Do you want to work on a superyacht as a stewardess, deckhand or chef? Are you eager to get started in yachting like NOW?

As the yachting industry works in seasons I wanted to share 5 things you can do now to get started in yachting. How to prepare for your biggest adventure yet! From booking courses to preparing as best as possible from your home country to ensure a smooth transition. WANT TO KICK START YOUR YACHTING CAREER? Check out this resource hub

1. Work out a budget and plan to have a safety net

Now to get started in yachting it can be an expensive exercise you have to factor in the cost of your STCW course, your ENG1 Medical, any other courses you see fit for your role onboard. 

A lot of people ask for my suggested STCW training providers however it does not matter where you do your training as the STCW is standardised so I would suggest looking around for the most reasonable price. As you may also have to take into account accommodation or travel costs to the training facility which can also add up.

Other costs you need to factor in are flights, visas, any new purchases which you need to make before you leave your home country such as a soft top suitcase. If you have already started thinking about what to pack, I suggest listening to episode 7 first which runs through all the yacht crew packing essentials. 

Other costs you need to consider will be costs for when you arrive at one of the yachting hubs like Antibes or Palma Mallorca or Fort Lauderdale in Florida. The USA is far cheaper to stay then France – just keep in mind. However it gets more tricky   when you enter the USA on a tourist visa as you cannot legally look for work. I wouldn’t recommend doing it this way unless you have a visa.

Now back to the costs – accommodation, I highly recommend staying in crew houses as they provide much more than just a roof over your head. They provide networking opportunities, post day working jobs and most are owned by previous yacht crew so they are available to answer any questions you may have during your time there. 

In my yachting kickstarter pack I share the go to crew houses in the yachting hubs and offer VIP bookings so if you’re struggling to book accomodation during peak times and have grabbed my kickstarter pack, you can have peace of mind knowing you’ll be able to get a bed and focus on what matters grabbing those networking opportunities on the daily notice board! 

Your other focus should be saving for what I like to call yachting safety net, the funds you live off for when you are job hunting. For some people this period can be two weeks and others are there for 4 months. It’s not guaranteed so the more money you have in your safety net the less stressed you will be. 

2. Book your yachting courses

The busier STCW training providers such as Bluewater in Antibes and the other yachting hubs book out easily.  I recommend getting organised early and booking in as soon as you can. That way you can tick off the essentials. 

If you’re going for a deckhand role I would suggest getting your ENG1 medical examination booked first. This is because if you’re colour blind this will prevent you from progressing through the ranks of a deckhand due to safety implications with navigation.  

3. Start an online social media profile

Recently I have come across online profiles of green stews and aspiring yacht chefs on Instagram, sharing their inspirations, their cocktail creations, their unique talents and more! It’s been amazing to see someone new to the industry do stunning napkin folds which out do me who has been in the industry for more than 5 years!
As a head of department I think it shows enthusiasm, and can really get you out there engaging with other yacht crew online. It all comes back to networking.
I’ve seen this work successfully for yacht chefs and stews however am yet to see any deck profiles on my radar, let me know if you have one i’d love to see. 

4. Look at your Yachting CV and see if there’s anywhere to upskill?

Nows the time to prepare so we look at our CV, look at our transferable skills (if you want some help with this check out episode 12) and see where we can upskill before leaving our home country. Anything which can give you a competitive edge on others is beneficial to have on your CV.

It might be that you feel like you are lacking in hospitality experience, is there an opportunity for you to gain more experience in fine dining before you leave? Or is there a short cocktail course you can complete which gives you more confidence.

Or maybe it’s getting your Open water padi license because you would love to dive and having water related hobbies on your CV can be amazing. This is defintaltey not an essential thing but as an example I have written in my hobbies section of my CV “ I have completed my open water dive course which has taken me under the sea in Columbia, Azores, St Maarten and Byron Bay” and speaking to captains after I’ve got the job they have said it was an eye catching sentence so I believe having these additional skill sets can help. 

5. Adopt a growth mindset

You are about to take off on what I think could be your biggest adventure yet. Are you excited? Are you nervous? Are you scared? I bet you could probably say yes to all three.
I know a challenge some of you may experience is fear. This might show up as Fear of failure, fear of making a mistake, fear of letting people down, everyone deals with different fears a lot of them come from our past experiences.  But the fact is you never fully overcome fear, you just get more used to it. 

 So i basically I want you to feel the fear and do it anyway! the result of maybe self-sabotage and this might be something like when that voice says were not good enough the result is that we hesitate instead of seizing new challenges. We forgo our dreams and goals. In the end, we know we missed out, but we don’t understand why.

How to overcome –  Try to allow myself to be ok with it, it’s normal to feel fear, understand that it’s normal to feel afraid and not change it. 

So this requires you to make a small Shift to your mindset- Know when this fear is showing up – choose to acknowledge it but say it’s not going to stop me from taking action if this is truly something I want, “it’s not going to stop me from taking action if this is truly something I want”

Quit asking for permission from others, we have to take risks for anything good in life. You know risk heartbreak for love, risk  failing to take big steps and find success. Fear is a magical  thing that shows that we care about something!