College student, working towards a Mechanical Engineering degree and a Coast Guard license to work on ships. There's some serious money to be made in the industry, you know. The disadvantages of this choice are as follows:
-College life kinda sucks. My school is roughly 84% male, and "dating within the gates" is not advised. Plus, we really don't get out much.
-Once you're at sea, you're out there for a while. It varies depending on your ship, but a single job could last anywhere from three months to a year. During that time, you're gonna be working your ass off- eight hour work days, then about four hours of overtime, all within an engine room that's usually about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, if you're near the equator. Sure, you make good money, but it can be tedious, and even dangerous work.
-The sea-faring life isn't particularly family friendly. Most of my professors pretty much left the industry the moment they had a kid, because they didn't want to be an absent father figure, and just ended up grabbing a job onshore in some co-gen plant. When I was on a training cruise (sea internship), my First Engineer had graduated from Maine Maritime in 1980, but left the industry a year later when the jobs dried up. He got a job at a nuclear plant and worked there until about 2005, when it shut down. After that, he went back to school, re-obtained his license, and he's just been grinding sea-time until he can get his Chief Engineer's license.
So, all in all, the schooling kinda blows, and it's not great for people who like their families, but there's good money to be made, and you can travel the world on someone else's dime. That's what I'm looking forward to.
-College life kinda sucks. My school is roughly 84% male, and "dating within the gates" is not advised. Plus, we really don't get out much.
-Once you're at sea, you're out there for a while. It varies depending on your ship, but a single job could last anywhere from three months to a year. During that time, you're gonna be working your ass off- eight hour work days, then about four hours of overtime, all within an engine room that's usually about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, if you're near the equator. Sure, you make good money, but it can be tedious, and even dangerous work.
-The sea-faring life isn't particularly family friendly. Most of my professors pretty much left the industry the moment they had a kid, because they didn't want to be an absent father figure, and just ended up grabbing a job onshore in some co-gen plant. When I was on a training cruise (sea internship), my First Engineer had graduated from Maine Maritime in 1980, but left the industry a year later when the jobs dried up. He got a job at a nuclear plant and worked there until about 2005, when it shut down. After that, he went back to school, re-obtained his license, and he's just been grinding sea-time until he can get his Chief Engineer's license.
So, all in all, the schooling kinda blows, and it's not great for people who like their families, but there's good money to be made, and you can travel the world on someone else's dime. That's what I'm looking forward to.