Ship to Shore Career Advice

Are you looking to make the move from ship to shore? SYR are here to help.

First things first, we’re not a crew agency, in fact we’ve written a whole article about that. However, we are the first dedicated shoreside recruiter in luxury yachting, focusing solely on supporting employers from across the world of yacht design, build, sales, management and supply.

If you’re reading this then it’s very likely that you have worked onboard a superyacht, meaning you will have many transferable skills that are highly sought after in the shoreside superyacht industry.

Yacht crew develop great communication and time management skills, as well as the flexibility to adapt to ever-changing situations. Prospective employers will also appreciate your varied life experiences so think how these could be applied to a future role – this will help to set you apart from other candidates!

If you were a Chief Stew or Purser, you will have managerial skills, people management experience, exceptional attention to detail, great customer service skills and maybe even the ability to speak a second language.

If you worked as a Deckhand, then you will have hopefully developed a great work ethic, take pride in your work, have great problem solving skills and even technical knowledge that may come in useful.

As a Chief Officer or Engineer aboard, you could be ideal for a role within the busy world of yacht management.

One of the unique aspects about working aboard a yacht means that you inevitably learn to work well with others in close quarters. This is good practice in developing working relationships with a high functioning team and a commitment to producing results by working as a team to do what is demanded, especially in high-pressure situations.

Which shoreside jobs could be your first port of call?

Yacht brokerage and charter

Nobody knows yachts better than ex-crew. Working as a Yacht Broker is a role that many ex-ya

chties find themselves in and is seen as a rewarding job after yachting. Given the knowledge you’ve developed in yacht operations, working with the UHNW market and of course selling yourself to potential yachts as employers, you’re already a long way towards being suited to life in sales or charter. These types of roles can be hu

gely financially rewarding and maintain a close contact with clients.

 

Shoreside office-based roles suitable for ex-interior crew

 

There are plenty of great roles working for Yacht Management companies or Crew Recruitment companies that actively ask for previous yacht experience so that the employees have a clear understanding of the business needs. Coming ashore from an interior roles opens up one of the largest potential jobs pools, with a massive list of potential lines of work to go into.

Roles can include:

• Yacht Finance
• HR
• Crew Management
• Yacht Management
• Marketing
• Recruitment

Shoreside roles for technical and deck crew

Coming ashore from a role such as Engineer, ETO or a similar deck, technical or engineering role could see you move into a multitude of shoreside roles that will lean on your existing expertise, such as:

• Project Manager
• Technical Manager
• Superintendent
• Yacht Manager
• Engineering Management

Senior Crew

Senior crew such as Chief Officers and Captains will usually bring with them the highest range of skills gained from a long career at sea. Whilst it is sometimes the most difficult to transition ashore from roles at these levels, there are a host of rewarding positions on offer.

• Fleet Manager
• Senior Yacht Manager
• DPA
• Build Consultant
• Project Manager

Next Steps

SYR can help you identify where your existing skills and experience can take you next. If you want to take a slightly different career path but don’t currently have the requisite qualifications, take a look at our Training Partners the Maritime Training Academy and see what courses they offer. We also recommend taking a look at our CV Advice article.

The SYR team really are here to help so even if we’re not currently advertising a role that interests you, get in touch and we can discuss companies you’d like us to approach on your behalf.

We look forward to speaking to you soon!