Good Afternoon,
I am currently a boatswains mate in the USCG and looking to possibly trying to start a career in the gulf when my contract is up. I have about 4 years of sea time on three different platforms. Very proficient in: nav, marlinspike seamanship, damage control, solid mechanical knowledge, bridge operations, boat handling and a very hard worker. How hard is it these days to land a job on an OSV or tug of some sort? My contract is up next year and trying to start early on finding a solid job to transition into. Would love some feed back and possibly a few leads on companies that are hiring.
Tank you.
Do you hold any USCG license? If not use your GI bill go to MPT get your 3rd mate and go to work with Diamond Offshore or some other Drilling company. They love hiring you ex-coasties fresh out.
http://www.diamondoffshore.com/job-opportunities
Good luck
You will not have enough sea time for a 3rd mate and it wouldn’t do you any good anyway. Take how many days assigned to a vessel while in the CG and you will only be able to use 60%. Go get the highest AB ticket you can along with Twic, passport, rigging and STCW. Get these now while you are employed and have time. If you don’t have time then make sure you save enough to pay for all of the classes. Last time I checked GI bill doesn’t work on trade schools but that might have changed. After you get all this and get out go down to LA in person and knock on doors. See the knocking on doors thread for more on that.
I got out of the Navy in 2007 and did all of these things and now work for one of the big boys in the gulf as a 1600 Mate.
Ok here is a preview to my upcoming how-to guide. For all USCG active duty/veteran/retired
Request your Transcript of Sea Service at this link:
http://www.uscg.mil/ppc/ses/toss.asp
This will give you your total sea time as far as the USCG is concerned. The NMC will multiply that by 60% to give you their interpretation of sea time. That will give you an idea of what path you should take.
You will have to submit that transcript with your application. They may ask for more info, you can try submitting all Evals that cover your time onboard. Thats what worked for me. I will have a specific thread for this including Navy/Army sea time soon. But go ahead and get the transcript, it is a great starting point.
I was in your same shoes back in '91. Your biggest challenge will be in managing your expectations. You are transitioning from a petty officer to an Able Seaman (most likely). In some ways this is a lateral move, but in others a step down. Looking back I believe this was the course for me prior to pursuing a license, for I soon realized that the CG did little to prepare me for seagoing life outside of the service. It is a much different environment, and there are far too many differences to list. It’s just something you will have to experience, but in the end it will make you a better officer. It would be best during this time to settle into your new position, and be prepared to learn a whole new set of job skills.
Oh, and one more thing. The USCG has successfully pissed off many people, myself included. I once got ran off a boat after the Captain found out where I came from, so be careful in how you describe your past work experience to your next skipper. Good Luck.
[QUOTE=“Sea Opus;115756”]I was in your same shoes back in '91. Your biggest challenge will be in managing your expectations. You are transitioning from a petty officer to an Able Seaman (most likely). In some ways this is a lateral move, but in others a step down. Looking back I believe this was the course for me prior to pursuing a license, for I soon realized that the CG did little to prepare me for seagoing life outside of the service. It is a much different environment, and there are far too many differences to list. It’s just something you will have to experience, but in the end it will make you a better officer. It would be best during this time to settle into your new position, and be prepared to learn a whole new set of job skills.
Oh, and one more thing. The USCG has successfully pissed off many people, myself included. I once got ran off a boat after the Captain found out where I came from, so be careful in how you describe your past work experience to your next skipper. Good Luck.[/QUOTE]
Well said. I had very similar experiences with my transition from Navy to civilian.
To quote Mr. Cavo from other threads:
“It’s actually 70%. The reg says 60% is considered to be underway. The remaining 40% still counts, but its discounted at 1 day credit for 4 days service, for a net of 70% of the total.”