MT job opportunities

So I’m going to be applying for Fall 2018, about to submit, for Marine Transportation.

I don’t have all the classes needed, or really the want (mediocre in math), to do Marine Engineering but I keep hearing this is the only maritime degree one should be going to CMA for, yet on CMA’s and all the other MA they say they are getting like 90-97% employment after 3 months of graduation, not sure which to properly trust…

I was wondering if there are actually decent job opportunities for fresh out of school MT grads in say, 2021-22 (or now)? I am curious because I won’t be getting massive amounts of finaid or help, so I’ll be on loans probably going to hit around 40-50k over the 4 years and I planned initially to essentially take all my wages of my first year working and put it towards paying that fully off, but if the general sentiment is true I am having decently high doubts.

Questions are :

  1. Are there decent opportunities for graduated 3rd Mates, and if possible maybe any stats?
  2. If when I go to CMA, and it is true, how easily it is to switch over from MT to MET?
    and maybe, 3. How hard, or high the level, is the math for MET?

Thanks guys, sorry to sound like I’m asking a bunch of questions here but I’m kinda shook reading some of these comments and don’t want to essentially ruin my life by putting myself in massive debt for something that offers no to low jobs after graduating.

See the attached thread.

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Thanks Jbtam, I did actually see that thread already! I felt that answered to a point one of my questions, saying that the current market isn’t great, but it was mainly focused on people saying “Go engineer!”.
I’d like to see if it’s still viable to be a MT, because I’d rather do MT than MET, rather than be told to just got engi and that it isn’t good.

I appreciate the link though!

Would you rather be a deck officer or an engineering officer? Sailing jobs are pretty tight right now in general, but who knows, by 2021 maybe they will be plentiful again. Either way focus on what you want to do. Do you want to be a deck officer and translate that shoreside to possible business management type jobs in the Maritime field, or be an engineer and translate that to shoreside engineering positions. If your Math is mediocre though engineering probably isn’t for you, YMMV.

If you work hard the jobs will come. Build your resume and network. It is like any other career however, you have a better chance of getting a job than your high school buddies who are studying “Business”. It’s not guaranteed like it used to be you have to work for it.

As far as switching majors after you commit, it’s possible. The only thing is that you’d be starting all over again. What could have been 3 to 4 years as a deckie would now be 5 years…or longer if you become a victory lapper. Like everyone has said, this industry is cyclical. Bad job market now doesn’t necessarily mean bad job market in 2022.

Bad job market now doesn’t necessarily mean bad job market in 2022.
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Good or bad job market now doesn’t necessarily mean good or bad job market three months from now. It changes real quick with little or no warning.

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