As you may or may not know, depending on how far into your cruise ship job search, jobs on cruise lines are hard to come by. The desks of personnel managers are stacked high with resumes, most of which will never get a second look. It’s unfortunate, but the fact of the matter is, it’s to be expected. After all, the excitement of working on a cruise ship is just too much to pass up for many adventure seekers. 

So what’s it take to get that hard won cruise ship job then? Above all, it takes proper qualifications, current openings, proper timing, and lots of persistence. If you know or know of someone whose worked in the industry, obviously you have a leg up on the competition, but most don’t. In that case, hiring an agency would go a long way. 

You want to develop your skills for a cruise ship job. Some jobs require experience or highly developed skills, while others don’t. If you are new to the job market, or just out of school, consider just getting your food in the door with a menial job, or a general staff or retail position. These don’t require specialized skills for the most part, and once you’ve landed a job for a cruise line, you can then develop and work into areas you enjoy more. Not only that but you’ll get to see first hand which jobs are the most desirable while doing so. 

Evaluate yourself, and your college transcripts for the best way to present yourself. Have you had a job in customer service, or retail sales? Most cruise lines don’t expect younger applicants to have much experience, but if you can demonstrate that you’ve had some role in customer service and demonstrated that you were courteous and kind, that goes a long way.



Thanks to Liz Hanson for contributing this article to our Cruises blog:

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