Get A Job On A Yacht With No Experience - Flying Fish

Are you looking for yacht jobs but have no yacht experience? That’s completely normal for people entering the industry.

What matters is showing the right attitude, gaining the basic qualifications, and understanding which roles are realistic starting points. You’ll learn which roles are realistic starting points, what qualifications you actually need, and the practical steps that get people hired.

Can you really get a Superyacht job with no experience?

Yes, you can.

In this context, “no experience” means no previous yacht experience.

You will not be hired for senior roles like Bosun or Chief Stewardess straight away, but you can be hired for junior positions if you have the mandatory qualifications to work at sea, some demonstrable transferable skills and the right attitude.

The industry actively looks for new “green” crew, and it continues to grow. As more superyachts are built, the demand for crew increases. There has never been a better time to enter!

Entry-level roles on a yacht are typically the best place to start

The best place to start for most people is with an entry-level (sometimes known as ‘green’) position. This most often means going for a job as a Deckhand or Stewardess.

If you are deciding between these two routes, we have a more detailed guide that looks at how to become a Deckhand or a Stewardess on a Superyacht.

Deckhand jobs with no experience

A Deckhand is responsible for the exterior of the yacht. Tasks typically involve cleaning, painting, sanding, varnishing, and general maintenance of the boat. It’s a very hands-on role.

Experience and a love for outdoor work, construction, mechanics or a watersports often transfers well to Deckhand roles.

Captains value reliability, a strong work ethic and the ability to follow instructions carefully.

If you don’t have this type of background, don’t worry. What matters most is your willingness to learn and your attitude on board. Many people enter with little relevant experience at all and build the necessary skills through training and their first contracts.

Even if you have some transferable skills, we recommend completing a Deckhand course, which will give context and confidence to your skills before you step on board.

It teaches you what to expect, introduces you to basic yacht systems and terminology, and shows you the standards expected in the industry. Deckhand courses will also include the mandatory qualifications, like STCW (we’ll explain this in detail later), that you must have to work on board a commercial vessel.

It is possible to find work with just STCW, but it’ll be much harder and you’ll be competing with people who have completed a course and already know the basics.

Yacht Stewardess jobs with no experience

A Stewardess role is also entry level and covers three main areas: service, housekeeping, and laundry. Day to day tasks vary depending on the type of yacht, whether it is private or charter, as well as the owner and itinerary. You will be responsible for looking after guests and maintaining high standards throughout the interior.

Experience in hospitality, hotels, restaurants, events, or customer facing roles often transfers well to stewardess positions. Work that involves service, presentation, organisation, and attention to detail is particularly relevant. Employers value people who are attentive, discreet, and comfortable working to high standards.

If you do not have a hospitality background, that does not rule you out. What matters most is your attitude and your understanding of what the role involves. Many stewardesses enter the industry from completely different careers and build the required skills through training and their first contracts.

A dedicated Stewardess Course helps turn transferable experience into something recognisable to employers. It sets clear expectations around service standards, presentation and guest interaction, so you arrive on board knowing how things are done in a superyacht environment.

What qualifications do you need before you apply?

Before you can work on a superyacht, there are two mandatory certificates you need to obtain.

STCW Basic Safety Training

STCW stands for Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping. STCW Basic Safety Training is a requirement for anyone who wants to work on a commercial ship, and that includes Superyachts.

The course typically lasts around five days and covers fire prevention and firefighting, personal survival techniques, personal safety and social responsibilities, elementary first aid, and proficiency in security awareness.

STCW Basic Safety Training can only be delivered by an approved training centre. In the UK, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) approves training providers. Flying Fish is an approved training centre and we deliver STCW courses every week in Cowes.

You are required to refresh your firefighting and sea survival qualifications every five years. If you are employed, the Superyacht will likely pay for any refresher courses.

ENG1 medical

The ENG1 Medical is another mandatory certificate you’ll need before you can work on a commercial vessel. It certifies that you are medically fit and free from any conditions that could prevent you from performing regular duties.

It also reduces the chances that a medical emergency will happen when out at sea, far from hospitals and doctors.

The ENG1 can usually be arranged through an MCA-approved doctor. It can’t be completed by your GP. The medical can be arranged within two weeks or less, lasts for two years, and costs around £115.

6 top tips on how to get yacht jobs with no experience:

Getting hired with no experience comes down to a few key actions. These aren’t secrets, but they do need to be done properly.

Step1. Show commitment through extra qualifications and skills

Qualifications do more than tick boxes. They give you clear, recognisable experience that is easy for an employer to understand and easy for you to talk about in an interview.

Along with the mandatory STCW and ENG1, consider completing a Deckhand or Stewardess Course to give you practical exposure, context and qualifications which will make your more attractive to employers.

This extra qualifications are much easier to demonstrate than trying to explain transferable skills in theory.

It is clear, concrete, and relevant.

For Deckhand roles, extra qualifications include:

• RYA Powerboat Level 2
• RYA Personal Watercraft Course (PWC)
• RYA VHF Radio

These show that you have handled boats, understand basic marine operations, and can operate safely under instruction.

For Stewardess roles, this often includes:

• CIEH Food Safety Level 2
• RYA Powerboat Level 2

These demonstrate an understanding of hygiene standards, safety, and day to day operations. Powerboat Level 2 is particularly valuable, as it allows you to drive tenders, which many yachts expect interior crew to assist with.

Structured training also helps place existing skills into a Superyacht environment. It shows that you understand what the role involves, what standards are expected, and how work is carried out on board. For employers, that preparation is far easier to trust than a promise to learn quickly.

You may also see references online to additional ‘Stewardess certificates’ when researching yacht work. These are not mandatory for entry level crew. The essential requirements are STCW, an ENG1 medical, and relevant skills or experience.

Step 2. Have the right attitude on board

Most employers are willing to train their crew members. In fact, many employers prefer this, as they can ensure that the people they are taking on board don’t have bad habits that have to be overcome.

What they demand, however, is the right kind of attitude.

Go into every situation with an eye for something you can learn. If you take on a new piece of information even once each day, this will cumulate into a wide and deep knowledge of your duties, the industry, the yacht you’re on, and the people you’re there to look after.

By being willing to learn, you let a potential employer know that they can get your positive experience and attributes, and add knowledge and experience to them over time. If they get the impression that you think you know it all already, they won’t take the risk on you.

Train yourself to listen carefully, listen actively, and to remember the detail. Picture actions in your head as you are being given directions. Imagine yourself doing the actions you’re being told to do. Once you are on your own to fulfil them, you’re more likely to remember and to do the job properly.

A potential employer won’t mind so much that you’re going for a job on a yacht with no experience if he or she is confident that you will put the experience you do get to good use.

Step 3. Be safe, courteous, and professional

Perhaps even more important than respect and reasonable humility is safety. Having fun and being silly has its place, but that place is not at your interview, nor during your trial period, nor anytime that you are not 100% certain that it is within the bounds of expected behaviour.

By displaying your knowledge of safe behaviour, you give your potential employer less to worry about. You’ll give off the air of being a dependable crewmember, and that’s worth a lot.

There are a lot of things that are not against the rules, but are also not the right thing to do. As a rule of thumb, act toward the owner, the vessel and the crew the way you would want to be treated in each position.

How would you want your crew to dress and to act? If you were the captain, what kind of response would you want to a request or an order? If you were the owner, how would you want the crew to address you?

When you know expectations more specifically, act accordingly. Until then, do your best. Take any mistakes as learning opportunities. When in doubt, lean toward the more formal, the more courteous, and the more conservative.

This is advisable for informal meetings, job interviews, trial periods and the job in general.

Professional behaviour is a combination of these things. Be quick to learn, attentive to instructions, aware of and compliant with safety regulations and practices, and always be courteous and respectful of those you work for and with.

A more difficult part of this is to take pride in what you do, and to respect your own position, however humble it may seem in the company of captains and owners and guests. You can expect to be treated with normal human respect, not to be abused, and to be given room to learn how to do your job better. In most cases, professional behaviour will be met with a respectful response.

Step 4. Get your CV right

If you’re still referring to your CV as if it is one, static thing, then this is one of those learning opportunities. In reality, your CV should be almost as varied as the positions you’re applying for.

It all has to be true of course, or you’re setting yourself up for grief and failure, but a properly crafted CV will put your name at the top of the possible hires list.

Tailor your CV to suit the position on offer. Be truthful, but highlight the things that fit what they’re looking for. Is the yacht in a very hot climate? Show experience working or living in very high temperatures. Are you likely to be offshore for weeks at a time? Express your desire for adventure and challenge.

Always include other languages spoken, international travel, hospitality or mechanical skills, and of course any experience you’ve had on boats or ships in the past.

Look for keywords in the job description and, tactfully, add them to your CV. For example, if the advert states that it’s looking for responsible crew, then highlight positions of responsibility you’ve had in the past. It can be anything from childcare to responsibility closing a shop in the evenings or opening it in the mornings.

Most of all, make sure each of the advert’s must-haves are covered. If you are missing any of them, highlight the lack but explain why another attribute makes up for it and that you are quick to learn. If there is also an “also beneficial” section, cover those too.

If you skillfully tailor your CV to each job, you will show yourself to be the one they’ve been looking for all along.

Step 5. Go where the jobs are

If you picture yourself in crisp whites, striding the polished deck of a Superyacht, don’t look for work at a narrowboat marina. Go where the yachts are.

You probably won’t get a position on a superyacht for your first gig, but you’ll want something similar. Look for ocean-going experience in the luxury sector. You may need to start on the small end of the spectrum, but make sure you’re on the right spectrum.

If you can, get out to the fancy marinas and make yourself known (in a good way). In other words, network.

Any time you can become known to people in the industry, from Deckhands and Stewardesses to Captains and billionaires, you should take the opportunity to do so. Shake hands, smile, show yourself to be clean, tidy and in possession of the right air and attitude.

Join Facebook groups of people who work in the industry. Make sure your social media presence is positive and that you don’t get caught up in criticising or complaining about those you want to hire (and pay) you. Your social media should reflect all the things a prospective employer might like. In this day and age, it is very likely they will look at your profile before offering you a job.

Look for related job fairs as well.

Contact yacht crew agencies such as YPI Crew and Insignia Crew, or through your training centre like Flying Fish who have contacts in the industry.

Step 6. Be flexible and take the first opportunity

The key to getting a job on a yacht with no experience is to be focused on the experience, not the pay or even the type of job.

If you have a chance to get day work, you gain items to add to your custom CV. Add a few of these and suddenly you aren’t the one with no experience anymore.

A few good showings as a temporary crew can mean you’re the first one an employer calls when there is a vacancy to fill.

This willingness shows a serious drive to be a part of the industry, not simply a drive to earn some cash doing any old job. That’s the kind of person prospective employers are looking for.

While being open to opportunities, it is still important to use your judgement. Make sure the yacht is safe and professionally run, and that expectations are clear. If something does not feel right during an interview or trial, it is worth stepping back and considering whether it is the right environment to start your career.

What your first yacht job will really be like

Your first position will almost certainly involve a trial period. This might be a day, a few days, or a week. You’ll be working alongside the existing crew to see if you fit in, and they’ll be assessing whether you have the attitude and ability to learn the role.

Expect long hours. Entry-level yacht crew often work 12 to 16-hour days, especially during busy charter periods. You’ll be on your feet most of the time, and you’ll be doing tasks that aren’t glamorous: scrubbing decks, polishing stainless steel, folding laundry, cleaning bathrooms.

But don’t despair. This stage is valuable. You’re learning how a yacht operates, proving your reliability, and building relationships with senior crew who can recommend you for future positions. Once you’ve completed a few contracts and gained some experience, you’ll have far more options.

The industry rewards people who stick with it. Progression from junior deckhand or stewardess to more senior roles is entirely possible if you show commitment and competence.ong.

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Ready to find your first Superyacht job?

All the above should give you a solid starting point from which to search for yacht jobs with no experience. You should also download our guide to finding and thriving in your first superyacht job below.

The next step is to complete your Superyacht training! Simply get in touch to book your place on our Superyacht Deckhand Course or Superyacht Stewardess Course today.