Yeah I’ve always heard that engineers are in big demand
The real shortage is in Chief Mate/Master licenses. There’s a million 3rd and 2nd mates floating around.
Companies are hard pressed to find Chief Mates at the moment, and the unions see C/M jobs sit on the board quite a bit if I’m not mistaken.
It is less of a deck officer shortage and more of a companies don’t like having to pay more money to entice officers to come work for them. You rarely see shortages of officers at well paying companies. I also feel this is more of an international problem than a U.S. only one.
Yet still a million 2nd and 3rd Mate jobs on the union boards
this thread is the reason I don’t know which side to listen to lol. I’m gonna go for it anyway. I’ll just take the middle and say and there’s not a huge shortage of them, but there are plentiful jobs available.
Starting off at over 100,000/yr for ~6 months of work as a 3M sees very good to me. Especially considering that masters can hit up around the 200 range.
The other career I was considering very greatly the past 3 years or so was a police officer. I went on several ride alongs and got buddy buddy with a lot of deputies and officers around me. At most of the departments around me and even state troopers here in Texas, I’d be lucky to cap off at 95k. I would love to be a game warden, but here in Texas they require a degree (which I’ll get from A&M anyway), and they cap off after 20 years at like 90k. With the cost of living the way it is now and the goals I have, making 60-80k/yr just doesn’t cut it.
So with all things considered… Being I have a passion and high interest for sailing on deck, starting off at over double what I would in law enforcement, getting an education, and not living a career on a double edged sword day in day out, the salary for a MM officer sounds phenomenal to me.
This outlook could change once I’m actually employed out there and living the reality. I can only speculate as of now considering my other career choice and say the pay for my dream career sounds outstanding
The thing about this industry (much like every other one) is your reality of what it is starts when you start your career. From there on, every change, every added regulation, every added report, every new technology changes that reality to a new one. 20+ years later you look back at the changes and wonder if you can do it another 20 or even 10 because very few regulations replace old ones. They just keep adding more and more and wondering why everyone is burnt out.
I clearly remember hearing similar things I am thinking and saying now from senior officers when I first started out and remember thinking it would happen to me someday as well. And here I am.
Yeah that’s totally understandable. Like you said though, I feel like this is the case no matter where you go.
A lot of LEO’s only last 4-5 years and get out because of this same reason. It was a hot jolly good time in their mind at first, then once everything starts changing and reality sets in, it’s just not the same anymore. I honestly expect that no matter where I end up. I’d just rather be compensated for that the most I can
Ain’t that the truth. The world of work…
If you read more around here, you’ll see lots of people complaining about those numbers.
“I would love to be a game warden, but here in Texas they require a degree (which I’ll get from A&M anyway), and they cap off after 20 years at like 90k. With the cost of living the way it is now and the goals I have, making 60-80k/yr just doesn’t cut it.”
So go to the academy, sail for 10 years and save up, apply to be a game warden, get 20 with the state, and go pick up another 10 sailing. You may not even have to.put your license in continuity depending on where you land at TPWD. And they’ll likely see the maritime experience (as well as the Aggie ring) as plusses.
Even as a C/M you can easily hit 200k in less than 8 months.
Maybe one day I’ll figure out why… that’s just crazy to me. Most people are lucky to get a 9-5 that pays six figures
If you look into it more learned more of the ins and outs of each there’s a good possibility you could retire with both a police and MEBA union pension.
It is even more possible now that Texas removed the age limit for police officers to enter the force (no longer 44).
If you sail for 20 years you could collect the MEBA pension while you were working in law enforcement so your yearly take home pay would be pretty good.
There’s also the possibility if you take relief jobs in the MEBA and be a part time Cop the rest of the year. its possible to even sail just 90 days a year and covert all your OT to vacation and get a full pension credit and health insurance. This way you can sail while pursing your other dream.
If you want to be a Game Warden your probs into hunting- the benifits with MEBA is you never have to take a hunting season off. If you work for a private company they are going to call you back and if you don’t go back you are out of a job. With the MEBA you can always ask for a relief even if your a permanent and your hitch falls during your favorite season.
This is something I’ve thought of. At the end of the day if I just get plain burned out being on the ocean, I’ll have what I need to be go be a TPWD game warden…. A marine transportation degree and an Aggie ring would probably be guaranteed entry to TPWD. And have all my loans paid off by then. Just would have to adjust making less than half of what I was at sea
I don’t think I’m going wrong either way. The only thing that sucks is my license expiring if I did go that route and ever wanted to go back to ships
I don’t know shit about game wardens aside from what I see on TV, but how is this even remotely possible?
A 3rd Mate is just a few short hitches and two exams away from a 1600t Master
Ha! If you’ve ever seen Lone Star Law, my buddy and I were on there when I was like 17. Game warden checked our fish and licenses with a camera in our face and had us sign a form to approve being on the show.
I’ll admit that I’ve given no attention to a 1600tn license. What is this even good for? Ferries and tugs only?
Seems like most people I interview these days for entry positions into a 9-5 (first its more like a 10-3 with an hr lunch, or what they expect) demand $100k+ to start with remote or hybrid, paid cell, gym, dog insurance, etc. But oh well, what do I know.