Over the years we have received thousands of cruise ship job applications, as I'm sure you can imagine. Some of them are really fantastic, some of them are mediocre and some of them are truly sad!
Here are the five of the most commons mistakes we see most job seekers making time and time again:
1) Applying for more than one position in the same application. Whether applying for a job on a large or small cruise line, be extremely specific regarding the exact position you are applying for - never apply for more than one job at a time.
If you're applying to be an Assistant Purser, then state that clearly at the top of your resume and on your cover letter. If you're applying to work in Food & Beverage, then put down exactly what job you feel most suitable for in that department; whether that's a waiter/waitress, a bartender, etc...
We see far too many resumes going out that are just not clear enough about which cruise jobs are being applied for.
What I'm trying to say is that it is imperative taht you do not send a general, blanket application... and never think that once a cruise ship recruiter has read your resume that they will find a position to fit your skills. They won't. Not when they've got another 500 applications waiting to be looked at!
And that's a big mistake I don't want you to make.
2) Your CV/resume should never be longer than two pages (recruiters do not have time to read long resumes).
3) Your CV/resume being overloaded with too much personal information (a good example of this is having a 'full driving license' when you're applying to work on a ship!).
What's more, including personal information like 'age' and 'marital status' can actually hurt your chances in this industry, a lot more than most people realize.
4) CV/resume not targeted to the specific job that you are applying for. (Everything in your application should back up why you are the best person for this particular job. Far too many people send 'general' resumes in the hope that it'll cover them for several job possibilities. It won't!)
5) Not following up on your cruise job applications. Here's a quote taken from our forum this week that proves everything I've been saying for years:
"Carnival has just employed my friend as Cruise Staff. She emailed in her resume and followed up with an email every week for a month. The HR guy got back to her and said he always waits until he sees resumes come in several times, because then he knows a person is really serious and committed to landing the job."
Simply avoiding these most common mistakes in your cruise job applications will dramatically improve your chances of landing a job on a cruise ship.
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Neil Maxwell-Keys has hired thousands of crew for the biggest cruise lines in the world. He has written a popular *free* step-by-step guide which shows you how to
get cruise jobs, quickly and easily. Get your copy from =>
http://www.WorkOnCruiseShips.com
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