Interviews for seafarer jobs differ from company to company, but most questions fall under the same headings. Memorized answers are easy to spot; what matters is your method.
The method: Situation – Action – Result
For experience questions, follow three steps:
- Situation: what happened, where were you, what was your role?
- Action: what did you do? ("I", not "we".)
- Result: what happened and what did you learn?
Keep each answer to one or two minutes.
Image: MichaelMaggs / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Common questions
"Tell us about yourself." Not your life story: your rank, total sea service, vessel types and what you are looking for now.
"Why did you leave your last ship?" Honest and short. Don't criticize your former company or master; give the real reason — end of contract, change of vessel type, family.
"Describe a difficult situation." Heavy weather, an engine failure, cargo damage or a crew disagreement. Use Situation – Action – Result.
"Have you ever disagreed with a superior?" "Never" is not convincing. Explain how you raised it respectfully and kept safety first.
"What do you do when you see unsafe work?" Stop-work authority, reporting and recording. Companies want a clear stance here.
"Have you worked with multinational crews?" Give a concrete example; stress the common working language and respect.
"Your strengths and weaknesses?" For a weakness, a real example and how you are improving it.
"Do you have any questions for us?" Always ask (see below).
Questions you can ask
- The ship's trading area and typical port stays
- Crew size and nationalities
- Contract length and leave pattern
- Internet access on board
- How joining and repatriation travel is arranged
What to avoid
- Exaggerating documents or experience; sea service records make it easy to check.
- Negotiating salary in the first minute (see part 5).
- One-word answers or endless stories.
Practical tip: before applying for maritime jobs, rehearse your answers out loud once; writing them down is not the same as saying them.
Full series: Seafarer Interview Guide
