Door knocking in Louisiana

Well I tried it, and there wasn’t too much success. I had a few offers, but they were for later down the road. It seems most of the companies have met their hiring quota for now, but will be starting up again closer to the summer. My advice is to make appointments though. Half of the companies seemed to appreciate an appointment rather than a walk-in. Aside from that, some of the people who do the hiring were not even in their offices. Although I did not stay there, I would recommend staying at Chateau on the Bayou for sure. You couldn’t ask for a better location. I hope this might help the people planning a trip. Oh, and if you know any companies that are hiring right now, let me know.

Just an observation, what are you looking for? 3/m position?

Sent from my SeaPhone using gCaptain.

yeah, something like that would be preferable, but i’d take an ab spot to get my foot in the door

When an academy grad with 3rd Mate’s license in hand cannot land a job in the oil patch, times must be slow.

When he is ambitious enough to fly 1000 miles from home and go door to door, but he still cannot find a job things must be really tough.

When he is humble enough to seek jobs as an AB, but he still cannot get hired, that’s just ridiculous.

How can this be?

Chouest hired 230 or so people last month. Maybe you came on an off month.

All I can say is there has been LOTS of hiring lately. And 3rd mates aren’t the most valuable commodity in the oil patch b/c most vessels don’t sail under unlimited license requirements. A 1600/3000ITC and DP endorsement is the hot ticket down here right now and most fresh 3rds can’t fill that spot.

Good luck and don’t give up. The feeling around here is that a steady improvement is coming.

Oh, and if you know any companies that are hiring right now, let me know.[/QUOTE]

Did you try HOS? I heard they were looking for U/L personnel.

I’ve had a lot “mates” fresh out of the academy, I always cringed when I saw them coming, and I never got much sleep with them in the wheelhouse. On the other hand, when I got them as AB’s they were usually pretty good (no they were not usually too enthusiastic about chipping and painting, but who cares). Most of them could be trained to be reasonably ready to sail as mate in a month or two.

If I were a personnel guy and typically hiring dozens of men every month for a fleet of boats, and a new 3rd mate showed up in my office that was willing to work in any position, I’d find something to do with him. Even if I had to put him on a boat as an OS, wiper, or an observer. That way I could have one of my captains check him out and train him for a couple weeks at trivial cost. Then when I needed an OS or AB or Mate on short notice, I’d have one in my back pocket. If it turned out that the kid was some kind of wingnut, I’d rather find that out with him sailing as OS or as an observer, than find it out the hard way with him sailing as mate.

Given that the kid from SUNY didn’t get hired, I suspect that for whatever reason, he probably does not interview very well. As a suggestion, he might want to go back to career services at the academy and ask them to set him up with some practice interviews with people in the industry who are not hiring — people who will simply interview him and then tell him what he is doing wrong. Interviewing is a skill that comes naturally to some people, but most people have to learn it the hard way by trial and error. also, in most cities there are career coaches that will train people how to interview for a reasonable fee.

I think I just took the wrong advise from people who said, “Just show up on the doorsteps, and you will get interviewed.” Next time I will make more appointments. In example: Hello GOL representative, I was in the area and would like to speak to someone in your vessel crewing/H.R. department. -Have you filled out an online application? -Yes, ma’am. -We will keep your application on file and if a position opens up, we will contact you. -Well I have been driving since yesterday, if there is someone in the office who would just give me a few minutes of their time to at least tell me more about the company, I would greatly appreciate it. -We will keep your application on file and if a position opens up, we will contact you. -Thank you, ma’am, and have a nice day. (p.s. please take the huge billboard down that says “NOW HIRING ALL POSITIONS.”)

That’s unusual for down here. Very odd.

Did you make it to ECO?

[QUOTE=SUNYgrad;65932]I think I just took the wrong advise from people who said, “Just show up on the doorsteps, and you will get interviewed.” Next time I will make more appointments. In example: Hello GOL representative, I was in the area and would like to speak to someone in your vessel crewing/H.R. department. -Have you filled out an online application? -Yes, ma’am. -We will keep your application on file and if a position opens up, we will contact you. -Well I have been driving since yesterday, if there is someone in the office who would just give me a few minutes of their time to at least tell me more about the company, I would greatly appreciate it. -We will keep your application on file and if a position opens up, we will contact you. -Thank you, ma’am, and have a nice day. (p.s. please take the huge billboard down that says “NOW HIRING ALL POSITIONS.”)[/QUOTE]
That’s odd.
I had a completely different experience with GOL when I was knocking on doors during the winter of 2010-2011.
I took a couple of days and drove from NOLA all the way down to Port Fourchon and back. Even went out west to Lafayette to talk with some nice people at Aries. Anyplace I walked in the door, I asked if I could fill out an application there in person, and leave it along with copies of my quals. Everyplace I went was welcoming, though every one of them explained there was just no hiring going on due to the moratorium in place after the DWH incident. In almost every case when I had completed filling out the application, someone from HR took some time to meet face to face. Now granted, maybe this was a different time when they had time on their hands to do so, but I was impressed by their willingness to do so.
The only place where I was flat out refused to fill out an app or talk with someone in hiring was HOS.
So I take it at GOL you called instead of showing up on their doorstep? Maybe you might have better results if you don’t let your fingers do the walking.

The personal guy at GOL dosent see anybody unless he needs somebody. I’ve been there a half dozen times in the past year and half and have never talked to anybody.

I stopped in at GOL in Feb and no one would see me either (4th issue 1600 ton Master Oceans and AB unlimited), the receptionist handed me an application and said if they needed someone they would call me.

Sounds like HOS and GOL are the anomalies?

[QUOTE=rigdvr;65950]Sounds like HOS and GOL are the anomalies?[/QUOTE]
Which does seem odd in the case of HOS, because they have at least 4 HR people involved in recruitment that I have been in contact with. I did not stop in to Covington on my last trip out to LA, I tried to make an appt via email (after a couple of weeks of email back and forth) and they said not to bother coming by, they didn’t have anything that matched my qualifications.

Interesting info as always, I’m off to NOLA this Sunday for the week…

To clear things up, I DID meet with HOS, but they aren’t hiring for a while. Nicky was out of town for ECO, which is why I recommend appointments. I think GOL is plainly not a “walk-in” company.

[QUOTE=SUNYgrad;65977]To clear things up, I DID meet with HOS, but they aren’t hiring for a while. Nicky was out of town for ECO, which is why I recommend appointments. I think GOL is plainly not a “walk-in” company.[/QUOTE]

Have you checked with SUNY career services to see when Nicky is going to visit SUNY again?

I think a big issue is that most of the OSV companies operate under a “Need what they need when they need it” philosophy, rather than wanting to invest anything in their personnel up front. They need a 6000 ton OSV Master Oceans with Towing, GMDSS, and DP, then that is all they will hire. In their defense, with the amount of “job hopping” that goes on, you can see their point. Why invest significant time and money into somebody who is going take all their endorsements across the street the instant someone offers them $25 more a day? I’m an old-school “Dance wit da one whut brung ya’” kind of guy, but I don’t see a lot of corporate loyalty these days. (in either direction)