As a part of our service to crew, we assist in the placement of our top candidates (if we have jobs available). If we are contacted by any yacht looking for crew, we only provide them with the CVs of our top students who excelled during SYSA training courses. PLEASE NOTE: SYSA is not a Crew Placement Agency – therefore we do not handle placements for students who completed the SYSA courses, however, we are often contacted by Captains and Senior Crew overseas and asked to provide a CV of a few of our top candidates, which we gladly do to assist our students who made an excellent impression during their training with us.
Industry norm: Entry level crew struggle to be hired from South Africa. The reason for this is simple. Each year, at the beginning of each season, in both Europe and USA, Captains have the opportunity to meet and interview new crew face to face. This is often followed up by a probation period on board. Also, when a position opens up, the Captain wants a replacement immediately, in other words within a day or so… this once again, is not possible from South Africa, as crew need to get visas, organize flights, etc. These points aside, SYSA assists crew in being hired as much as possible.
Crew Placement Process
- After each practical training course, the Instructor will compile a Course Assessment of each student. This evaluates and assesses each crew member’s participation, personality, interaction with the course students, manners, as well as overall course performance. This vital information provides us with a more in-depth reference on each student, which can also be provided to Captains as part of each crew member’s portfolio. Industry Standards prevent us from promoting average crew.
- We assist our students in preparing a yacht standard CV after completing the SYSA Steward/ess course.