14 New Year's Resolutions for Maritime Industry People

New Year's resolutions don’t have to be all about going to the gym, drinking more water and eating less chocolate. They’re also a great way to set goals and improve yourself, and that definitely applies to your professional life whether you work in a shore-based maritime job or you’re a seafarer who works on a ship.

Whoever and wherever you are, it’s the start of a brand new year so what better time to put in place some good habits that will see you through the next twelve months? Anyone who works in a job in the maritime industry knows that being organized and disciplined is a must, so with that in mind we thought we’d come up with a few new year's resolutions to help you on your way to success.

And so that you can save yourself time and skip directly to the parts of this blog post that are relevant to you, we’ve broken down our 14 new year’s resolutions into two batches: One batch for Crew Managers, Recruitment Officers and Manning Agents, and the other for anyone working in a seafarer job. 

Read this if you work in crew planning and maritime recruitment

As a busy Crew Manager or Recruitment Officer we know that staying one step ahead of your maritime recruitment needs and your crew planning ops can be challenging. So that’s why we’ve come up with some achievable resolutions that you can implement at work.

But first, how do you go about deciding upon your resolutions? Here are some tips for creating effective work-related resolutions.

How to create effective work-based New Year’s resolutions

Start by brainstorming and consider what aspects of your maritime recruitment or crew planning operations you'd like to improve and what challenges you want to overcome. Do you need to develop any new skills to achieve your goals?

Then gather some inspiration by taking a look at your career aspirations, your shipping company or mannings agency’s goals, and recent feedback you've received. Talking to your coworkers and acquaintances can also provide valuable insights.

You also need to be specific by defining your goals clearly and avoiding ambiguity. So instead of  "be more organized" aim for something that is more along the lines of "make sure seafarer job vacancies are posted at least 6 weeks before the crew change date where possible."

Read more: 11 Surefire Ways to be More Organized at Work

Your resolutions must also be attainable and you need to set realistic goals that align with your resources, workload, and bandwidth - otherwise you’re just setting yourself up for failure.

Finally, assigning a deadline to each resolution/goal if possible will help keep you on track and motivated. For example; “reach out to providers of crew planning software by the end of February” and “have crewing system software implemented and up and running by June.”

Looking for some ideas for some work-related resolutions for your maritime recruitment or crew planning teams? Read on.

7 New Year’s resolutions for Crew Managers & Manning Agents

1. Adopt greener practices

We can all make a difference when it comes to being more eco-friendly. And one of the ways you can do this is by going paperless - or at least by cutting down on the amount of paper you use.

At Martide we help you reduce the amount of paper (and ink) you need to purchase, and then use and waste through our maritime recruitment and crew planning software.

When you’re running your operations online and in the Cloud, the amount you need to print is drastically reduced. For example, the seafarers in our database create their profile online which you can then look at and quickly decide whether you want to hire them or not.

Filters further simplify the process allowing you to find the right seafarer for the job without having to print out (and read through) endless resumes.

Read more: 7 Ways Maritime Recruitment Teams Can Go Paperless

2. Start delegating more efficiently

If you’re the manager of your maritime recruitment or crew planning team, you don’t need us to tell you how hectic life can be.

And if you’re guilty of trying to do almost everything in your department, it’s time to learn to let go and start delegating.

Put simply; it’s important to delegate to your team. If you’re a team leader or department head you probably find that you don’t have enough hours in the day to get everything done. And you shouldn’t try.

After all that’s why you hired your maritime recruitment officers or crew operators. If you’re not utilizing their skills and talents to the maximum and only having them do the bare basics of their job, you’re not exactly getting great value for money!

Read more: Why You Need to Learn to Let Go & Start Delegating 

3. Expand your network

Attending maritime industry events and connecting with other professionals can really help you grow or upgrade your business in ways that you might not otherwise have done.

There are countless shipping industry events throughout the year and across the globe, usually tailored to a niche in the sector.

For example, Martide has attended Crew Connect Global in Manilla, Philippines before. We found the entire experience to be a highly valuable one and made connections with other companies in the crewing sphere.

If you’re looking for new crewing system software, a training provider, manning agencies to work with, maritime recruitment software, travel agents to partner with or suppliers of seafarer medical exams, you might just find what you’re looking for at a trade show or event.

4. Work on your crew retention strategy

In the maritime industry where the majority of seafarers work on a contract basis, constantly dealing with crew turnover can be a major source of frustration and stress for shipowners, ship managers, crew managers, recruitment officers and manning agents.

And with qualified, experienced and diligent crew being increasingly hard to come by, crew retention is becoming a thorn in many small to mid-sized shipping companies' sides.

From using a crewing system to streamline your operations to developing a culture of tolerance, diversity and inclusivity, there are plenty of ways to make sure that your most valued seafarers return to you for their next contract.

What does that mean for you? It means far fewer headaches when it comes to meeting your crew change dates!

Read more: 9 Crew Retention Strategies to Stop Seafarers Jumping Ship

5. Upgrade tired or dated software 

Sometimes software can have a shelf life and if your current maritime recruitment platform or crew planning system is creating almost more problems than it solves, it’s time for an upgrade.

As mentioned above, a better crewing system can help with retention issues but it can also make life a lot simpler for the people who use it.

The best crewing software solutions will help you run the entire life cycle of both your maritime recruitment process and your crew planning and change over operations.

And if the software you use at the moment is clunky, user-unfriendly, time consuming to use and hard to navigate, it’s making life more inconvenient and stressful for your people. 

Start by doing your research, making some comparisons and asking for a free demo of the crewing systems on your short list before making a final decision.

PS: You can request your free, no obligation demo of Martide’s crewing software right here!

Plus by learning to use a new maritime software solution, you’ll also be adding to your own skill sets, which will look good on your resume if you decide to look for a similar role at another company in the industry! 

Read more: The Beginner's Guide to Crewing System Software

6. Make sure your job ads are reaching the right audience

We know from doing our own research that the vast majority of seafarers who are looking for jobs at sea conduct their job search and application using their cell phone.

What does that mean for you? It means that a) your job adverts must display correctly on smaller devices and b) your application process must be easy to do using a phone.

If seafarers can’t see your jobs properly and applying for them while they’re on the go is a time-consuming nightmare, they’re going to click away and look elsewhere.

Make this the year that you start making your seafarer job adverts work for you, not against you by posting them on sites that are mobile-friendly - such as Martide!

Read more: Why You're Missing Out On Seafarers if You're Not Using Us!

7. Commit to clearer communication

Communication is key in the maritime industry, both with your shore-based teams and with your seafarers.

The challenges can be many: language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, a hectic day in the office meaning crucial information isn’t relayed correctly or even forgotten about altogether.

How do you communicate more effectively at work? Use tools to help, such as a crewing system that has an in-built messaging system so that multiple emails and inboxes aren’t creating confusion.

The best crewing software will also allow teams and individuals to collaborate and share info in real time so that everybody is on the same page and knows the exact current status of a seafarer’s job application, hiring process or crew change dates and travel arrangements.

Read more: 5 Tips for Clearer Communication in the Maritime Industry

Finally, don’t forget to celebrate your successes and reward yourself - and your team - for achieving milestones and reaching your goals.

Creating effective New Year's resolutions at work requires taking an honest look at processes and systems that could be improved upon as well as planning and commitment. 

By following our tips and ideas and tailoring them to your crew planning or maritime recruitment departments’ specific needs you can set yourself, and your company, up for a successful and fulfilling year ahead.

Read this if you work in a maritime job at sea or offshore

The symbolic clean slate of a new year can be motivating for making changes, even if those changes would have been possible at any other time.

However, one thing we will say before we get started is to make sure you set realistic and achievable goals. Setting either overly ambitious or vague goals can lead to disappointment and frustration.

Here are a few ideas that should be well within your wheelhouse!

7 New Year’s resolution ideas for people working in seafarer jobs

1. Make sure your seafarer documents are valid

The new year is the ideal time to make sure all of your seafarer documents are in order and will see you through your next few contracts. 

Of course you can do this manually but if this is one of those tasks that you always seem to forget about, did you know that Martide makes it easier for you to check your documents?

If you use Martide to look for jobs at sea and apply to our seafarer job vacancies, you will have uploaded your documents into our system so that employers and manning agencies can check them before they hire you.

And when your documents are reaching the date of renewal, we’ll send you a reminder by email so that you make sure you take care of this in good time.

2. Make sure your health insurance is up-to-date

While we’re talking about paperwork, it’s also a good time to make sure that your personal health insurance is valid for the foreseeable future.

Yes, your shipping company will very likely cover some costs in the event of an accident or emergency while you’re working at sea, but it is possible that they won’t cover all of them - particularly if you are injured through any fault of your own.

3. Open an emergency bank account

If you haven’t already got one, this is one thing you should do as a priority. If you have a bank account to which you’re the only person who has access or you are needed as a joint signatory, what is your spouse or partner to do in the event of an emergency?

There’s nothing worse than knowing your family is facing a problem on shore and needs money while you’re away at sea.

Opening an easy-access bank account that your family can use as funds when they’re in a tight spot could provide valuable peace of mind for all of you should anything happen on land while you’re away working on a ship. 

Transfer as much as you can afford to do so comfortably into it upon opening the account, and top up with your salary as and when you can.

4. Create a Martide account to find seafarer jobs

We hope that you already have a Martide account but if you don’t and you’re looking for your next seafarer job contract, there’s no time like the new year to create one!

It’s free (and always will be) for seafarers to sign up to Martide and once you have an account and have filled out your seafarer profile you can then apply for any of our jobs on ships that you feel you are qualified for.

Martide also makes it easier to stay in touch with employers and manning agents and lets you track your seafarer job applications quickly and easily.

5. Download the Martide seafarer job app

And while we’re on the subject, we might be biased but we highly recommend that you also download the Martide mobile app.

Created by us especially for anyone looking for and working at sea, the app lets you apply for our maritime jobs quickly and easily no matter where you are in the world.

It’s also free to download and use and doesn’t have any annoying adverts. It’s purely for you to find your next job at sea, track your applications and receive messages and alerts about your contract and travel arrangements.

 Download the seafarer job app for iOS or Android from the Apple App Store or from Google Play!  

6. Get - and stay - organized

If you’re not a naturally organized person you might find it a little tricky to stay on top of your job search. There are multiple ways that you can make finding jobs at sea easier, from using our app or website to creating a spreadsheet so you know which ship jobs you’ve applied for.

Being organized doesn’t have to be a pain, even if it doesn’t come naturally. All you need to do is to take a few moments to sit down, make a list of what you need to consider when you’re looking for a new seafarer job and the things you need to do before you leave home to board your vessel.

We’ve even written a blog post about the 9 things you must do before you leave home to go and work at sea to get you started!

7. Get your seafarer resume up-to-date

We know that there’s not many people that love to spend time creating or updating their maritime resume. (Or any resume, come to that!)

But making sure your latest contract at sea, your vessels, and any new skills or licenses you’ve acquired are all listed is crucial if you want to impress a new employer.

Luckily, Martide makes that easier for you with our seafarer resume builder which is all contained within your seafarer profile.

Your Martide profile contains information about you, your past or current employers, vessels, dates of employment, documents, certifications, and more. This acts as your seaman CV and - best of all - you only need to fill it in once and it’ll be there for employers and manning agents to view for as long as you need it to be.

That way they’ll know exactly who you are and what you do and they’ll be able to quickly make the choice whether or not to employ you.

Are you looking for your next job at sea?

From ETO jobs to Chief Officer jobs and from Second Engineer jobs to jobs on container ships, our trusted employers and manning agencies are always looking for great crew to work in their jobs at sea.

Whether you’re looking for a change of employer or are interested in working on a different type of vessel, make this new year the year you start making life easier for yourself by finding your next seafarer job through Martide!

Happy new year to all of our readers!

Whether you’re a Crew Manager, Manning Agent, Recruitment Officer or you work in a job at sea or offshore, all that remains for us to say is thank you for reading, and we wish everyone a very happy, safe and prosperous new year! 

This blog post was originally published on January 23rd 2024 and updated on December 31st 2024