Two minutes after stepping off the ferry at the Monaco Yacht Show this fall, a broker offered a captain a job.

“You have to do the shows, make the rounds,” a captain said. “If you are out of sight, you are out of mind. I do it because they remember me. I got that offer because he saw me.”

It’s that front-of-mind presence that captains at this month’s From the Bridge captains luncheon say is the secret ingredient to finding a job in today’s market.

“If they see your face and they just got a call for a captain, it works,” one captain said. “You have to stay top of mind, but it’s a fine line between that and annoying them. It’s a Catch-22: call too much and they stop taking your call; don’t call enough and they forget who you are.”

As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph above.

“We all got started in this industry by pounding the concrete and doing daywork,” one captain said. “If I was unemployed tomorrow, what would I do? I’d pound the pavement, pound the keyboard and the phone.”

“You definitely find out pretty quick how strong your connections are,” another captain said, referring to ”that broker who always says ‘call me’ when you are working, then you call when you are out of work and they won’t take your call. You find out the people who really want to know you and respect where you’ve been.”

The Triton asked this question at one of its first captains lunches more than seven years ago, and the methods of finding jobs really haven’t changed much.

“I got most of my jobs through captain references, yacht management companies, and charter brokers,” one captain said.

“You’d be surprised how many jobs are found on the golf course,” said one of the three captains who plays.

“I’ve been playing a little with a network of other captains,” said another. 

Another good way to find jobs is through charter clients and guests.

“Charter captains have a leg up,” one captain said. “Their Rolodex is bigger, and they’re not going to have any problem hitting up charter brokers for a job because [the broker will] look at him and say, ‘he’s going to make me money.’”

“Private captains are kind of invisible,” said a third.

This sparked a conversation about the pitfalls of having longevity with an owner, of being out of the loop with brokers and managers and even with other captains.

“A lot of captains make a big mistake,” one captain said. “They get comfortable in their job and they stop talking to people. I have a friend on the same yacht 11 years and nobody knows him.”

One captain has been put up for a two-year job in Tahiti, quite possibly most captains’ dream job, but is hesitating.

“The only problem with being in Tahiti for a couple of years is that I’d be in Tahiti for two years,” this captain said. “I love Tahiti, but no one remembers you when you’re gone. With a yacht, you’ve got to think of the resale value. With captains, you always have to be thinking about your next job.”

So has the economy changed the way captains look for work?

“Not on big boats, but on small boats, yes,” one captain said.

“It might make you stick out a job you might not otherwise,” another said.

“Owners are more open to the rotation idea,” said a third.

These captains shared their secrets for finding jobs, the people they regularly network with, the off-the-beaten-track ways they use to get their resumes in front of owners. (They made me promise not to divulge too much.)

“You’ve got to get in the owner’s mind,” one captain said. “If you were an owner, where would you look for a captain?”

One captain requested the risk assessment done by an insurance company for the vessel. A portion of it addressed the captain and it was positive. It is now part of this captain’s resume.

And another networks directly with insurance brokers.

“They get asked by owners all the time if they know of any captains,” this captain said.

Networking with sales brokers can be tricky.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” one captain noted. “They may get you a job, but there’s lots of pressure to give them listings, forever.”

But they agreed that they don’t keep all brokers in close confidence.

“They’ve got an agenda in contrast to reality and truly can be detrimental to the life cycle of the boat,” one captain said, referring to unreasonable crew and budget levels brokers sometimes tell owners. “I avoid those brokers. Even if they got you a job, why would you want it?”

“But you’ve still got to smile and be nice to them, say hello to them at shows,” another captain said.

“No, you don’t,” insisted the first.

“Yes, you do,” said a third. “You never know who they know.”

“We certainly don’t burn our bridges,” another captain said. “It’s a small industry and you can’t forget that.”

Captains do find jobs through crew agencies, usually the more corporate ones housed in the larger brokerage houses such as Fraser and Camper & Nicholsons. Seven years ago, one captain predicted that management companies would be the future, that the smallest ones would fall away, leaving a network of professional placement agencies in their wake.

That hasn’t really happened.

“There are more management companies now than ever,” one captain noted.

A few captains don’t support the management company mission.

“It’s all politics,” one captain said. “Management companies want younger captains they can control, who will do what they are told. They discriminate with older captains.”

This sparked a conversation about age, experience and yachting.

“In some industries, if you are over 50, you are looked up to, given the premier jobs,” one captain said. “Look in the cockpit of a 757. How old are those pilots?”

“They aren’t in their 30s,” another captain said.

“But reality goes out the window when the owner is looking for a cheap guy,” said a third.

“It’s the yacht management company looking for captains they can control,” another said.

When the time comes and an owner or the owner’s family stops using the boat and decides to sell, captains are left with a decision to make: stick it out or begin the job search. One captain with an owner for years has decided to stay with the boat to the end.

“I’ve missed some good jobs along the way doing that,” another captain said. “At the end, you have to say it’s just business.”

“You know, we all get a contract and we’re asked to make a one-year commitment,” said a third. “I have no problem with that. But my thinking has changed. They could sell the boat next month and I’m gone. They have no commitment to me.

“We should ask for the same commitment from the owner,” this captain continued.

To which, several captains scoffed at the idea that an employment contract would be followed.

“The percentage of owners who will honor a contract is pretty small,” another captain said.

These captains didn’t think the job market was too tight for captains, and most agreed they would not take a second-in-command job if they could help it.

“I wouldn’t now, not at this stage of my career,” one captain said. “A broker once told me, never step back.”

“If I was out of work, I might,” another said. “People do read a lot into your resume. It wouldn’t be on a slightly larger boat, but on a much bigger boat.”

“I would take it in a rotational, so people know you can work into the captain’s position,” said a third. “A co-captain/first officer position, and make sure the contract says it.”

Being out of work, these captains agreed, makes it even harder to find a job.

“An unemployed captain is an anathema in the industry.”

If you make your living working as a yacht captain, e-mail us for an invitation to our monthly Bridge luncheon.