Do you want a reliable, well paying career, that offers opportunities for global travel to exotic locations, free 24x7 gym access and plenty of free time to use it, and all the free cafeteria food you can eat? Consider becoming a Merchant Mariner.

http://news.usni.org/2016/03/22/u-s-facing-looming-shortage-of-merchant-mariners

By 2022, the United States will need “70,000 new people” for the nation’s maritime fleet, but the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., and the six state maritime academies only graduate 900 per year and are at capacity, Paul Jaenichen Sr., the head of the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), told the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee on Tuesday.

He added that even with a new military-to-mariner program for separating service members—and other programs like it—the real issue is now those individuals would get credit for the necessary licenses required. He told the panel American mariners are “also a very aging work force” that could aggravate the shortfall in the future.

I worked with one guy a year out of the academy, a 3rd engineer, making $75,000 with zero living expenses for 3/4 of the year, working 8 hours a day, with full benefits. Sr. officers can get six figures. And that was like 8 years ago.

The work can be pretty lonely and monotonous. Riding a container ship back and forth between Long Beach and Hong Kong with 24 hours in port at each stop isn't for everybody.

But fuck it, pack your creatine and hit the gym (most big ships have a gym; sailors like to lift) and lift big and eat big to get big. Food is usually decent. It's a very small part of the ship's operations cost.

If you're really enterprising you could bring your laptop and moonlight online (if your ship has internet; it's pretty common these days) or continue your education.

Then you get 3 months off and a free trip to Hong Kong and a huge cash loaf in your pocket and some nice swole on your hairy arms to impress all the Chinese girls.

You really need to get on the officer track to make decent money and avoid a lot of shit work. Shoot to be a 3rd officer or 3rd engineer at least. The best way to become an officer is to attend a maritime academy near you. You can also go in at entry level and work your way up, but the pay and work kind of suck at that level. Expect to do a lot of painting or degreasing.

FYI being a sailor sucks if you have kids that you care about. If you want to raise a family you should have an exit plan. Or fuck it and have a family in each port. It also sucks if you have a girlfriend; dump her before you leave.

*I should say it sucks if you are stuck on long voyages. There are jobs for merchant mariners that involve day work or shorter voyages. There is higher demand for those jobs though so best to get some experience then shoot for one.

**If you have a STEM degree or experience another option is to work as a shipboard technician or something. There are shipboard science jobs available that do not require you to be a merchant mariner; legally you're considered a passenger. Check out https://www.unols.org/jobs Might also check out the Office of Naval Research, SPAWAR, Raytheon, and the oil industry. Being a passenger is kind of a bonus because you don't have to stand watch, fight fires, repel boarders, or rescue overboards. Sometimes these guys are desperate for warm bodies. Not everybody wants to go to sea.