Working on yachts can become a lucrative career for many people who have finished school and want to travel and see the world. Working on a yacht is not as easy as just joining a club and finding someone who needs assistance, you will need qualifications, and there are also specific personal skills you will need to possess.
It is also important to remember that working on a yacht is not for everyone. You will need to be able to work in stressful situations and be able to handle the responsibility of keeping people alive and safe on the open waters.
Certification and Training
Safety stands as an extremely important aspect of working on a yacht. Anybody interested in working on a yacht will need to have an STCW yacht qualification.
STCW certification is needed for yacht recruiters to assign you to work on yachts around the UK and is comprised of five modules taking five days to complete in the form of an examination. The modules involved with an STCW certification include Personal Survival Techniques, fire prevention, firefighting, elementary first, and personal safety responsibilities.
Other than the STCW certification, which stands as a precautionary safety certificate for training, you will also need an ENG1 Seafarer Medical Certificate. This medical certificate is granted by the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency and provides you with proof of minimum standard knowledge of health and fitness required to work on board a yacht or other type of ship.
Communication
Communication is a personal skill needed to be able to work on a yacht. Without good communication skills, things can go bad very quickly among fellow crew members. Friendships and lifelong bonds are achieved through crew members on yachts and provide anybody working on a yacht with a chance to discover fellow people with the same interests in the open waters. Especially when working on sailing events and races, communication will play a key role in success.
Adjustability and Stamina
Living on a boat is not for everyone, and crew members sometimes need to stay on the yacht even when the yacht is grounded for a while. As time is of the essence, yacht workers need to do everything fast, including showers, eating, and getting ready each day. Furthermore, even more stamina will be needed to carry out the physical work that is needed to be carried out.
Listening
Any yacht worker will need to take direct orders from a captain. Orders will need to be followed steeply and should be carried out in the detail that the order is explained and requested. Due to safety being extremely important, any duties should be carried out with due diligence and detailed focus.
With tense soft personal skills as well as certification and training in mind, working on a yacht should be considered only by those who are truly prepared to live on a boat for long periods of time.