Getting out of cadetship

[Unregistered]

Hi everyone, I know that there are a few similar topics out there but I was just wondering about quitting my cadetship. The thing is as we are all tied in by a contract, my contract says that the liability that I could be asked to pay is capped at ?3000.

Does anyone or know anyone that had ended their cadetship and had to pay back that exact sum of money? Could Nautilus help bring it down?

Its all getting a bit scary now if I am honest so advice will be GREATLY appreciated and I am sure that you would appreciate why I am remaining anonymous.

[YoungMariner]

It depends where you are with the cadetship to be honest and how far along, but realistically its very difficult for companies to enforce the training bonds.

Do consider carefully before you quit the cadetship, if you are more then half way through then I'd say try hard to complete it. Once you have finished, you never have to set foot on a ship ever again, but with those qualifications you can often slip ashore into a position that you may enjoy far more. Plus as an officer, the ships and lifestyle can be far better then deep sea as a cadet.

But if you really do feel that you can't take a day more of this, the sooner you take it up with your company, the better.

[EH75]

You could always just deliberately fail all your exams and get fired instead? Surely they don't ask people they fire to pay the money?

That's probably a last resort, sure someone more knowledgeable will be along in a minute to offer better advice.

[Hatchorder]

In my opinion I would be straight up and talk to your training officer and be totally honest. The sooner the better.

The advice about how long into the course is totally valid - less than a year to go - get the qualification.

It will be difficult enough getting a job after dropping out through choice as people will question stickability. "Fail" and get sacked and the problem is twice as hard. Given the choice between dropping out and owing ?3000 and being sacked I would go with the former. It is a little bit of "Straw Law" though - without the money to pay them back any employer would be hard pushed to get the money back and personally I don't think they would even try to enforce - they may ask and get people to volunteer to repay, but doubt they would go to the trouble of enforcement.

Before you make the decision though, talk it through with someone and revisit it at least three times over a number of weeks just to make sure it is not a low period or a phase you are going through because times are hard.

PM someone you respect from here if you like and ask to talk to them. I am sure nobody would begrudge you 30 minutes of advice and a friendly chat. They have no motive either way and so can play devil's advocate for you.

Remember, quitting a cadetship is like squeezing a tube of toothpaste, you cannot undo it and put the toothpaste back.

Ian.

[Unregistered]

quitting......

Its always better to speak with your training company, explain and listen to what they have to say.

It may even be better in the case you want to come back in a year or 2 thus deferring your study.

Its a great shame to read these stories when there are hundreds of hopefuls to obtain the courses and complete training. But think long and hard about what you want to do thereafter.

Good luck! And please report back your findings as there will always be people in your situation in the future with the same question.

[JonathanI]

Just remember once you leave that's it pretty much ! To get smart funding again is ridiculously hard ! I have came a across a few people who have left/been chucked out and wanted to go back a few years later and they can't get funding ! Also it's not going to look good when they ask you why you left. Just have a real hard think about it and make sure it's the right decision !

[Hatchorder]

Right guys,

I was fortunate that this person sent me a PM last night and I was able to give them my home number, and we had a very long chat on the phone. Their reasons for thinking of jacking it are totally genuine and are brought about by recent circumstances rather than a change of heart.

Personally I would totally understand if they did jack it in, but as someone else has said there may be a chance to defer with their training provider. Hopefully they will go away and do some big thinking before making such a monumental decision.

My thoughts, and best wishes go out to the OP. I hope you could see that there is a lot of good advice and support here for you, you only need to shout, someone will be able to help.

Ian.