sailing cv

flyingjunior

flyingjunior

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Hi Folks wonder whether you can help me with this one.
I have been looking for a new job and a number of sailing jobs have caught my eye but they are asking for a sailing CV (previous sailing jobs have been obtained via a informal interview).
How different is that to a standard work CV and can it include academic qualifications such as A levels, degrees etc?. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Any help would be appreciated.
cheers Pip /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer. What would you want to know about a candidate? -Formal qualifications, previous employment in sailing jobs, general boaty experience - type, size, location, mileage, crew position etc. Anything that might affect your ability to do the job, e.g. home location, marital status, languages etc.

Non-boaty stuff like education & employment could be covered in a couple of lines.

And the most vital - willingness to live on hardly any money!

Good luck! And if you can't get a paid job you could sign up as a B/M on the Nellie.
 
yep, it's still a cv but front page should include basic sailin info that is of interest to skipper etc. in other words are you any use on a boat.

eg

name
contact info (so no address if it's not a good contact)
mobile
email
nationality
age
digipic - portrait only (if no pic then people may assume you are incredibly ugly)
sex (only put this if it ain't really obvious, such as you are called NKqur Ztvag. Also if your name is complex put "Les" or "Stretch" or whatever you are normally called.

Experience
coastal inlc English channel 1993-95
1996 xyz course and racing cruise to wherever
1997-99 sunsail dinghy fixer (greece and caribean)
2000 S/Y Jimi crew: sail trimmer, solent, Trip to Ireland (aborted) and Falmouth
2001 SY TwistyTeak : local solent crusiing plus fitted entire deck
2002 M/Y TCM : boat guardiennage plus helping smooth things over
etc etc


Qualifications
STCW95 2004
RYA yachtwasher (power) 2005
RYA coastal washing up (sail) 2005

Other
Full Uk driving licence
Experince RIB skipper
Good engineering/rig diagnostic skills
Helpful do-anything attitude
Survival cooking skills (biscuits, sandwiches)

The restof the stuff goes on other pages. if you like, and are v young (that means under 21) you *can* put education on page to fill in gaps and pad it a bit. But keep it short eg
91-98 Secondary Education, Gobshite School, London, 2 x A-levels
(Don't need alevel grades cos nobody's interested cept the headmaster and a university, and most readers either will be much cleverer and think god wot a dimmo OR won't have a-levels and think god wot a showoff...)

Hopefully, the first page should good enough so you don't need any of that personal statement shite. God i hate these. "I am a dynamic and resourceful individual with good computer skills which has enabled me to copy/paste verbose bullshit like this from various websites..."
 
Common format:

Start with photo (passport type) and personal details , including contact details (phone, e mail etc.) then the following headings:

Profile
Sailing Qualifications
Sailing Experience
Career Summary
Education
Interests
Referees

Keep it to 2 pages of single sided A4 - if you double side, people don't always look on the back; if you go over 2 pages, people lose interest and don't read it all.
 
If a yacht owner/employer bothers to do a little research they might see the posts of someone they are considering for interview in YBW forums and find there a much bigger picture than given in a crafted CV.


If the potential employer is dyslexic, or perhaps disabled in some other way, they may or may not find the signature - Dyslexic's rule KO! - funny.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If a yacht owner/employer bothers to do a little research they might see the posts of someone they are considering for interview in YBW forums and find there a much bigger picture than given in a crafted CV.

If the potential employer is dyslexic, or perhaps disabled in some other way, they may or may not find the signature - Dyslexic's rule KO! - funny.

[/ QUOTE ]

..... and you wouldn't want to work for someone without a sense of humour /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif (but don't try humour in the cv - play it straight)
 
Re: sailing cv - funnies

um, there of course should be no "funnies" in a cv of any kind, imho. I puttem in my post, but wdn't in a real one. Usually more than one person get the cv and very often they are spending other people's money. Funny stuff is risky and a good reason to use someone on the "maybe" pile instead of the "maybe not" pile....
 
On the plus side a look at the details of the poster shows an interesting range of boating stuff with practicality, resourcefulness and enthusiasm. Looks like a good ol boy to me.
There's only one thing worse than showing a sense of humour on a CV, that's not showing a sense of humour. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
I'm glad you asked about the format of a sailing CV, Ive been trying to concoct one and have no idea how to start.

Personal statements are the very hardest bit, trying to sell yourself, without sounding arrogant. In my experience the average British person is incredibly modest and will try to play down possibly amazing things they have done/can do. The way I'm looking at it, when I come to apply for deckhand jobs, I'll be up against candiates from other countries (I won't mention which ones) where modesty isn't such an intregral part of the National Pschye.

Anyway good luck mate, hope the job search goes well.
 
Think TCM has covered it pretty well

All I would add is that you should bear some passing resemblance to the person the CV describes.

No-one really expects the whole truth but best if stick a bit close.

Except personal statements - no-one takes any notice of them - I hever have anyway
 
Hi Pip. Personally I would like to see a well rounded CV, obviously weighted towards your sailing experience, but including education, past employment (part time jobs etc.) and other interests such as DofE Gold etc, etc. Spose you better put a bit of stuff in about marital status as well.

Not seen you on the forum since Cherbourg, thought Capt. (Dralex) Bligh must have put you off for life!
 
Don't forget languages... I've only got one and it always comes up at interviews even though I've never needed more than one!

PS make sure the cv matches you bio on this website, just in case the employer does find him/herself here reading this. You could even get some of your other 165 posts quoted back at you. Its a small world, but at least you can go back and edit any of the really embarrasing ones.
 
Hi Steve Just been very busy with trying to find a job (now working in Suffolk at a environmental centre) with a two week passage to Lisbon thrown in for good measure plus Ive been lurking on pbo and classic.
Would have said that captain Bligh was a more appropiate title to the guy I work for over the summer than Alex (any way thanks to Alex and his mate Julian over that weekend I had some of the best food I have ever had on a boat /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif). Though it cant have been too bad as have been spending my spare time down at Maldon learning about wooden boat maintiance in return for food and beer. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
PLEASE don't make it too long or put lots of irrelevant stuff in it.
We had a lot of applications for an instructors job this summer and I couldn't believe the many pages some people sent in, which were of no interest.

One thing we did notice - a lot of people didn't put the dates when they passed various courses. This is useful as it shows whether you have built up your experience gradually over many years. If there are no dates we assumed the person had done a Fast-Track very recently.

Many employers are looking first and foremost for breadth of sailing experience.

Good luck
 
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