Hello All!!

[martynatsea]

Good day,

I've just discovered this site and as an active Careers at Sea Ambassador thought I should sign up and say hello !!

My name is Martyn and I work in the cruise industry for Holland America Line, with whom I've been with since I began as a cadet in 2007. I've also recently gained my Chief Mate's ticket having previously come through the FD style cadetship (I know this is a hot topic). Also, as I mentioned above I am a Careers at Sea Ambassador and have given many a talk in schools and at various career events over the years I've been involved, so it's fair to say that I do love my job!!

So thats a little bit about me, if there are any questions, particularly about anything specific to my experience above, then please don't hesitate to drop me a message.

Martyn

Oh...and I've just discovered Twitter too as another medium to promote a job at sea. I've only just set it up so I haven't used it in anger as yet but I intend to make regular 'tweets' about my job at sea so please follow me on that (@martynatsea) if you're interested in what life is like working on cruise ships!!

[size4riggerboots]

Hi Martyn and welcome to our little corner of the interweb! We have lots of folk here at all stages of their career, and it's always interesting to hear people's stories and experiences. There's a few (newly qualified) people who've been asking about getting a job with HAL recently, so your input on that subject (as well as any other) would be brilliant

S4

[martynatsea]

Absolutely, and I'll be more then happy to offer any advice!! When I was at college recently studying for my mates I was amazed at how many HAL cadets were walking around the place. As far as jobs for newly qualified people go it will be the HAL cadets who get them first obviously because the company has invested a lot of money in them, so that makes it difficult for others because there aren't that many places available. That's not to say you can't get a job with them though, sometimes the right time and place can mean that somebody gets taken on!!

[HarmlessWeasel]

Hi, just thought I'd check the twitter address as I can't seem to find you. martynatsea right?

[martynatsea]

Hi there...yes that's right, not sure why it wouldn't come up, I am new to twitter though so not completely figured it out yet!! I intend to start using it in anger sometime this month as I have some school talks and courses happening so going to coincide it with them.

The address of my page is https://twitter.com/martynatsea, maybe that helps?!

[HarmlessWeasel]

The address of my page is https://twitter.com/martynatsea, maybe that helps?!

yeah that did it. No idea why the search didn't work. Perhaps there are some visibility settings?

[martynatsea]

Hmm, not sure...as far as I can tell I should be visible, who knows?!?