Staying with the topic of preferences for captains recruiting, a recurring issue they tell us about is a lack of interior stews with strong housekeeping skills.
While ESTELA is not a recruitment agency, we are asked regularly by captains to source candidates, particularly once the season is underway. You may have seen our occasional posts in crew forums and jobs boards, including our very own ‘Yacht Crew Recruitment’ Facebook group.
There is rarely a shortage of responses to our job posts, but time and again, suitable skills and experience are hard to come by.
Lots of housekeeping courses* exist, of course, which give ‘green’ candidates an advantage in clinching that all-important first job on board. At the same time, FB forums are full of aspiring crew struggling to get their foot in the door.
Yes, upfront training requires an investment of money and time, but without this, both new candidates’ and captains’ time is wasted, leading to frustration all-round.
To this end, ESTELA only puts forward candidates who have completed a housekeeping course, or can demonstrate relevant experience in an equivalent setting.
Servicing heads and beds and ironing are standard duties for junior stews, so why are so many ‘green’ candidates applying without these basic skills?
Social media are full of stories from current and past crew, talking about life on board, detailing the less glamorous aspects of the job. Why are so many prospective crew unprepared?
We would love to hear your feedback! Whether you’re a captain, chief stew, trainer or recruiter, is this your experience? Tell us what you think about ‘green’ recruitment and how we should fix the problem of poor preparedness in the next generation of crew.
Send your comments to editor@estelayachting.com and we’ll post them in the next edition (feel free to withhold your name).
*Contact us for recommended courses at discounted rates, at crewtraining@estelayachting.com