SEAFARERS ( application forms, resumes, CV’s )

I am a recently-qualified British Officer Of the Watch (having just gained my MCA OOW (Deck) Unlimited CoC), and I am writing to you to put myself forward for the position of Junior/Third Officer. I believe this early stage in my career is the perfect time for me to make the move out of the container sector. I believe this crucial first stage of my career presents an incredible opportunity for me to branch out into other sectors, as I am still junior enough to able to mould myself into the type of officer necessary to work in a different sector. I believe my experiences as a Deck Cadet, and in the Territorial Army, have been extremely beneficial in preparing me for working as a Deck Officer for BP; my sea-going experience so far consists of 14 months sailing as a Deck Cadet, and is split between a Panamax Ice-Class 1A container ship plying between Europe and eastern Canada during the depths of North Atlantic Winter, and two Panamax container ships operating in the Far East and Australia in the height of summer. Winter in the North Atlantic (specifically the Gulf of St Lawrence and the St Lawrence River) provided me with valuable experience in navigating in extreme cold weather and other adverse conditions associated with winter in the North Atlantic and Canada, which I believe to be extremely beneficial to my development as an officer. Most importantly, I believe my time in the North Atlantic and the east coast of Canada taught me a huge amount about adapting to extremely challenging and unfamiliar work environments. During my time in Asia, I gained a great deal of experience in navigating in heavily congested coastal waters, often as part of a very busy coastal schedule. which I also believe to be an extremely advantageous experience for any newly-qualified officer, especially when navigating within busy coastal waters. I believe my experiences during my cadetship show that I am able to adapt well to new, challenging environments, while still performing my duties to the highest standard. During all of my trips to sea, I was regularly involved in loading, transporting and discharging various classes of DG and temperature-sensitive cargo, so I am very familiar with the risks involved with such operations, and the care that must be taken when undertaking them. As a result, I am also very familiar with the IMDG code. By the end of my cadetship, I was trusted to lead each navigational watch under the supervision of the OOW, which included taking the con while transiting company-designated high risk areas such as the Dover, Taiwan and Singapore Straights in the daylight, at night, and in restricted visibility. I believe this trust placed in my by numerous captains speaks to my competence as an officer. Furthermore, during my time at sea as a cadet, I received two formal written promotion recommendations from two senior Captains which I believe, when coupled with the fact that I passed my MCA oral exam on the first attempt and achieved a distinction in my Nautical Science foundation degree, is an excellent indicator of my skills and work ethic as a Deck Officer. All of the written appraisals from various Captains I have sailed under have also been overwhelmingly positive. I would be more than willing to provide copies of these on request. Aside from my seagoing experience, I spent several years in the Territorial Army as an Officer Cadet of the University of London Officers' Training Corps. This is a role in which I excelled, which can be seen in the fact that in my third year I was given the role of Platoon Sergeant, in charge of organising, administrating and training a platoon of 30 new Officer Cadets, both in the classroom and in "the field". During my time in the Territorial Army, I undertook and passed levels 1 and 2 of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst's Military Leadership & Development Programme, which provided me with valuable experience in command & control, discipline, management and leadership. Most importantly, it taught me not simply how to cope under pressure, but how to thrive.