TravelDuties

Becoming an employee in the travel or tourism can be a life changing experience. The travel industry has experienced some rapid growth over the last few years, and can provide you with a chance to see the world.

One of the most exciting and unique jobs in the travel industry is as a travel writer of travel photographer. As a travel writer or photographer, you can travel the world, visiting some of the most beautiful and striking places on Earth, from the diverse culture of the far east, to history rich cities like Athens and London. However, it is rather difficult to become a travel writer or photographer, but if you are able to break into the industry, you will be well rewarded.

If you want to be a world traveler, seeing the world while you work, then becoming a flight attendant may be up your path. As a flight attendant, you will have the opportunity to live in multiple cities and also earn a generous salary, with around $18 an hour for the first year, to $28 the fifth year. The one downside to becoming an airline flight attendant is that there is a lot of competition in the industry, with most people failing to make it past the initial interview. Additionally, most airlines require their flight attendants to be fluent in two or more languages.

Because the cruise line industry is one of the most rapidly developing in the industry, becoming an employee on a cruise ship has become a renowned career. The main advantage of working on a cruise ship is that it offers many job opportunities in a large variety of industries, including food and beverage, security, entertainment, and even retail, while traveling and seeing the world. Additionally, working on a cruise ship covers your room and board, making even the lowest paying jobs more enticing.

For a traveler, there are probably few things greater than a relaxing vacation on a cruise ship.

If you’re thinking about finding work on a cruise ship, however, don’t expect to have the same experience. Working on a cruise ship can be tough. Here are a few things to be aware of before you decide to dive right in and find work on a cruise ship.

Long Hours

Life on a cruise ship is about long hours working to make everyone on board’s vacation as pleasurable as possible. When you start working on a cruise ship you’re essentially “at work” for 24 hours a day until your contract is up.

Speaking of the contract, be prepared to not have any days off until the agreed upon term in your contract is over. Do a good job on board and you’ll probably be offered another contract. Perform in a lackluster fashion and expect to be going home and never coming back.

Living Conditions

Are you seasick or afraid of close quarters? You might want to reconsider working on a cruise ship. Living on a boat for weeks, or months, straight is not the same as living on the mainland. If you don’t think you can handle being at sea that long then maybe you should look at other employment options.

The internet has changed the way people research and apply for jobs, a phenomenon that has been gaining strength over the past decade. Career Builder, Monster and Indeed are some of the largest portals featuring jobs while local online classifieds and craigslist are some other options for job seekers.

Unfortunately, just because an opportunity is posted to a respected site, doesn’t mean that the job is decent or even real. Employment scams abound and job seekers should be diligent when applying for any job. Some are obvious and outright lies while others are much more subtle, even couched in truth.

How Can I Avoid Being Scammed?

The following tips can help you avoid being taken by a con artist:

Advance Fee — In exchange for work or for a list of job opportunities, someone will want you to wire money to them for special access to “available” opportunities. Unfortunately, your Western Union wire will be received and kept by an unscrupulous party leaving you $100-200 poorer.

Resume Blasting — For a set fee, someone promises to “blast” your resume to thousands of employers. The thinking here is that more people will find your resume, increasing the chances you’ll get hired. Even if the company follows through, most email accounts will recognize this ploy as spam.

Other Variations — Of course, just as soon as you figure out the two most popular scams, others will crop up which are usually a variation on an existing theme. Some will seem much more legitimate, inviting you to a hotel for a career session. While there, you’ll learn about possible job openings, but they may not be with that employer. You don’t need to pay an agency to find work that you can obtain on your own!

Use Wisdom

If responding to an online ad, you’ll want to make sure that the job:

• Actually exists.

• The company or person interviewing you has the authority to actually hire you.

• The job is located in the US (or Canada) and you have the right to work for the company. Even if the ship is registered in Panama or elsewhere, they are subject to state or federal oversight, including for employing staff.

Never go to an interview that doesn’t sound right or accept a job where someone wants you to pay them with the promise of paying you back later. Legitimate companies keep everything above board while scammers skirt the truth and leave you wondering.

Ultimately, go with your intuition and avoid those “employers” who promise something that sounds too good to deliver.

Thanks to the internet, one business trend appears to be falling out of fashion. Thanks to the internet, this same trend still seems popular with marketing savvy individuals.

What am I talking about?

Business cards — those 3.75 x 2.25 card stock tools that have been long favored by business folks the world over.

Despite the fact that the internet is connecting people like never before, thereby making the exchange of business cards seem like a moot issue, there are reasons why you should still have cards of your own.

3 Reasons Why You Need A Business Card

Business cards are still useful and for the following reasons:

• When applying for a job, particularly one where a hard copy of your resume is requested, sending a business card out with your cover letter and resume is smart thinking. Lots of employers use business card scanning software and, yes, the trusty Rolodex is still used by some managers.

• If you are heading to a convention or job fair, a business card comes in handy. Certainly, handing a copy of your resume off to a potential employer is wise, but so is exchanging cards with your peers. I’ve attended conventions where I’ve handed off scores of my cards within just a few hours time — a terrific and cheap networking tool!

• Your personal contacts can also use your business card. How many times have you been out and about, meeting up with someone and found that you didn’t have a pen handy to give them your number? A business card eliminates that need, making it easier for you to share contact information with friends.

Business Card Prices Are Cheap - Online

Business card prices are very cheap, with the best deals found online. Lest you think that I’m making a plug for an affiliate site, I can assure you that I am not. Simply “google” a search for business cards and a number of companies will pop up on the search engine results pages.

I’ve used VistaPrint in the past and have visited the Overnight Print site as well. Staples, Office Max and other some other print shops offer cards too, but the best deals clearly can be found online.

Photo courtesy of Steve Woods — just make sure that your card isn’t blank!

When seeking a new job, you hope that you will pass the interview and get hired, right? Well, why else would you go on an interview in the first place? To be entertained?

Unfortunately, job candidates will sometimes do their best to sabotage their job search including some things which are clearly wrong and others that aren’t so obvious. Before you go on your next interview, you just may want to rethink how you will present yourself to a potential employer.

How To Ensure That You Won’t Get Hired

Arrive Late — Oh, this is a real killer! If you have an interview scheduled, you should arrive about fifteen minutes ahead of time, but plan on being a full half hour early if traffic is a concern. Sure, cars can break down and your daycare plans could fall through, but the burden is on you to call ASAP to let the interviewer know that your plans have fallen through. Ask for a different interview time, but please note: some people simply do not tolerate excuses!

Dress Inappropriately — Tattoos are acceptable if you work at a bar, a pawn shop or other position frequented by working class folks, but lots of white collar and service-oriented employers will balk at your display. Cover it up, all of the way up or risk being passed up in the job selection process. Oh, by the way, pierced eyebrows, tongues and anything other than pierced ears is a real turn off. Please, your shocking pink hair has got to go!

Talk About Yourself — Sure, interviewing your potential employer is important but don’t get carried away. You are at the interview to answer their questions and pitch what you bring to the table. The interview is less about you, but more about what you can do for the company.

Appear Disorganized — Besides being dressed inappropriately, you can come across as being disorganized in a number of ways. Did you forget to bring a copy of your resume? Are your references out of date? Did you forget to bring a pen for the job application? Is your cell phone ringing in the middle of the interview (worse still: did you answer it?) Anything that you do which gives an appearance that you cannot comport yoursef in a professional manner is a red flag human resources personnel will look for.

Drift or Not Pay Attention — You should never come to an interview hungry or thirsty and you should use the bathroom before meeting with your interviewer. If you are tired, you’ll find yourself drifting and missing important parts of the conversation. Guess what? You need to be as sharp as a tack in order to be considered for any position.

There are other ways to ensure you won’t get hired including: lying on your resume, providing incorrect contact information, being unqualified for the job, not looking the interviewer in the eye, interrupting the conversation, blabbing about your personal life, and more.

Cruise lines are looking for solid job candidates, particularly those who can work well with the public, which is their customer base. Don’t rule yourself out of the job market by committing these and other interviewing errors — too many people do, but what about you?

With 2007 now in the history books, you’ve probably have been taking stock of your career and wondering if what you are doing now is what you want to do with yourself for the rest of your life. Granted, it can be difficult to look that far in advance, but if you are unhappy with your current job, then considering other possibilities right now is the way to go.

Cruise Line Employment Is Booming

The cruise line industry continues to grow at a record-setting pace, as leisure travelers realize that they can vacation in style without busting their budgets. This is good news for someone like you who may be looking for a change in 2008. However, one question remains: how can you find work? That’s easy — please keep reading for some great tips on finding the cruise ship opportunity that is right for you.

TravelDuties — Without shame, I must say that this website has been a good source of information for people who want to work on a cruise ship or yacht. We have links to all of the major cruise lines and tips crafting a resume, writing a cover letter, getting your references together and interviewing. We may not be the biggest site on the internet, but we hold our own.

Cruise Lines –  One of the best resources are the cruise lines themselves. In fact, we highly recommend you visit the various websites of the major cruise lines. Learn if they are hiring, what jobs are available, when open houses will be held, and find out about all of their procedures for obtaining employment. When in doubt, go to directly to the source.

Job Sites — The major job sites feature some very good opportunities. I like Indeed, Monster, Career Builder and HotJobs to name a few. Sometimes the cruise lines will only share current openings on the job sites as that is where most job seekers can be found.

Internet Search — Using Google, type in the words “cruise ship jobs” and you’ll get a bunch of results. However, I must recommend extreme caution as a lot of sites are junk and some are scams.  Buyer beware — never pay someone to find work for you.

Ultimately, finding work in the cruise industry will depend upon you. Your knowledge, personal energy and zeal will go a long way toward helping you make a career switch. Why not make 2008 the year you took to the seas? Your cruise line career awaits you — seize the opportunities and you’ll be ocean bound before you know it!