How does one become ...

[Haiku]

... a crewman on a ship, aside from going into the military, which isn't an option?

[Mama Geek]

Can you be a little more specific for what type of ship and what type of work? I have know people that work on large private yachts and fishing boats, but there are also jobs for ships like container ships or oil tankers? What type of work... maintenance, cooking, navigating, etc?

[sunnyday]

I have a college friend who studied math and physics, and got his credential as a high school math teacher, but maintained sailing as a hobby. He had a job for a year as first mate on the HMS Bounty. Is that the kind of thing you're talking about?

[Haiku]

My son was watching Treasure Quest and said he would like to work on a ship. When I asked what he would like to do, he said "Haul stuff in and out of the water, like the do with the Zeus." (Zeus is a remotely operated vehicle.)

[FriedClams]

You could look into the Merchant Marine. They man most of the commercial ships and can make a TON of money.

[Mama Geek]

I haven't seen the show so I am only guessing that you are talking about manual labor. I would go to major ports and walk the docks and talk to the people working on the ships. If you are wanting to do maintenance, there are programs to become yacht engineers-I would start there.

 

You might also look up things like maritime employment. Doing a quick search I came up with this http://www.maritimeemployment.com/index.asp

[Haiku]

Yes, every job my son has expressed interest in has required physical labor. He's not very interested in doing something that requires a lot of study. He says he wants to go to college, but I think he just says this to please me (although we have told him that not every worthwhile career requires college). I think he wants something where he uses his body a lot.

[Mama Geek]

I edited my previous post while you were posting. Also you can get skilled jobs that require 1 or 2 years of school like welding which is what my brother has done. He hasn't made great decisions but he really enjoys welding.

[sunnyday]

Oh, and my cousin has his biology degree and works as an "observer" on salmon fishing boats. It's his job to monitor bycatch and identify the species and then report in to the government to verify that the species that should be out there, are, and that rare species aren't being harmed by the fishing.

 

If he likes ROVs, he might love joining a kids' ROV building competition like this: http://www.marinetech.org/ We spoke with some people last week who have a club (11th worldwide!) and they said Scout class robot building is appropriate for as young as age 6.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I have family who are Alaskan fishermen (not the Deadliest Catch kind.) My brother started working with them when he was 15 and now makes $40 K for 4 month's worth of work. A LOT of manual labor, injuries do happen. You have to work your way up, building skill.

[MeeganZ]

I grew up outside St.Louis. Just after graduating high school I had a very close friend that got a job working as a deck hand on barges on the Mississippi. This was in the early 90's and back then he just went down to the docks in St. Louis and asked if they were hiring. They were. Back then they were ALWAYS looking for strong young reliable help on the barges. They had a pretty high turnover rate because it's extremely physical and can be dangerous. We were all straight out of high school, struggling making about 3.50 on minimum wage, trying to go to college and we were in awe that he was making $16 an hour, had a new truck, an apartment and no need or desire to go back to college :). He absolutely loved the work. I lost track of him after a couple of years. Recently I heard from a friend that he's still working the river. Still loves it. And he is a Captain now.

[beaners]

I grew up outside St.Louis. Just after graduating high school I had a very close friend that got a job working as a deck hand on barges on the Mississippi. This was in the early 90's and back then he just went down to the docks in St. Louis and asked if they were hiring. They were. Back then they were ALWAYS looking for strong young reliable help on the barges. They had a pretty high turnover rate because it's extremely physical and can be dangerous. We were all straight out of high school, struggling making about 3.50 on minimum wage, trying to go to college and we were in awe that he was making $16 an hour, had a new truck, an apartment and no need or desire to go back to college :). He absolutely loved the work. I lost track of him after a couple of years. Recently I heard from a friend that he's still working the river. Still loves it. And he is a Captain now.

 

I knew a couple guys living outside of Memphis who did that type of work. They knew someone who helped one of them get the job initially, and then he brought the other guys in. Aside from a fair bit of teasing about being "river rats," they were making better money than almost anyone else with that level of education that I knew.