It’s September, the season is almost over. Eight charter weeks out of the way. The owners have just left after a straight and intense 4 weeks on board and the first of 5 more charterweeks ahead is already in full swing. The sun has been brutal all summer. After helping out on deck she goes below to tidy up the interior. The aircon hardly cools her down.
Human beings, generally speaking, don’t like change. This should become even more true when we’re talking about employment. For the 99% of people in the world employed in land based jobs, this generally means that their employment is geographically determined. In other words, they have to find the best job possible near home. Yacht crew don’t have these geographical chains that limit their options. Additionally, the yachting industry suffers from a lack of quality crew. The next opportunity is always around the corner for good yacht crew. This makes good crew just like gold: hard to get and hard to hold. At Invisible Crew we do what we can to hold on to those golden talents. In any case, truly good crew don’t just jump ship at the drop of a hat. Truly professional Pocket Superyacht crew understand the value of working within a professional structure provided by a management company that advises both the owners and themselves on the best plan of action. Having the right systems of accountability in place motivates and rewards our crews to do the best job possible on all fronts. Nobody can expect these young energetic professionals to know everything. That’s why they know […]
Ever since I started in the yachting industry 16 years ago -and probably before- there has been talk of a shortage in quality crew. I am not convinced that much has been done about it. In fact, I feel the problem has been made worse for several reasons. The most obvious one being the sheer numbers of yachts ordered and build. Also, yachtmaster licenses which -with enough miles in your logbook- can be obtained in as little as two weeks, have become unaccepted under more and more flags. Insurance companies have had a very hard couple of years, mainly through meteorological and environmental causes, but it made them scrutinise captain’s cv’s a little more closely than they did before. Surely all the above are, in a way positive developments for our industry, but it hasn’t helped us to get more qualified crew. Three years ago I launched the online course How To Work On Pocket Superyachts, in an attempt to contribute to the solution of the issue. However, I bumped into 2 issues. One was that completely novice crew -who were very easy to motivate to enroll in the course- were not employable after the course as they still […]
Interview questions you should be able to answer confidently. It’s March and hiring for the Med season is starting to pick up. Below is a series of important questions for crew. I hope it proves helpful to all job seekers out there whether they are looking for positions on Pocket Superyachts or any other yacht! What is your salary expectation? When either the interviewer or the interviewee brings this topic up too early on in the conversation, it’s not a good sign. The candidates have to understand what is expected of them first. They need to have an idea of the workload as well as the potential perks that come with the particular position. And, the employer has to understand the potential value the candidate can offer. Even if both have a fixed figure in mind. So your salary expectation should be fair, dependent on the work regime and in relation to market rates. Perhaps you’d like to learn more about the job before naming a figure. Green crew shouldn’t care too much about the money. It has to be fair, but gaining the right experience and then proving their value (to renegotiate the money at a later stage) should be […]
Atlantic crossing It’s that time of the year again when most yachts are preparing to cross the Atlantic aiming to be there for Christmas and New Year’s eve. Temporary crew In the Pocket Superyacht niche, which we exclusively work with, we see owners hiring temporary crew to deliver their yachts across. Some of them don’t have permanent crew and for others it is the right time for their crew to take time off between two busy seasons. Experienced crew At Invisible Crew we do quite a few of these deliveries every year. We price these deliveries in relevance to the size (and value) of the yacht. We only send crews who have done these types of trips multiple times before. We tend to send small but experienced teams. We see little use in spending travel expenses (only) on someone who has no idea what they will be doing on board these valuable yachts. Less people on board means fewer personalities to deal with. Not having enough experienced people is dangerous. Less than 70 € a day? Very recently I had an enquiry from an owner and upon receiving my quote he was surprised that we were twice as expensive as a professional yacht […]