I have to chime in on the MSC haters, myself being a self hater…presently employed and working on my 2nd “5 year plan…” (ready to find something new) think it’s a great start for the eager and willing…Eager to work, willing to take an initial hit on pay and status, to get their foot in the door and shine once you get onboard and quickly move up. You HAVE to get past the folks on the beach in VA and NJ, they live in their own little Govt world, they create and enforce the rules they then train and praise themselves on, it’s a check in the box you must get and a hurdle you must get over.
Get onboard a ship with a management team willing to watch you PERFORM and not just talk yourself up…and you’ll move up fast. I’m a C/M with the outfit now and have fast tracked many guys (and gals) that I met serving food as S/U’s, pushed to get them transferred to deck OS’s, then gave them free training for AB, Tankerman etc because of the outstanding work they did. I’ve also been burned by sticking my neck out for posers and ended up eating crow due to how incredibly inept they were…it’s all a matter of personal performance and pride in work ethic, if it’s there and you show it, it will be noticed and you can move up fast.