Advice! :)

[GraaY94]

hey guys, its Calum here,

I have an interview for Clyde maring training on the 20th of january, for a cadet deck officer position, and was wondering if anyone in the M.Navy could give me any advice, tips and websites i could use to study up on for preparation for this interview,

thanks, it would mean a lot.

message me on this, or pm.

Mod Note: email address removed, this site is well frequented and we strongly advise members not to post their email addresses so they are not collected by evil spam bots or other n'er do wells. Merry Christmas!

[CharlieDelta]

Hi Calum and welcome!

Pretty much everything you need is somewhere on the forums, but we've collected most of the big things in the Big Interview Tips thread which is at the top of the Aspiring Cadets forum.

Read the CMT website from cover to cover (metaphorically speaking), have a look at the Careers at Sea website which has some useful bits and just read as much as you can. Wikipedia, shipping magazines, Google. Find out what different ship types there are, what they do, what the deck officers are responsible for and what's happening in the industry at the moment.

Have a read of some blogs, see the link at the top of the page. Mine is a work in progress and needs serious updating, but I hope there's some useful things there. Also size4's blog and Alistair's blog, though we are all quite biased towards cruise ships.

Think about your answers to common interview questions. Have you done much that demonstrates leadership? Good maths skills? Good time management? Decision-making? Working as part of a team? All of this will help!

CD

[GraaY94]

thanks yeah im kinda peering towards cruise ships, but i havent taken much thought into it really, ive been revising and gneral browsing daily just in the hope i succeed, i couldnt bare having to wait until september to re apply thanks again

[Randomist]

Cruise Ship training and Cargo Ship training are two different worlds. I would say that it is easier to integrate into the way cruise ships operate if you train on them but if you're not that bothered you can easily transfer from cargo to cruise once you have your ticket and a bit of experience.

Just remember, a lot of cruise ship companies drop people a rank when they come over from cargo in order for them to learn the ropes, but this isn't for long. If you are dead set on cruise ship training then go for it. It's all the same ticket at the end of the day.

[GuinnessMan]

It's also a lot easier to transfer from Cargo to Cruise as the cargo on cruise ships can walk and talk whereas the cargo on cargo needs forward planning to make sure it is in the right place and generally doesn't move or talk (be concerned if it does).

[Randomist]

There's a lot more politics on Cruise ships tho. Passenger Focus means you have to be on your best behaviour at all times.

I'm wary of using the term 'easy' to describe the change because it's not easy to adjust to cruise when you come from cargo, but as AM says it's 'easier' to go Cargo -> Cruise than Cruise -> Cargo

[jcwilson91]

im on a cruise now and tbh i wish i was on cargo, there are so many assistants on this ship that it is hard to learn things, and the guys on this ship take offence if i try to do anything as they think it makes them look bad in front of the boss man, also this ship is massive and because it has so many pipes for the many number of systems it is difficult for me. All the Engineers agree that its better to learn on cargo.

Although i've just noticed your a deck cadet and the deck cadet on here is learning loads as we have manoeuvring every day and are quite frequently in heavy traffic for the rules of the road and all that jazz.

My recommendation, For deckies cruise is good, for clank's its ****.

[JJ8811]

I have spent the past year working on cruise-ships, in the bar dept. I took this position to see the world, meet some new people and earn some money. I did all three and had so much fun doing so but also made the decision that a career at sea is somthing I could see myself doing long term.
However, although there are prospects in the F&B department, I decided to apply for a deck cadetship and was sucessfull in my application. I am starting in Feb at South Tyneside College and for the next 3 years I will be serving my sea time on container ships. This will be a totally new challenge and enviroment but I have a few friends that have served this route before moving to cruise ships when they have qualified and thats exactly what I hope to do.
I am excited about starting my cadetship and working on cargo's, however, my heart is on the cruise ship and I cannot wait to go back once qualified. Thats my motivation for the next 3 years.

[CharlieDelta]

I do wonder, from an engineering point of view, if the prevalence of diesel-electric propulsion on cruise ships is good or bad for learning? Is it better to learn on your standard single engine/single prop configuration, or on something a bit more complicated and does it have any implications for switching ship types?

[alistairuk]

I do wonder, from an engineering point of view, if the prevalence of diesel-electric propulsion on cruise ships is good or bad for learning? Is it better to learn on your standard single engine/single prop configuration, or on something a bit more complicated and does it have any implications for switching ship types?

Diesel Electric is only common on cruise ships less than 10 years old :-)

[CharlieDelta]

Fair point. We have two "normal" ships, one from 1995, one from 2000.

[GraaY94]

thanks anyway guys, to be quite honest im not fussed if i get a cargo or cruise side, id be happy that i was successful in getting in im revising the merchant navy and clyde marines companies like crazy, im determined to nail my interview

[YoungMariner]

Diesel Electric is only common on cruise ships less than 10 years old :-)

Well.... haha, I'd more say Cruise Ships less then 20 years old. Also a lot of the larger DP ships such as pipe layers and dive support are Diesel Electric for various reasons.

[chris]

Diesel electric anorak moment...

I think all the cruise ships built in the Fincanteri yard since 1990 bar 2 (Costa Classica and Romantica) have had diesel electric propulsion. I find it strange that P&Os Oriana built by Meyer Werft had conventional propulsion as late as 1995, they also built the Aurora launched in 2000 and that has diesel electric propulsion.

[CharlieDelta]

Correction: 1 ship. I was thinking Oriana and Adonia. But turns out Adonia is diesel electric.