applied to two more companies later on and I was offered interviews from both. For me, the interview etc. isn?t the worst part; in fact that is the easy part (If you work and prepare for it). The hard part is the waiting for the phone call to say ?We have some good news for you? or ?Unfortunately?. None the less I received three offers but obviously you can only accept one! However, in my mind this was easy as the company that I really wanted to go with was the first one to offer me a place and I just couldn?t say no.
What I would say to people is not to be lured into going to the company who offer the most money, go with the company that will offer you the best variety, that will support you and look after you the best and the one you really want. If they offer you more money then BONUS! But just don?t be tempted to go for the Wonga.
Obviously in order to be offered an interview you must wow them in your application. This means that you should have a good CV and a strong cover letter/strong application. The reason that they want to interview you is so that they can find out more about you and double check your suitability.
As for interviews, prepare and prepare. Research the company and why you want to go to sea. Just remember that it is the first few minutes that will catch the interviewers attention. Just like a CV, if the first part doesn?t impress then they are unlikely to be interested in the second bit (I?m not saying that they will end the interview because they don?t like you but I am sure you can understand!).
Another word of advice is to apply to as many companies as you can! Don?t put all your eggs in one basket because at the end of the day what you need is your ticket and training.
If I missed anything out of have any questions then please do not hesitate to let me know.
Depending on the response I get from this and if people are interested, I will do a blog or video diary. I am also willing for people to phone me/email me to discuss the process and if they feel that they need any help and/or guidance.
**Special thanks go to Hatchorder, My grandfather, Family and Friends**
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