How to Land Your First Yacht Job With No Prior Experience!
You wake up to the ringing sound of your alarm jolting you awake. Your bones ache because you don’t want to get out of your warm bed. It’s the middle of winter back in your home country and you’re dreaming of vitamin sea.
You get yourself dressed and ready to begin your Monday with your morning routine and a commute to your 9-5 job. You’re sitting at your desk pretending to work, scrolling through Instagram wondering how you can live a lavish lifestyle and travel the world full time while working on Super Yachts…
Before you get too excited and quit your job, pack your bags and buy a one-way plane ticket to Antibes, Palma, or Fort Lauderdale… make sure you are aware that yachting isn’t all that it’s made out to be on Instagram.
Yes, you do get to travel to exotic places, but you will be working long and hard hours in order to reap the benefits and rewards.
If you’re ready for the challenge and aren’t afraid of hard work, then the yachting world might just be for you.
So you want to work on a Super Yacht, but you have no experience?
Fear not, there is a job out there for you.
Everyone in this industry started where you are now. Green and keen and ready to absorb all the information of the yachting world like a sponge.
It’s no misconception that this niche industry is getting more and more flooded with green crew every year. 100s of people are applying for the same jobs, and it seems that there aren’t enough boats to go around.
While this might be somewhat true, I like to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. More and more people are becoming billionaires every year and buying shiny new toys (AKA yachts).
This means the demand for crew will undeniably go up. So don’t lose all faith. There is a job out there for everyone.
Well, everyone that is cut out for this industry. This industry isn’t for everyone. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The reason why I coach women to break into the industry and thrive on board, is because it isn’t as easy to navigate as it seems. I suggest you read this post here so you get a more realistic idea of what working as a yacht crew in the industry truly entails.
Back in 2015, when I first heard about the SuperYacht Industry, I was a 22-year old that was sitting in a classroom teaching high school students English. I still remember how my eyes lit up when I heard that I could get paid to live and work on a yacht while traveling the world.
I felt unaligned with what I was doing with my life. Although I valued my education and enjoyed teaching to some extent, I wasn’t passionate at all about my career. My wanderlust and love for adventure and travel were giving me itchy feet. Moving my life overseas to live, work & study in Australia opened up a whole new can of worms for me. I could never go back to Toronto and settle down and live the corporate life. I knew it wasn’t for me.
I have always been a black sheep to society, my family and my friends. Hence the name of my brand. I resonate with this identity 100% and it’s part of the reason why I got into yachting and now run a successful coaching business online helping adventure seekers go against the grain by quitting society to work on yachts & travel the world full time. It is my passion to guide and empower women to live a life that will bring them pure happiness.
I was EXACTLY where you were 7 years ago. I was a lost little black sheep trying to find her way in this big and confusing world. Although I am still learning to navigate my way through life in different ways, I have so much wisdom and knowledge to share with others who want to go down a path that is against the societal culture scape.
There are PLENTY of things you can do that will help you land your first job on a yacht with NO prior experience:
Register to do your STCW training course either at a place near you or at a Yachting hub right before the season kicks off.
Book your ENG1 Medical Test.
Stay in a crew house.
Join all the FB groups online so you can start networking and looking for jobs.
Get out and dock walk when in the Med (Antibes or Palma). Do not do this in the USA unless you are an American citizen as it is illegal to be a foreigner dock walking there.
Get out and mingle at the yachtie hangout spots (bars, cafes, etc.) in the yachting hubs.
Follow yachtie pages on Instagram and connect with other yachties.
Grab my E-Book that is 100 pages of NO BS content that will undeniably help you start out in the industry.
You can buy my E-Book called “The Greenie Guide” HERE.
Love & Light, Karina