Working in the sea comes with enormous challenges and excellent benefits. And due to this, seafarers need to exert effort to improve their skills or traits and add more to them. They need to boost their knowledge and skills to solve challenges and excel in their chosen career. What exactly are we talking about?
Punctuality, diligence, courage, and strong work ethic are highly required skills in almost all industries, but these are all exceptionally necessary in maritime. Being on a ship for an extended period without seeing your loved ones, facing challenges that need utmost solutions, and being stressed can quickly take a toll on you. Considering these challenges, the following skills and traits are critical for every seafarer to work at sea:
Decision Making
Skill in making proper decisions is crucial for all seafarers. Their career will force them to face challenging and unpleasant situations, like mechanical faults in the vessel or bad weather. In events like these, a seafarer must think and decide quickly to resolve matters. Stressful events may even put them in positions where they need to make prompt decisions right then and there.
In addition to decision-making skills, seafarers need to consider the safety of the crew, ship, and themselves in every decision they make.
Resolving Conflicts
In any work environment, anyone can face conflict that would require resolution. Indeed, people have different ways of responding to conflict. However, being calm is vital. When you’re calm despite disputes, you can address the problems better, allowing you to negotiate and understand your colleagues effectively.
Remember that it’s not about winning an argument in work environments but instead building and boosting relationships. All employees should respect one another to avoid any disagreement.
Teamwork
Being able to work with a team is a gift that not everyone possesses. It requires mutual respect and humility to work efficiently with a group of people. And since ships often carry many seafarers, they should know how to work together.
One way to show that you’re a team player is by showing interest in other people’s tasks. You may all have various responsibilities and work details, but understanding a person’s duty is also a great way to form bonds while on board. Plus, it’s a great way to expand your knowledge and learn more about maritime skills.
For instance, if your roommate is assigned to ship maintenance and you have a little knowledge about theyacht-monitoring system, you can use this opportunity to discuss things that you will both understand.
Adaptability
By definition, adaptability is a person’s willingness or ability to adjust to situations. For obvious reasons, things will not always go as planned when you work in the sea, and this is why seafarers must be prepared to adjust to every situation and find viable solutions.
Seafarers can improve their adaptability skills by working on their metacognitive skills, seeking feedback from co-workers, and reflecting on what they have to say.
Communication
The ability to communicate efficiently is a crucial aspect for sea workers. Seafarers should be willing to start casual conversations To improve their communication skills.
Proper communication plays an integral role in helping employees build relationships. When they can communicate with one another, they can quickly resolve problems together. As a result, they can easily relay messages, not worrying about how to say and respond to messages.
Leadership
Sea leaders don’t just focus on ship systems. They also focus on their staff. Leadership skill is a vital factor in keeping everyone safe at sea. When leaders prioritize people, a lot of other good things will come through.
Furthermore, thinking about a long-term career is significant. According to successful leaders like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, long-term conceptualization is the key to success.
Stress Management
Stress is our body’s natural reaction to adverse situations, events, or threats. It is an element of the standard process of adaptation to your surroundings. Being exposed to stressors from the environment and social settings for an extended period can make it hard for a person to cope.
Seafarers need to have stress management skills and focus on improving their mental health, which they can do by following these tips:
- Having a conversation: avoid succumbing to loneliness by talking to your co-workers. During your free time, have coffee with them and talk about life.
- Thinking positively: maintain positive thoughts in your mind and all the things that make you smile.
- Stop and take a breath: pause for a second and breathe calmly when things are too hard to deal with.
Overall, these traits and skills are essential to succeed in the maritime industry. However, there are specific skills that you may need to improve according to your preferred position or career. Keep these tips in mind as you start your journey at sea.
