So for all you newbies out there, firstly, you really never know what to expect until you actually get here, but in saying that you should try your best to prepare yourself for what could be the best summer or next ten years or more of your career! When you have arranged a date to come over looking for work, sign up to a few crew agencies like bluewater - organise your CV to yacht standard, try and sort out some sort of accommodation for when you arrive and also research where there are some local shops, train/bus stations and of course drinking spots (for networking obviously)! Pubs around Antibes such as The Blue Lady Pub, The Quays, Latino’s or The Hop Store are all popular watering holes for crew, captains and newbies looking for their first job! These are great places to meet new people, network and are also places where many crew have found their first jobs or have had interviews!
Old town Antibes
Your first season will probably be your toughest; you're most manic but best. The main issue that all new 'yachties' have in this industry these days is the experience part, once you are past this you and have your foot in the door, things get much easier. But getting those first couple of days of day-work or that first trial seems a lot harder than you thought - thus you are landed with the career catch 22 "how do you gain experience when no one will give me work!" You must not give up!
Once you have completed your
STCW95 basic training course (which you can do at bluewater's training school) and passed your ENG1 medical certificate you are ready to get yourself into the yachting world and grab the opportunities offered to you over the next couple of weeks. Leave yourself open and ready to travel as you may end up anywhere from the Caribbean, USA or even China!
First decide which position that you want to go for, the type and size of yacht that you want to work on, what you are planning on doing to achieve this and what your goal is.
Start off looking for somewhere to stay probably a few weeks in advance before you get here as the season kicks off between March/April and lot of the crew houses will be slowly filling up! In Antibes we have crew houses such as;
The Crew House,
The Grapevine and also
The Glamorgan. These are probably the main town centre based crew houses and also the nicest ones.
Being based in Antibes, your main ports to visit should be; Antibes, Cannes, Monaco, Golf Juan, San Remo all the way to St Tropez - travelling to ports between France and Italy on the train is pretty easy. Explore and adventure, and when you get to your first yacht handing over your CV make sure you have a big smile on your face and you are keen and ready to go.
Be there bright and early, usually between 8am-11am is your prime time. On arrival at the yacht, stand up straight, be prepared for what you are going to say to the crew already on board, be very polite and professional and ask to hand over your CV with a business card. Ask politely if they are looking for any crew or need any help anytime soon, make sure that you make them aware that you are available to work for them anytime, whenever and wherever needed and are good to start straight away.
Suitable attire would be a nice clean ironed polo shirt on, smart trousers or shorts and a nice pair of deck shoes. You should be clean shaven, have a nice trimmed haircut, hide all tattoos and remove all piercings. For girls it is always nice to have your hair tied back in a neat fashion, a nice skirt or pair of shorts, and wear neutral, black, white or cream colours with little make up - you don't want to over-do it. Bear in mind that you will be working for billionaire yacht owners that do not want anyone that may look in the slightest bit unsuitable so you do really want to make yourself look as presentable as possible. You are entering one of the most luxurious industries in the world who take appearance very seriously.
Your next move is visiting all of the agencies. A good crew agency will help you start off your career and provide you with all the
correct information which is helpful to you, for example; the organisation of a yacht standard CV, appearance tips and good knowledge of the industry, as well as searching for a suitable job by using the criteria that you have set for them. Some will be incredibly truthful and to the point so you'll need to be quite thick skinned but also go in with a positive attitude as you might leave the office that morning with an interview in the afternoon and even a job by the end of the day - the industry works that quickly! Treat your interview at a crew agency as if you were going for an interview on a yacht as this is very important when the agents put you forward for jobs and they have had a good impression from you, they will be letting captains and yacht owners know exactly how great you were!
Networking is also a key point to take into consideration. Go out, enjoy a few beers, get talking and make a good impression of yourself. Attend crew and dock BBQ's, yachting events, concerts in town and crew parties, make friends and ask around for any work that might be going. Many people get their first days dock-walking from mixing and chatting with crew around town. Now this does not mean sitting in the pub for days getting drunk - you are in one of the largest industries in the world but you will be very surprised how small the yachting networking world is and how fast word (or a name) gets around to yachts about bad crew members. Your first impression in this industry could make you or break you!
But yachting isn't always so serious all the time, you will make the most amazing friends that you'll ever meet, become close with your crew like family, you will travel to places that you would have never before, you will earn a great amount of money and also tips from yacht guests and the bosses aren't bad either! Also once your charter is over there is not a better feeling than sitting down with your crew and popping open that well deserved bottle of champagne to celebrate wherever in the world you are!
This is a different quality of life to be living and a fantastic industry to work in; you will be given so many opportunities and amazing places to visit, so why not go for it? Whether you're catching a beautiful sunset on the gentle waves of the Caribbean or sat up in the berths of the famous Monte Carlo docks, the yachting lifestyle is a fabulous one. Work hard, play hard.
For more information on crew placement and also training courses (STCW95) please contact:
crew@bluewateryachting.com
training@bluewateryachting.com
or call us on +33 493 34 47 73
