Cruise Ship Jobs: Know EXACTLY What a Cruise Ship Employer Wants!   by Neil Maxwell Keys

Copyright 2006 Neil Maxwell Keys

Before you apply for a job on a cruise ship, or take your application any further, you should think carefully about exactly what it is a potential cruise line employer is looking for.

This has two benefits: firstly, it will help you decide if the job is really for you and secondly, it will help you decide how to put over your own personal skills and qualities to best effect.

Let's take a look at exactly what cruise line employers are looking for in a potential candidate.

* Experience Don't worry, this isn't always a necessity! There are plenty of positions onboard where you don't need any experience whatsoever. But having some kind of land-based experience in your desired job is always going to be an advantage. Cruise line employers especially like people who can show a broad range of experience. For example, if your job involves contact with the public then experience of serving the public in several ways will be an advantage.

* High Standards of Service All functions on board cruise ships are carried out to a high standard. So it is important that you can carry out your work to a high standard. For example, service in the Hotel, Catering and Bar Department is usually similar to that in a four or five star hotel.

* Professionalism It is important to be professional about your work. That is, you need to take pride in your work and in achieving excellent results every time. This is not always easy when you are working long hours in a fast paced environment.

* Reliability This is a big concern for most cruise lines. Interviewers are very wary of recruiting new crew members whom they suspect might 'jump ship' in an exotic port when the novelty wears off! They need to satisfy themselves that you will stay for the full duration of your contract (typically 6 months).

Obviously, once you have joined a ship you cannot easily be replaced in a foreign port, and the expense and hassle involved is something they really don't want. You must give the clear IMPRESSION that you are highly reliable and have every intention of sticking out your contract. And preferably intend on making this a long-term career move. In other words, don't make them think that you are just going to 'give it a go'.

* High Standards of Presentation It is very important that you are immaculately turned out when you work onboard a ship. This applies particularly to crew who have contact with the passengers but also to behind-the-scenes crew too, to a lesser extent. Again, if you consider that many cruise ships operate to the same standards of service as a top-class international hotel then you will get an idea of the sort of people the employer is looking for.

* Enthusiasm You really do need to show that you are hard working and energetic. Shifts onboard can be much longer than on dry land. In particular, you certainly wouldn't want to give the impression that you are a nine-to-five type person and couldn't bear the thought of working weekends!

* A Cheerful Personality You may find this a strange quality for a cruise ship employer to place much importance on, but they do. Obviously, working in the confines of a ship - and living onboard too - can be quite stressful and demanding. But since many of the passengers have paid a lot of money for their cruise, it's very important that the crew are pleasant and professional with them. It is equally important that you are fairly cheerful and easy going off-duty so that you can do your job professionally when you are on duty.

If you bear in mind what the employer is looking for at all stages of your application - then you will be doing a great deal to boost your chances of getting a cruise ship job.

About the Author

Neil Maxwell-Keys is THE cruise ship jobs expert and best-selling author of "Get a Cruise Ship Job: How to Get a Job on a Luxury Cruise Ship - Quickly and Easily!"

A Business Center in your Hotel: Curse or Blessing?   by Kathryn Tyler

Your customers asked for it, modern hospitality philosophy required it and now you have one in your Hotel: A Business Center. Your Guest now has access to the Internet to read and write e-mails, surf the Web for the latest news and they can work in Word, Power Point and Excel. For your Guest's convenience (and maybe according to company standards) you have also added a printer, fax and copier. You are now ready for the 21st Century traveler. Or are you?

Philipsburg, Pa, Thursday, March 18, 2004

Satisfied with your latest implementation one day, on one of your daily rounds, you notice that the Computer has a white piece of paper stuck to the monitor. Curious, you walk up and read: "Computer Out of Order". Checking into it, you find out that this is not the first time the computer has been down, and furthermore, there have been a number of alarming complaints from Guests:

"Computer froze in the middle of my work" "I walked up to check my e-mail and suddenly looked at obscene pictures on the computer screen" "I noticed stuff from one of your previous Guests on the computer? Will my info remain on the computer too?" "I think you have a virus on your computer because this window kept popping up, saying,…" And the list goes on.

You also find out that your very dedicated manager spends (a very valuable) hour each day trying to fix and clean the computer. And, a couple of times, a computer technician had to solve a problem for $80 / hour.

"It is a mistake to underestimate the process of making computer and internet access available to your Guests ", states Ron Koning, Vice President of SurferQuest, a supplier of Public Internet Computers and Software. "The Hospitality industry is forced to offer this amenity, so they put a computer in their Business Center, without thinking a lot about it. Reality hits when the complaints start piling up, managers get frustrated and the maintenance cost doubles or triples the budget. And that is just the visible problem."

"Running a Business Center Computer is a risk the Hotelier really does not want to take without proper precautions," Mr. Koning continues, "The amount of work involved to keep it up and running is just part of the problem, the liability is the true risk each Hotelier is subject to." The general opinion is that as long as the Windows System, Virus scanner and Cleaning software is updated, nothing bad can happen. However, these tools do not prevent disk clutter, hacks, identity theft, new viruses or objectionable content showing on your computer. One by one, very serious matters when you consider them, with the definite possibility of a law-suit. SurferQuest software is developed to take a lot of these risks away. It prevents hacks, disk-clutter, it erases all left-over user content, it is foolproof and is even immune to viruses not yet invented. "And a nice bonus is," continues Mr. Koning, "it reduces normal maintenance by about 97%."

SurferQuest systems are not limited to Internet applications. They also contain Microsoft applications and the Hotelier can add additional software or hardware to the PC at any time (as long as it is Windows XP compatible).

SurferQuest leaves it up to the Hotelier whether to charge for usage or not. "Each system has the capability to accept Credit Card payments," states Mr. Koning, "The advantage of using this feature is that usage is regulated. Nobody can occupy the computer too long, preventing other Guests from using it, unless he pays for it of course".

SurferQuest 's clients include the US Military, The Westin on Times Square, Starbucks Providence Biltmore, The Radisson in Boston, Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Teton Mountain Resort and all the Emerald Suites. "Full listing available on request"

SurferQuest HQ Philipsburg, PA SurferQuest Sales Portland, ME SurferQuest Revenue Share Las Vegas, NV

About the Author

Kathryn Tyler is Business Woman of the Year 2003 of Pennsylvania. A title she acquired after writing several articles for Business Magazines.