what experience before applying?

[fuzzyllama]

Hi I am going to apply for a cadetship at some point in the hopefully very near future but was wondering what sort of experience I would need to make my application worthwhile and stand out?
I have sailed dinghys, have my Powerboat level 2, have done a leg of the Tall Ships Race on a tall ship and in 3 weeks will have my RYA Dayskipper but none of that (apart from tall ships) is Merchant Navy related. What sort of experience did other people have before applying and how would I go about gaining that experience?
Thanks

[Crawf121]

That's a lot of good experience you have already, more than most. I got an offer with a lot less than that. But maybe sea scouts sea cadets etc.

[JoelR]

That's more than most! I've been on the local tugs and a dredger that my Grandad was chief on, I only briefly mentioned that in my interview for Maersk.

[Angus212]

You've got some decent experience there. I found that the companies I applied for liked the fact I had been on a Raleigh expedition - It demonstrates you can cope being away from friends and family for a long period of time, whilst also proves you have leadership skills. So yeah my advice is get some sort of experience of being away from home for a long time. Good luck with the applications!

[GuinnessMan]

Recruiters probably won't care if you're able to show experience of being away from home for long periods, being on a ship is not like going away for 6 months on a random holiday. Working on a ship is hard, it's dirty and we all will eventually hit that point during our cadetship where we all go "feck this" and have such a demoralizing day that we just want to go home.

Find yourself a hobby that shows that you have some organisational ability, can demonstrate leadership and is something you genuinely enjoy doing. I used to teach SCUBA diving a lot and one of the things that was liked was that a lot of the kids that I was teaching had come to us were foster kids via CAFS. It doesn't have to be MN related, it can be anything, but if you are going to volunteer your time, don't do it just for the sake of your CV, do it because you want to and do something you actually enjoy doing.

[fuzzyllama]

Thanks for all the replys. I will look into volunteering for sea scouts/cadets or maybe volunteer at the club I learnt to sail at... Many people to phone now!
I suppose lifeguarding can count as being organised and responsible, not sure about the leadership bit though as it's mainly teamwork, although that could come from volunteering.
Thank you for all your help
Oh and JoelR how did you get on the local tugs?

[KieranRM]

I will look into volunteering for sea scouts/cadets

\

Join the cadets not the scouts. http://www.sea-cadets.org/units

[geordie dancer]

Having been in the Sea Scouts or on a Tall Ship or whatever might help but not for what might seem obvious. If it gives you (as has been said) experience of responsibility, organisation and leadership it will help. Knowing how to tie a round turn and two half hitches won't matter diddly squat- College will expect you to know nothing when you turn up and will teach you from there.

I worked on ships for a year before my cadetship. Knowing seamanship didn't matter- that's the easy bit! Knowing how to sort your own s**t out, work effectively with people that you don't necessarily like, and how to crack on with work when you don't really feel like it (and have a hangover) did come in handy. And there's plenty of ways ashore that you can pick up those skills from.

[GuinnessMan]

Aye, if there is one thing that some cadets need to learn, then it is how to be organised! Keep official documents (certificates and the like) in one file, make sure you have everything you need ready for when you leave to join a ship, double check you've got your passport and discharge book and for the love of god make sure you actually get on the sodding plane and don't be a sodding admin vortex!