Applications for Deck Cadetship - The story so far

[desdons]

Hi everyone,

My name is Derek and I've recently been advised I am to be made redundant - as soon as I was told I knew I wanted to pursue a career at sea. I've applied to 9 companies in total with a view of doing a deck cadetship in Jan 2014 or Sept 2013 - however I think it's too later for Sept 2013 and also I may not get away from work in time for a Sept 2013 start. For anyone interested I applied to the following companies: RFA, Maersk, Viking, SSTG, Clyde Marine, Carnival UK, Trinity House, BP & Shell

I applied to them all 1 week ago and have been pleased to see some have started to respond already. RFA called to assess my eligibility and have sent me a form, Clyde Marine emailed me to advise I can still fill in application for Jan 2014 and Maersk emailed me to advise they only take cadets in Sept and I am to late for 2013 however will be considered for 2014 recruitment process.

I'm sure I will have many questions as I progress through the application process however my main concern/question is Am I too old? I know my age has not restricted me in applying however when my CV/application form is reviewed is the fact I am 32 with 13 years of work experience going to be a hindrance or a help? I am still in excellent physical condition and my positions have involved training others, leading a training team and project managing major IT projects over the last 13 years.

I have found this website to be incredibly useful to answering lots of my questions so far and seems to be a great resource for myself, other aspiring cadets and other people who have careers at sea so well done to those involved in this site.

Thanks.

[Chiefy]

Simple...age is no barrier...as for being in excellent physical condition, you will be in a minority there then :-) I am in shape....round is a shape

Otherwise, crack on fella, good luck and please stick around

[desdons]

Well Clyde Marine were very quick to reject me. A bit disappointed and pretty worried that if I can't get an interview with them then it doesn't bode well for all the others. There was also no explanation as to why the rejection. I have replied back to ask for any feedback on my application so we will see if I get a reply!

[Bulman]

dont let it get to you, thats always gonna happen. I only got a interview with Carnival so you cant go just from one company, just a guess but i reckon Clyde prefer theirs young and out of school, where as some companies do like the older people with more life experience!

[RudderNonsense]

CMT accepted me and I'm 28. Keep trying though, your age shouldn't go against you

[nik227]

Aye CMT took me on and im going to be 25

[desdons]

Yeah just going to keep hoping that one of the others I applied to will look at my application/CV and see I am a suitable candidate. It does knock your confidence though that it was such a quick rejection. I'd understand more if I had even some sort of basic explanation. From the replies of others it wasn't my age hopefully. I got decent grades in school and have a good career history at work.

Anyway - the sun is shining and it's almost the weekend so that's good!

[Steve]

The law forbids discrimination on the basis of age.

[bobofinga]

The law forbids discrimination on the basis of age.

True in this country , but I have seen positions saying 21-30 age range etc.

[Steve]

True in this country , but I have seen positions saying 21-30 age range etc.

Of course, but not for UK cadetships. In some countries it is common to see positions advertised by race/nationality too.

[kylepaul]

Being 32 shouldn't be a problem with the RFA. I'm on the most recent intake and our oldest is 30, I've also seen a 51 year old get interviewed.

[RudderNonsense]

The law forbids discrimination on the basis of age.

My many hours spent in the Employment Tribunal would say otherwise, but you're right it is illegal! Age discrimination (amongst other types of discrimination) is alive and well in the UK job market unfortunately

[desdons]

So after my quick rejection I got a call back from the training officer who reviewed my application.

He advised that all the positions for September had been filled and it was just bad timing and my application was quite strong.

I then advised my application stated I was looking for a start date in Jan 2014.

I was then advised that the applications they previously received have filled Sept this year and majority of Jan 2014 and application wasn't strong enough to take forward for remaining spaces in Jan 2014. I then fed back that their website states "We are currently accepting applications for training commencing in August/September 2013. If you wish to apply for sponsorship commencing after that date then please come back and apply after 1st October 2013."

I was then advised that as my application made no mention of spending times on ships that this was the reason it wasn't strong enough to take forward. This was really disappointing as I've spent many hours on passenger ferries on The Minch between Ullapool and Stornoway as I was born and brought up on the Isle of Lewis and I've also spent lots of time on fishing boats doing recreational fishing!

So in summary I feel it was just a bad time to apply however I really think I was strong enough to warrant an interview for Jan 2014 intake and then fair enough if I didn't sell myself at Interview it would have been easier to accept the quick rejection. I just think it was bad timing submitting in mid July but the problem is now I can't apply for another 6 months so if I was to ever train with Clyde Marine the earliest now would be Sept 2014!

Anyone looking to apply I would suggest mentioning sea time on your application however I feel this was a case of bad timing and excuses from Clyde Marine and don't feel I got an honest answer.

Let's see what other replies I get from the other shipping companies/training organisations.

Staying positive! (but cautiously worried this is a bad time to apply!)

[bobofinga]

I would agree , this probably is a bad time to apply. September starts will most definitely be filled and January starts will be starting to be considered.