STCW for entry level door knockers in Gulf of Mexico? Cheapest course?

I’m entry level with no experience who will be heading to the gulf after I get the necessary documents to try to find work as an OS or a wiper, preferably a wiper since I want to pursue the engineering track. I’m not familiar with any of the smaller companies and their requirements as far as STCW is concerned. ECO requires it for the OS/wiper positions. HOS apparently does not. I’m willing to work wherever the opportunity presents itself in order to get experience. I don’t expect to get hired by the larger companies, though it would be nice. Should I go ahead and spend $1000 to get my STCW or should I wing it and hope to hired first and take the course after I get an offer of employment? How much of an advantage do aspiring entry level workers who have their STCW have over those who don’t have it? Also does anyone know of any relatively cheap courses on the west coast?

Engine room is a good choice for sure (my biased opinion, of course). Engineers are always in demand and the skills translate well to shoreside jobs later on.

Not many “wiper” jobs around in the GOM. That’s mostly a job you’ll find on big, deepsea transports. It’s kind of an outdated position, I think, or at least an outdated job description. Companies might not be advertising for wipers, but they might occasionally be looking for OS engineers. If you can’t get a wiper job, don’t be afraid to take an OS deck position with the hopes of transferring to the engine room later on. Once you get hired and prove yourself to be a good employee, it’s easier to ask for a “lateral promotion” to engineering than it is to break in from the outside with no experience.

I think you will find your chances will improve dramatically with every extra bit of training and certification you can get. I had my Z-Card & STCW-BST before I ever set foot on an OSV. I think the only reason that ECO even asked me in for an interview was because I had all my ducks in a row. If you are really hopeful of getting on with a big operator, you really might want to consider it. Whatever money it costs up front you will make back in the first few days you are employed.

I’ve had friends and shipmates who’ve done their BST at Pacific Maritime in Seattle and they thought it was a good course. You can check it out here: http://mitags-pmi.org/courses/Basic_Safety_Training_(PMI)

If you’ve never had any real seagoing jobs, going through a BST course will at least give you a small taste of what the life is like.

Good luck.

Cheap STCW-Basic Safety Training on the west coast ($500), Military Sealift Command (Pacific) 619-556-9910

Yeah----don’t pay more than $500.00 for it!!

Bayou la batre is $795 with room and board… Located in mobile, Al are there any others on the gulf coast?

I think it’s a worthwhile investment. It shows prospective employers that you are serious about getting a job and a career. That is $1000 less they would have to spend on you…

I still don’t understand how it’s an option to not have BST. Why is it even a question?? We work in one of the most highly regulated industries in the entire world. I got out of the navy in 1999 and when I finally figured out how to get civilian credentials I went straight to BST, AB, and lifeboat classes. At that time in 2001, I thought you couldn’t get hired without STCW. Clearly I was and still am wrong. Spend the fu@&ng money on the classes and get the certificates. Maybe I've been in the NE too long or something..but I'll say it again....I paid my entire way through every single class on my own. Why is it acceptable to "wait" for a company to pay for you? I am no better than the next guy. More motivated?? Yes. I am on this forum reading the threads almost daily. I have learned an astronomical amount just by reading and retaining the information. And the one thing over the past 3 years that burns my ass is the question: (insert sarcastic voice here) "should I spend the money for STCW or come down and hope somebody hires me anyway"? Give me a fu@*ng break already! If you can’t/won’t take the proper classes for BASIC certification…I sure as hell wouldn’t want to sail with you anyway. These STCW certs are very simple and cheap classes. Basic firefighting should be mandatory as well. I am not attacking the op for the record. I’m just sick of the same fu@#$ng questions every single daaaaaaaaayyyyy. Now I know why some you forum veterans get so pumped up when the saaaaaaammmmmmeeee questions get asked over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. I mean no disrespect at all, just my Sunday afternoon rant. Good luck and stay safe out there.

PS
If you do a search…Jempalyer’s very explicit and very detailed explanation on the step by step process in how to get hired and how to interview will come up. Take the time to read it. Please.

Why not take STCW in Louisiana, knock on doors during week 2… Try this place, CHEAP!!
www.coastguardtraining.com
You will get the class and be able to find a job for that $1,000

Sorry… They got a little expensive in the past 13 years
http://www.fletcher.edu/assets/docs/Program%20Inserts/MarineOP.pdf
This might be a little better

Check out Clatsop Community College in Astoria,OR. They have a Seamanship course and offer STCW as well.

If you’re sick of the questions stop reading them. I don’t give a sh*t if you paid for everything on your own. Stay on your high horse, I wouldn’t want work with someone like you either, someone who clearly has anger issues and probably suffers from high blood pressure, you’ll probably give yourself a stroke on duty, not to mention make yourself an annoyance to everyone around you. Clearly everyone has to have the STCW before sailing, that wasn’t the point of the question. Some companies will pay for the training, as someone pointed out earlier. Save your stupid rants for someone who cares.

[QUOTE=RubberRhib888;116510]I still don’t understand how it’s an option to not have BST. Why is it even a question?? We work in one of the most highly regulated industries in the entire world. I got out of the navy in 1999 and when I finally figured out how to get civilian credentials I went straight to BST, AB, and lifeboat classes. At that time in 2001, I thought you couldn’t get hired without STCW. Clearly I was and still am wrong. Spend the fu@&ng money on the classes and get the certificates. Maybe I've been in the NE too long or something..but I'll say it again....I paid my entire way through every single class on my own. Why is it acceptable to "wait" for a company to pay for you? I am no better than the next guy. More motivated?? Yes. I am on this forum reading the threads almost daily. I have learned an astronomical amount just by reading and retaining the information. And the one thing over the past 3 years that burns my ass is the question: (insert sarcastic voice here) "should I spend the money for STCW or come down and hope somebody hires me anyway"? Give me a fu@*ng break already! If you can’t/won’t take the proper classes for BASIC certification…I sure as hell wouldn’t want to sail with you anyway. These STCW certs are very simple and cheap classes. Basic firefighting should be mandatory as well. I am not attacking the op for the record. I’m just sick of the same fu@#$ng questions every single daaaaaaaaayyyyy. Now I know why some you forum veterans get so pumped up when the saaaaaaammmmmmeeee questions get asked over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. I mean no disrespect at all, just my Sunday afternoon rant. Good luck and stay safe out there.[/QUOTE]

If you’re sick of the questions stop reading them. I don’t give a sh*t if you paid for everything on your own. Stay on your high horse, I wouldn’t want work with someone like you either, someone who clearly has anger issues and probably suffers from high blood pressure, you’ll probably give yourself a stroke on duty, not to mention make yourself an annoyance to everyone around you. Clearly everyone has to have the STCW before sailing, that wasn’t the point of the question. Some companies will pay for the training, as someone pointed out earlier. Save your stupid rants for someone who cares. To everyone else who posted, thank you for your advice.

[QUOTE=RubberRhib888;116510]I still don’t understand how it’s an option to not have BST. Why is it even a question?? We work in one of the most highly regulated industries in the entire world. I got out of the navy in 1999 and when I finally figured out how to get civilian credentials I went straight to BST, AB, and lifeboat classes. At that time in 2001, I thought you couldn’t get hired without STCW. Clearly I was and still am wrong. Spend the fu@&ng money on the classes and get the certificates. Maybe I've been in the NE too long or something..but I'll say it again....I paid my entire way through every single class on my own. Why is it acceptable to "wait" for a company to pay for you? I am no better than the next guy. More motivated?? Yes. I am on this forum reading the threads almost daily. I have learned an astronomical amount just by reading and retaining the information. And the one thing over the past 3 years that burns my ass is the question: (insert sarcastic voice here) "should I spend the money for STCW or come down and hope somebody hires me anyway"? Give me a fu@*ng break already! If you can’t/won’t take the proper classes for BASIC certification…I sure as hell wouldn’t want to sail with you anyway. These STCW certs are very simple and cheap classes. Basic firefighting should be mandatory as well. I am not attacking the op for the record. I’m just sick of the same fu@#$ng questions every single daaaaaaaaayyyyy. Now I know why some you forum veterans get so pumped up when the saaaaaaammmmmmeeee questions get asked over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. I mean no disrespect at all, just my Sunday afternoon rant. Good luck and stay safe out there.[/QUOTE]

This poster strikes me as just the sort of prick the new guys on the job will have to put up with. Most of the posters on the forum are decent, helpful folks. I think the same will be true on any ship, hopefully among the senior staff especially. Sure hope the leadership is cut from a better stalk than this (used) Rubber chaff. I’ve read some of his other posts. Just because you’re ex-navy doesn’t make you ‘special.’ You may be ‘entitled’ by your experience to have an attitude, but you should keep it to yourself or else shove it up your *ss if you just can’t control it so others won’t have to put up with it. If you are in a leadership position, which I hope you’re not, you don’t belong there. “Why is it acceptable to wait for a company to pay for you?” Unless you’re the company’s lapdog, why should you care if they are willing to pay for the training or not. You already have yours, as you have so loudly stated, so stfu.

The questions you have asked have been answered ad-nauseum. Maybe if you took a few minutes to use the search feature you would be rewarded with the answers and you wouldnt catch shit from those of us who have been there and done that already.

Oh and with an attitude like that you will get run off of plenty of boats. You are a noob you are not worthy of anyones respect yet. So if you dont like the answers we give you then find them yourself.

To answer your question: yes you should go ahead and take STCW BST on your own. The boat companies already have stacks of applications with people who already have it. Why are they going to spend the money on you when they can hire someone who already has it?

I see you just posted this gem. Lol you are in for a rude awakening. Just wait until you sail with your first c.captain!!

Good luck getting any more help. If you think you’re going to work in the Gulf without all of these classes and more, you’re in a dream land. Suck it up, pay for the classes and move on. As stated before, the search function helps greatly…

[QUOTE=Bayrunner;116562]I see you just posted this gem. Lol you are in for a rude awakening. Just wait until you sail with your first c.captain!![/QUOTE]
I don’t mind voicing my true feelings since this is just a forum. If this d*ck was by chance my captain, I would keep my thoughts to myself and silently go about doing my assigned work. But that wouldn’t change my opinion of him. It’s not the captain’s job to train everyone, but it is part of the job description of the lower ranked leaders. I just don’t think leaders who are PAID to also train lower ranked officers should have that kind of attitude. You’ll get questions from noobs, but you’re paid to answer them by your company, so someone who has the kind of attitude that Rubber has wouldn’t be doing his job if he was acting like that kind of prick. Also, if no noobs posted these kind of questions, you all would have no one to instruct, no one to make you feel important and you’d be stuck just telling your sea stories to each other. BTW I included in my original post a specific question about STWC training on the west coast and it’s cost, there was no updated information on any of the forum threads about it, and I think it clearly showed my willingness to take the class and pay for it.

Wow, now I am sure the other members on here will be lining up to help you!!! You could have easily ignored the comments above and probably gotten some more help, but you chose to respond immaturely. He even gave you some good advice after that post. Did you do a search for what he said? Have you done a search for answers to any of your questions yet?

Millions of these questions have been asked before, probably get asked at least once a day if not more. Almost all of the posters have never searched for their own answers which are available in previous posts. I just searched “Basic Safety Training” and got 10 pages worth of answers. Maybe some won’t be helpful, but most probably will be. I was new on here once too and have offered my time and experience to newbies (including you I believe) that were in my similar position, but only if they come across as having tried to work things out on there own.

This career choice is all about initiative and hard work. People don’t teach you the CFR’s, they don’t take you by the hand and make sure your assessments get signed off, they don’t tell you when you are do for an upgrade and what classes to take in order to be ready. These are all things you need to figure out on your own and make sure that you complete ON YOUR OWN. Asking questions for clarification is fine, but do some research on your own. Don’t come in here and ask for a detailed breakdown of your career from start to finish and what you need to do to accomplish it. If you have every class you can possibly get but no experience, you most likely will beat out another candidate that thought he didn’t really need BST to get hired.

From my own experience in the industry I had to pay for vaccinations on my own, school & books on my own, flew myself down to Texas from Seattle for my internship, paid a headhunter (one of the honest ones) for a placement on a research boat, flew myself back down to Texas for an interview and medical again, paid for drug tests on my own, and now I am doing very well in my career. I hope you can get your head out of your a$$ and use this forum for all the great information and contacts it has. If not you’ll just be another newbie that goes by the wayside. Good luck, the choice is all yours.

[QUOTE=oregonblitzkrieg;116564]I don’t mind voicing my true feelings since this is just a forum. If this d*ck was by chance my captain, I would keep my thoughts to myself and silently go about doing my assigned work. But that wouldn’t change my opinion of him. It’s not the captain’s job to train everyone, but it is part of the job description of the lower ranked leaders. I just don’t think leaders who are PAID to also train lower ranked officers should have that kind of attitude. You’ll get questions from noobs, but you’re paid to answer them by your company, so someone who has the kind of attitude that Rubber has wouldn’t be doing his job if he was acting like that kind of prick. Also, if no noobs posted these kind of questions, you all would have no one to instruct, no one to make you feel important and you’d be stuck just telling your sea stories to each other. BTW I included in my original post a specific question about STWC training on the west coast and it’s cost, there was no updated information on any of the forum threads about it, and I think it clearly showed my willingness to take the class and pay for it.[/QUOTE]

First off, it is NOT part of the “lower ranked leaders” jobs to teach you ANYTHING at all. If you are hired as a wiper, they don’t have to teach you anything other than where the rags, mops, and garbage cans are. If they see some potential in you they may help you learn something new, but in no way shape or form is it among any of their responsibilities as laid down by any company, EVER.

Secondly, there were quite a few answers to your question involving schooling. I can think of Seattle Maritime Academy, PMI, Compass Courses, Fremont Maritime, and a few others in the Pacific Northwest off the top of my head. Do an internet search for gods sake. If you want pricing or course information find out the phone number of a place and call them!!! Don’t expect every answer from people here on this forum, sometimes you got to put in some work on your own.

Lastly, we don’t feel important by “Instructing” newbies. We feel helpful that from our experience we can HELP someone with their career path. If we wanted to “Instruct” we would be teaching in a school somewhere.