Hi all,
I am curious. People looking for jobs on the boats seem to have the best success going down to the bayou in person and applying. All of the emails, phone calls, etc. seem to do very little.
What about when you are applying to a drilling company for a DPO or Mate position? Is knocking on doors still the preferred way? Or are the drill companies a step up into “the big leauges” where a personal visit is looked down on, and a shiny resume sent by email the way to go?
Is there a difference between letting it be known you are a hawsepiper, lots of years experience but a fresh 3rd mate ticket, or a academy graduate with a new 3rd mate ticket.?
Finally, when filling out the on line applications these companies have, how do you fit in what is really important? How many years should you go back? 5? 10? 30???
It seems the online applications are set up for a college grad, not someone wha has been at it for decades.
thanks
PS. Pointy Sticks can be referred to Mikey!!!
The OSV company’s to me seem to hire more on spur of the moment. If they need somebody, and you have the license they need, and can pass a physical you have a real good shot of getting the job. Most have just started hiring a little in advance because of the new builds coming out, and they need to get some people trained, but it is still very short compared to the drilling companys
In my experience a drilling company will start looking months in advance, collect as many resume’s as possible,and then pick the best candidate for the position. Granted some of the bottom feeders will hire spur of the moment, but the top notch drilling outfits will start months, if not a year in advance. So in that case I am not sure showing up on there door step will gain you much.
One thing I have noticed from the drilling company’s I have had contact with, they are very slow about answering your first email. It has been about a month after I sent in a resume, before they contacted me. That has been with 3 different company’s. One I sent a resume to, must have had there system set up with an auto reply. I sent my resume, less than 12 minutes later, I got an email back saying that they already interviewed someone more qualified. I thought to myself, you havent even had time to read my stuff yet, WTF???
I would think any work experience you have is good to list, a stable work history is always impressive to most future employers. Staying with one company for several years always looks good on a resume. However I am not sure 20 years on a OSV and just getting around to upgrading to your third mate will impress them much. Not trying to pick on anyone. That is one big advantage the academy kids have, getting handed a unlimited license for suffering through a few years of school. It seems now days it is almost as important to be able to write an excel spread sheet, as it is to be able to change a power pack.
[QUOTE=cajuntugster;79033]Hi all,
PS. Pointy Sticks can be referred to Mikey!!![/QUOTE]
By the way c.captain is the weilder of the pointy stick
Mikey likes to flex his moderating muscle by just deleting your shit!
I am not sure if you can still have children after that or not, I hope to never find out!
[QUOTE=cajuntugster;79033]Hi all,
I am curious. People looking for jobs on the boats seem to have the best success going down to the bayou in person and applying. All of the emails, phone calls, etc. seem to do very little.
What about when you are applying to a drilling company for a DPO or Mate position? Is knocking on doors still the preferred way? Or are the drill companies a step up into “the big leauges” where a personal visit is looked down on, and a shiny resume sent by email the way to go?
Is there a difference between letting it be known you are a hawsepiper, lots of years experience but a fresh 3rd mate ticket, or a academy graduate with a new 3rd mate ticket.?
Finally, when filling out the on line applications these companies have, how do you fit in what is really important? How many years should you go back? 5? 10? 30???
It seems the online applications are set up for a college grad, not someone wha has been at it for decades.
thanks
PS. Pointy Sticks can be referred to Mikey!!![/QUOTE]
Better to know someone at the company to forward resume to HR with hire recommendation, then follow with on-line app to get in system. Most good companies hire via referrals.
Drilling companies do not want people just showing up at Corporate Office.
This is what is important to drilling companies. The license, the Dp Certificate, experience in that type of work (drilling) and safety. Of the four listed you should have 3 of them. The lack of experience working on a rig can be overlooked if you concentrate on the DP experience you bring to the table regardless of where it was acquired.
[QUOTE=ChiefRob;79037]
I would think any work experience you have is good to list, a stable work history is always impressive to most future employers. Staying with one company for several years always looks good on a resume. However I am not sure 20 years on a OSV and just getting around to upgrading to your third mate will impress them much. Not trying to pick on anyone. That is one big advantage the academy kids have, getting handed a unlimited license for suffering through a few years of school. It seems now days it is almost as important to be able to write an excel spread sheet, as it is to be able to change a power pack.[/QUOTE]
Excellent reply! And very true.
As a hawespiper of 20 years finally getting my Third Mate, I can see how I can be perceived as lazy, especially if the HR person is an academy grad. But what they don’t know is how I had to save my money for years to afford taking the time from work and pay for school in order to upgrade. It is VERY cost and time prohibitive.
[QUOTE=stellarseas;79333]Excellent reply! And very true.
As a hawespiper of 20 years finally getting my Third Mate, I can see how I can be perceived as lazy, especially if the HR person is an academy grad. But what they don’t know is how I had to save my money for years to afford taking the time from work and pay for school in order to upgrade. It is VERY cost and time prohibitive.[/QUOTE]
I think it can go both ways actually. I have received good feedback from HR personnel after an interview with a hawsepiper. I think most of them (the ones I know) are indifferent about it. I think it all has to do with how the person interviews. I also look at the positive side of it. Young men coming out of a maritime school and moving into the bridge of a rig pretty quickly. I find that a lot of employers like to have some maturity on the bridge. Not the entire bridge, but a mix of academy and hawespipe. Onboard my vessel there is one hawespipe out of the 10 DPO’s. Both Chief mates are foreign academies and I am came up the hawespipe. So including myself there are two hawespipe and 11 academy graduates. I think that is probably about standard. 10-20% hawespipe.
I think more than anything with limited license guys taking many years to move up can have many reasons. I did not even know it was possible. Once I found out what I had to do then I did it. I had a choice to make. Do I continue my career as a work boat captain or try to get my 3rd mate license? I was perfectly happy running the boats. I never had any intentions of leaving the company I was at. I just wanted to have some options in case the workboats were laid up. I never thought it would lead to a rig. When I started attending chief mate STCW courses at these union schools and paying out of pocket is when I realized I was missing out on a whole other world. I miss a lot of the aspects of driving the boats in and out of port, anchor jobs and towing, but I am exactly where I need to be and am startng to enjoy it a little more. Now I am at the cross roads again. What do I do from here? Right now nothing. Get experience in position and hope I don’t make any mistakes that will negatively affect the lives of personnel onboard my vessel. I think I can be happy doing what I am doing now for the next 28 years.
Good point Capt. Lee
I have never worked on a OSV, but I heard too many stories about guys doing a pierhead jump to get one one by happening to be there the day some guy gets fired, quits, or no-shows, and the OSV has to sail immediately. All about timing.
Whereas with the drilling companies, there is usually a long process of company physical exam, HUET, work visa application etc. and they keep a global hiring pool of eligible candidates. I took a leave of absence to get my Third Mate when the rig was going to another country where I’d be replaced by a national as an AB. I ratholed my money away and paid out of my own pocket. Investing in myself was the best investment I could make.
Now I am on standby for a Third Mate spot so they can fast-track me thru the DPO program. I’m getting itchy feet waiting for something to open up, and I’m debating whether it would be worthwhile to take a BCO course while I am waiting, but I’m getting low on funds. What would you advise? I think I’ll call the coordinator tomorrow and see if they can help me out. Yet, I am not on a ship now, just the Global Talent Pool. Like you, I think I would be perfectly content to be a DPO until I retire.
[QUOTE=stellarseas;79427]Like you, I think I would be perfectly content to be a DPO until I retire.[/QUOTE]
Hang on now!!! I don’t know that I would want to be a DPO until retirement. I am a little surprised that they won’t send you to get your BCO. BCO is definitely a feather in your cap, but I would not pay out of pocket for it. WHen you get in a spot they will send you and pay for it. BCO or Barge Supervisor is just a formality for someone with an unlimited license. Hang in there and get that DP training. You still are not marketable until you get that time and certificate.
Sorry Capt. Lee,
When you said " I think I can be happy doing what I am doing now for the next 28 years. " that would take you into retirement. I guess I read you wrong. Good luck with all of your endeavors.
I said “I think I would be perfectly content to be a DPO until I retire.” but who knows 5 years from now?
Sometimes I wax nostalgic about some of the cool gigs I had over the years, but then stop myself and think “Nah, been there, done that”. There is alot more cooler stuff out there waiting for me. I finally got a fresh Third Mate license in my hands, and it is killing me to sit around and wait for that phone call for my next assignment, sending weekly emails to HQ asking if there is any news.
Back in the day when I worked on a seafood processor, everyone wanted to work on the deck, but I was the guy that actually went down to the CG REC and found out what a Z-card was. I was pro-active and the captain saw that I was serious about working on deck. That has been my modus operandi ever since. For this reason I know what you are saying in your sig…
There are those who can and there are those who will, which one will you be today?