Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

[Squareleg28]

Reading through some posts on the forum a common worry for some guys (maybe more on the deck side) is that they may want to move company or sector after completing their cadetship.

Discouting any specific contractual obligations how easy is it for engineers to move to different sectors of the industry? Is it easier than for the deck lads?

Obviously general principles are the same, but say a new cruise liner will have more "sophisticated" gear on board, countered by the argument that an older ship will need more hands on TLC.

Any thoughts? Are you an eng cadet who wants to move when they finish?

[Chiefy]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

Staying at sea? Then moving from company to company is easy, see the job advertised, apply, "get the job", move. An engine is an engine is an engine, the command and control gear changes from time to time, but your education is meant to give you first principles, from there, RTFM and ask questions.

It really is that simple, however many people find a sector they are hppy with and stay within that sector, like tankers / containers / cruises and you move around within that area, tankers need the extra Certs, and attract a higher wage, so many are loathe to waste the extra training or give up the few extra quid Some people really like cruises and so stay within that area as they like having all the people etc.

Occasionally it is helpful to move company for promotion mainly cos company A are stagnent and company B is expanding.

As for comming ashore it depends what you want to do....Ships have superintendents ashore they dont grow on trees Power stations like sea staff engineers, deck department can do (or seem to) go more in for Safety Surveyors, ISM Auditors and that kind of thing.

So in short moving about is easy enough for both side.

[Squareleg28]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

Thanks Chiefy!

[Pear]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

Moving companies after finishing your cadetship would be a bit harsh wouldn't it? Especially after the sponsoring company have invested thousands into you for training.

[AlternativeNavs]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

That is if they offer you a job at the end of it..... remember that some companies are not obliged to employ you at the end of you cadetship.

Some companies may ask you to pay for your training if you leave, but on the whole its a no obligation deal. Regardless of what they may tell you when you start.

To them, your worth far more in tax breaks than they ever spend on you.

[Squareleg28]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

As JMZ says they may or may not offer you a job. It is sensible to remember that companies may be good/bad/indifferent to you when you are cadet - of course they are giving you the opportunity BUT they do very well out of the deal indeed. I don't think either party "owes" the other (not outside the normal HR/duty of care stuff)

Of course one should work any contractual obligations post cadetship, but if you want to move on or do something different after why not?

[Pear]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

I probably understood this differently to what was meant. I thought that some cadets where planning to move one straight away even though they were selected out of many applicants for sponsorship, which would be a bit harsh considering time and money was spent on you. I didn't know that the tax breaks were much more than the cost of sponsoring a cadet?

[AlternativeNavs]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

I probably understood this differently to what was meant. I thought that some cadets where planning to move one straight away even though they were selected out of many applicants for sponsorship, which would be a bit harsh considering time and money was spent on you. I didn't know that the tax breaks were much more than the cost of sponsoring a cadet?

Yeah they are considerable, I'm unsure on the exact figures but I believe that the money spent on Cadets falls into the 'Pennies' category.

Also, remember that many companies (such as SSTG) access something called 'SMART' funding from the government. Again lowering the cost to individual companies.

[dawg]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

No company is obliged to offer you a job at the end: but some effectively do - i.e.: you'd have to have messed up significantly to get to the end of training and not get an offer.
Others just say "some", but don't really know how many... which is a bit of pressure on cadets I suppose.

Every sponsor will do CTAs differently, and there will be different levels of detail and depth. If you think about the scenario where you qualify, and you get an offer, and then you say no, and then you get some kind of legal letter saying you have pay a sum of money in compensation... it does seem like a bit of daft one.
Why would a company want to coerce you to working for them just to avoid a big bill? Not really a good situation for either party... I guess it would just turn into an ugly long legal wrangle, I dunno which way it would go - perhaps it's never been tested in court.
Having said that, I suspect it's highly unlikely that a cadet/newly-qualified officer would want to turn an offer down (unless they suddenly became ship-o-phobic; or became infatuated with a mermaid etc...), even without the current climate, you'd want some work experience and a decent reference under your belt if you wanted to have a career.

I would imagine there's a correlation between the depth and detail of contracts (including whether they have buy-out clauses) and the likelihood of a job at the end.

There's a bit of stuff on the wiki about "what's in it for them"; but I think it's wrong to be too cynical. UK officers, despite the cost, are wanted over international ones - just not in the sort of numbers that would see loads and loads of all-British crewed vessels. I think it's more than just because we speak English; there's possibly a security and safety dimension to it.

I haven't compiled a list of all the maritime training institutions in the world, but I can imagine there aren't loads; and that you would expect to get better quality staff coming out of the colleges in the developed world. There are lots of foreign students coming out of "western" maritime colleges, but I suppose it's perhaps simpler to just hire locals than sponsoring loads of cadets from the developing world, which is why we can all do this.

[Pear]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

I probably understood this differently to what was meant. I thought that some cadets where planning to move one straight away even though they were selected out of many applicants for sponsorship, which would be a bit harsh considering time and money was spent on you. I didn't know that the tax breaks were much more than the cost of sponsoring a cadet?

Yeah they are considerable, I'm unsure on the exact figures but I believe that the money spent on Cadets falls into the 'Pennies' category.

Also, remember that many companies (such as SSTG) access something called 'SMART' funding from the government. Again lowering the cost to individual companies.

Surely if it were just about tax breaks then they'll be sponsoring every man and his dog, and not bother with selection and interviews? Most companies will value cadets to some extent, as they need to replace the officers that retire/leave. I wouldn't think that the companies have bad intentions and are just using us all for tax breaks.

[Chiefy]

Re: Moving Company/Sector Post Cadetship (Eng)

I probably understood this differently to what was meant. I thought that some cadets where planning to move one straight away even though they were selected out of many applicants for sponsorship, which would be a bit harsh considering time and money was spent on you. I didn't know that the tax breaks were much more than the cost of sponsoring a cadet?

Yeah they are considerable, I'm unsure on the exact figures but I believe that the money spent on Cadets falls into the 'Pennies' category.

Also, remember that many companies (such as SSTG) access something called 'SMART' funding from the government. Again lowering the cost to individual companies.

Surely if it were just about tax breaks then they'll be sponsoring every man and his dog, and not bother with selection and interviews? Most companies will value cadets to some extent, as they need to replace the officers that retire/leave. I wouldn't think that the companies have bad intentions and are just using us all for tax breaks.

Bets?!

Seriously though, the contract as a cadet is for your training ONLY it is based on the old MNTB contract, they will tain you then after that you amy or may not get a job, more often than not you will, but as this year has proved at least one company couldnt find places for all it's cadets this year, but should be ok for the next batch.

Dont feel to bad about moving about, if you leave some one else will replace you as it is a merry go round