Leaving during a cadetship?

[Unregistered]

Hi,

I've wanted to join the merchant navy for a while now and I've been reading around this site and have found it extremely helpful, thanks

As I said, I've wanted to pursue this career for a good while now but I've got some family stuff going on that makes being away from home quite difficult. I'm getting sick of working in a job that has next to no long term prospects and is dull. So I'm thinking I might sort out some help family wise and give it a go.

However, if things take a turn for the worse at home, how easy is it to walk away from a cadetship? Surely if a company sponsors your training and pays you a sum of money, would I then owe it back if for whatever reason I didn't complete my training? Is there any sort of minimum service like the armed forces?

Just to be clear, I wouldn't take the decision to walk away lightly, I want to give this my best shot. I'm just being realistic unfortunately.

Thanks

[Bulman]

Hey bud, a lot of companies do a minimum time to serve them after completion, I know that carnival say you can work for them for two years after completion and you don't owe them any thing.

Obviously you can also pay your way out, it's not as much as the course and fee's them self would be and obviously if you drop out before the end of the three year course you won't owe as much. It seems like this is a regular thing as carnival had it all calculated how much you would owe depending on when you left. Hope this helps and don't forget you can start a cadetship when you're older too! (dunno how old you are now)

[ETwhat?]

Your in a hard situation, you dont really want to go and ask at an interview about what will happen if you leave as thats not going to be overly attractive to them. Some companies as haas been said have a tie in period after the cadetship, so if they need you when you qualify you spend that time working for them, (if they dont however they will wave you goodbye). Other companies only provide the training and then as soon as you finish you are onto the job market, for both however they tend to have a charge for you failing to complete the cadetship Clyde marine limit it to a maximum of ?3000 but i dont know how that would be applied, or if they can take compasionate grounds into consideration.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for your replies, they're both helpful. That's primarily my reasons for asking my question on here, I'd stand no chance if I started asking about leaving and dropping out at interview, there are plenty more applicants who are every bit as good as me and not having thoughts about leaving before they've even started. So do you think my best bet would be to try and go with a company like Clyde Marine in the hope that I can manage 3 years and then be ok? Thanks again.

Ps. I'm 18

[alistairuk]

I'm going to read between the lines and assume you are referring more to the "what happens in the event of a death" (apologies if this is not the case, but it may also be useful for others);

Every (pretty much) company will repatriate you as soon as practically possible in the event of a death (or pending death) to someone in your immediate family (parents, spouse, sibling, children); most will also repatriate you at your own cost for other persons.

Obviously bare in mind that "as soon as reasonably practical" may be days (potentially weeks if your in the middle of the pacific); even leaving ship within hours may if your on the other side of the world mean you take days to get back.

As the others have said while you are a cadet and for some companies for a period after qualifying there is a financial penalty should you drop out / leave / fail to complete for any reason.

[Steve]

Although there are all these 'returns of service' and 'if you leave, you pay the fees' in contracts, I've never heard of a serious attempt to enforce them.

[mak]

Although there are all these 'returns of service' and 'if you leave, you pay the fees' in contracts, I've never heard of a serious attempt to enforce them.

Aye as far as I can remember my contract reserves the right to claim the money back but I know of at least one person who was working for the same company and left with no financial consequences.

[Unregistered]

Thanks again for your help guys

To alistairuk, I wasn't meaning in the event of a death 100% although it was something that was kinda worrying me so thanks for clearing that one up. In the event of a family death then I'd need some time off yes, for funeral arrangements etc. However, I'd hope that I'd be able to return after that. I was actually meaning if I was needed to take care of stuff at home indefinitely, which would probably result in me having to leave but only as a last resort.

To Steve and mak, while that is reassuring, I'm not sure I'd like to take the risk of that because knowing my luck I'd be the one they decide to enforce it on!

Also, out of curiosity, do you know if you can return after something like that?

Thanks for all your help!

[YoungMariner]

I know of one person who dropped out at Phase 6 (HND Course, Deck Cadet), and was persued for around 5000 pounds of outstanding fees. He was on the course behind me, and this was around 6 or 7 years ago.

He did walk off a P&O Cruise Ship in Southampton rather dramatically.

[size4riggerboots]

A flounce? A good flounce is always fun! Doesn't make your newly ex-employers very fond of you though! Can you elaborate on the reason for the flounce?

[YoungMariner]

I think he just woke up one day and decided that he didn't actually want to be at sea. Part of it was that he'd started his cadetship with a different much lower class cruise line (Airtours/MyTravel) and he just felt in his opinion that the officers in P&O were arrogant '@#@!. Honestly, I think being confident is part of the territory with being a cruise ship officer to some extent, especially to create the correct authority gradient, but some people take it too far and too seriously.

[YoungMariner]

Although on the other hand, the same guy said that MyTravel cruises (I think they are now Thomson) reminded him of Butlins at sea. Somethines along the lines of "If ya want cornflakes, put ya hands up" in a scouse/essex/geordie accent.

[size4riggerboots]

Honestly, I think being confident is part of the territory with being a cruise ship officer to some extent, especially to create the correct authority gradient, but some people take it too far and too seriously.

Amen to that!

[philbrill1990]

Hey there.

I'm hardly qualified to give you any advice as I'm only a soon to be cadet myself but I'd like to give you my opinion in case it helps!

If you are unsure at all about whether you should do it I would just give it a while to think about it. As far as I'm aware, due to the way the funding works, a certain part of it is only ever allocated once to any particular person (I'm sure somebody more knowledgeable on here could clarify that if needs be). This does mean that if you drop out for whatever reason but really enjoy the course, you might never get the chance to study it again. Once you lose this funding (i.e. you've already received it), getting sponsorship for the course is nigh on impossible. I don't think the risk of financial implications if you go for it and then leave is anything to worry about (opinion only!), but losing the chance to do it again might be something pretty serious to think about.

In my opinion if you're not sure, wait until you are sure and then damn well go for it! I hope what I've said is right and that it helps. Best of luck .

[Unregistered]

Once again, thanks a million for all your help!

AncientMariner: Wow! ?5000, I bet he regretted that afterwards. I'd hope that if I ever needed to leave, that it would be on good terms and not very dramatic. That must have been a sight to see!

philbrill1990: Thanks for the advice mate, and that's given me something to think about. It's not really case of am I sure, because I am and I really want to follow this career. It's more just whether it can work practically with me being away for long stretches of time. I'm just weighing up my options as I don't really see myself having a long-term career in the fast food industry :P

Thanks for all your help guys!