After submitting a fair number of resumes and not having any luck, I’m doing some tweaking.
I’m in my 30’s and just starting out. There’s a lot of variety in my work experience - IT, audio engineer, handyman, customer service/hospitality, college degree in liberal arts - and not much focus. (Though I feel like these jobs have given me a skills set that is applicable to the mariner industry in a very broad way.) I worry that listing all my jobs makes me look a bit flaky. Any advice on how I could condense my history and spotlight my attributes? I have tried putting a “Skills Summary” above my actual work experience list.
Also, I’ve never written an objective on a resume before but now I’m thinking that would help get to the point. Good or bad idea? If good, how can I word it show that I’m serious about this career move and that I have something to offer? Do I say flat-out that I’m looking for an entry-level position or would that emphasize my lack of experience too much?
I’ve got a MMD, TWIC, STCW BST, and current passport by the way. I’ve put that at the very top.
Most marine companies only care about: drug free, STCW, TWIC, MMC, dependable, college diploma ( to a lesser degree a HS diploma or GED), and dependability. These HR people wont even read the non marine stuff. They don’t care about it. The only thing they look at regarding past employment is time there to see if you are a ‘job shopper’ or not.
Most companies don’t want or need a ‘resume’ for a deckhands position. A company application filled out correctly is pretty much all they need.
How long has Mr Munger worked on seagoing vessels? I don’t care how many letters follow his name. If he hasn’t worked on boats or ships the chances that he will understand half of what is relevant on one of our resumes makes his services useless.
