summer work

Hi, I am a university of Plymouth student currently studying Marine engineering.

I have already worked with major dutch superyacht maufacturer Feadship, and have also worked on the construction of Roman abramovich's superyacht "Eclipse" in Hamburg, Germany whilst working for Thyssenkrup marine systems.

I have finished study for the year and have been looking for work/placements/internships for the summer, i have contacted at least 30 companies to no avail.

I am interested in any aspect of work anyone can offer me, i have a lot of experience in working with Awlgrip and international paint sytems and am a good fairer / finisher, and have experience with CAD and other design programs.

Also any tips on how to get experience is appreciated.

Nathan Rogers.

07407861191

 

Afternoon,
Can you use MAxsurf?
Thanks

 

Unfortunatly im don't have much experience with maxsurf, i have used maxsurf's accademic software package a couple of times, so am not that adept with the program but am a very quick learner and can adapt to different software. Any questions don't hesitate to contact me thanks for your reply.

Nathan Rogers
+44(0)7407861191

 

Hello Nathan. First of all you aren't clear what sort of work you are looking for, but it sounds like pretty much anything. One piece of general job search advice is to tailor your resume and cover letter for each job. This is important and it isn't nearly as difficult as it sounds. You have experience on the shop floor and some technical education, so if I understand correctly you are looking for two completely different types of jobs. You should therefore have two different resumes and two different cover letter templates. If you are applying to a design consultancy they won't care that you know how to mix paint and likewise a bottom scraping company won't have a clue what solidworks is. Both resumes should include all of your relevant marine jobs, skills and experience. They should however be focused differently. If you are applying to a design firm you will want to describe in full detail all of the software packages you have experience with, but for a labour job it would be sufficient to just note: experienced with CAD systems.

As for the cover letters you will need two different templates, one where you describe how much you enjoy the smell of styrene and the thrill you get out of sanding fibreglass and the other where you say how wonderfully fast you are on computers and how much you've enjoyed your education. Each time you apply for a different job tweak the cover letters slightly. If you are applying to a shop specializing in wooden boat construction or repair you can change loving the smell of styrene to loving the feel of sawdust in your nostrils (this is slight sarcasm of course but the idea is appropriate). The main reason you do this is because you will look stupid if you apply to a place that does nothing but fibreglass repair and your cover letter says how it has been your lifelong dream to work on wooden boats. Also try very hard to address your cover letters to a real person. Don't say "to whom it may concern", unless you absolutely have to. Try to find a contact name. It isn't usually too hard to search on the internet for the name of the owner, president, engineering manager or whoever. Address it right to them. Use the name of their company in the cover letter. It should really be in there three times. Once at the beginning where you list their address and who you are sending it to. Once in the first paragraph where you say how at this time you would like to apply for employment with their company and once in the last paragraph where you thank them for their consideration and reiterate how you believe you are the perfect fit for their company. This makes you look professional and it shows you put effort into your application. It also only takes about 2 minutes to switch names and addresses so there is no excuse for not doing it. Likewise try to apply to a personal email. Ones like info@bobdesign.com are often not checked frequently and may not find there way to the person in charge. If you can send your resume directly to the hiring manager or head engineer you will have much more success. When applying to design jobs email is pretty much standard nowadays. However, many smaller boatyards are still not quite on the internet superhighway. I'd highly recommend going to as many of these places as you can and applying in person. The person who is hiring a boat builder/repairer is often not an office person and may very well spend 99% of their day out on the shop floor. Go to that shop floor and talk to them. That's also a good idea for design firms or any job really. If possible try to go in and talk with them when you apply or even just make a polite request to meet them to ask some questions about the industry (don't apply at that time). People will be much more likely to remember you if they have seen your face.

One last piece of advice. Don't put your name and address on the internet where everyone can see it. People can contact you through private message or you can leave an email address. There is no legitimate reason for people to need your home address.

 

Hi david, thanks for your advice. I appreciate you taking the time to give me clear advice on how to pursue my career some really helpfull information in your reply thanks alot.

Nathan