Quote:I don’t often talk about it here, but I spend time each month helping people to get jobs on boats and ships.

Many are guys in their 30's and up, who are looking for a fresh start in a new career. Some lucky few are young kids in the late teens and early 20's, looking for direction and a more exciting and lucrative trade than working in an office.

The one thing both groups have in common is a desire to do something meaningful, exciting and exceptional that actually pays well.

The maritime industry is in dire need of level-headed individuals looking for a trade or career. As most of you pros already know, it's not so easy to get your first job. Once you've got some experience and have advanced yourself out of entry-level, you'll never be out of work for long.

Unless you’re a Legacy employee, and have a father who’s in the trade, navigating the overly-complex application and credentialing process to become a professional mariner is a convoluted procedure, with interlocking trip hazards that can make simply getting a job on a boat a real pain in the ass. Even with assistance, it takes time to find your first job, but after that, you’ll rarely be out of work again, especially if you advance yourself beyond the basic skills acquired at the entry level.

Some mariners sleep in their own beds every night, some stay on their vessels for a few days, or a few weeks. Some ships travel the world endlessly, and you might work for 3, 4 or 6 months on board… and the one constant with most of these jobs is that you will only work half the time. If you work for 2 weeks on a tug, you can expect to have 2 weeks’ vacation before you go back. There’s no need to work more than 26 weeks a year… unless you want to, and make overtime.

The pay is good. You should earn somewhere around $45-50,000 in your first year, with full benefits in most jobs. Smaller ferries and daywork boats pay less, and where you choose to work matters. Ocean jobs pay more. Working in the Great Lakes or on the western rivers pays less. There are tradeoffs.