sitting my fat ass at home for nearly 8 months now and it's about time
that I should do something and start moving again. By next month I would
be celebrating being one year marooned in the Philippines, Heck I never
thought that this would actually happen at all and earlier I though that
after successfully landing a job in that cursed maritime industry I
would be stable enough to "go career" as a sailor - I was hell wrong as
it turned out. For the moment all I could say is that I'm a washed out
sailor with no real options of getting back.
Anyway this is not what I wrote about.
As I mentioned, by this time I would make a few changes on my life and
have already though of being active again in finding work. I started out
in going to POEA looking for clues on were to start, Unfortunately I
didn't get their issued newspaper which tells the list of "Licensed
Manning Agencies" ,apparently they ran out of copies and wont be issuing
until by next month. Without that paper I could not determine whether or
not the company I'd be looking for work is credible or even find their
exact location
They did however gave me another newspaper as a remedy which gave a hint
of a newly established shipping agency called "pos-fil" . I have no
information at all about this new company and maybe by tomorrow I'd be
visiting it looking for a job there.
Another thing which I discovered by accident , was a nearby call center
called "Transcom" . Heck I never noticed that there was one nearby
,certainly it wasn't there 8 months ago. I'd be checking that call
center later on after I had finished my business in this so called
"pos-fil" company, and see if I could get to join their bandwagon. All I
know about "Transcom" is that it is some sort of Financial Collections
kind of company which deals in Canada and UK.
I guess that would be all for now and maybe I'd try to look for other
jobs openings in the shipping companies which I'd encounter later on.
For now my full attention is focused in getting work in a BPO, its my
best chance in finding work for now.
The following day....
Pos-Fil Shipping Company is not exactly a "new" company at all as it
turned out. When I arrived there the company is somewhat related to
"Astra Marine" ," Abosta Shipmanagement" and "Alpha Shipmanagement".
Frankly I'm not that stupid to figure it all out that these companies
are the same since they share the same address- hell even the same
building. Now the big problem on this company since its not new is that,
will they accept walk in applicants ?? (drifters is more the proper
term) or only prefer accepting applicants that have "sponsors"
(backers). Unfortunately I didn't went there to look for a job on the
fact that I was wearing inappropriate clothes , I should have wore any
colored polo shirt , denims jeans rather than a standard polo and slack
pants which made me look like a high school student than an applicant.
Since I was wearing inappropriate clothes I decided to call it a day and
pull back, maybe I'd look for a job later when I'm more dressed properly.
For "ST Ocean shipping company" which was another company I had visited
aside from "Pos-Fil" . I made a mistakes which I said I'm looking for a
job as a "deck cadet" , This is a big no-no for anyone applying for a
job (unfortunately this is the start up position as sailor kind of like
a novice and if you even say that word right in front of the office
reception area then good luck , chances are you'd get driven out) and as
expected I already know how am I treated. I should have said I'm looking
for a job as an ordinary seaman.
I only barely got two months left to get this act right before I go over
to and look for a job locally shipping and I certainly don't want to go
that kind of hardship , fully knowing how dangerous it is to go there.
Of course there are other options but the problem is those *other*
options don't have any guarantee and plagued with problems as well.
Quite honestly working for an overseas job as a sailor get's worse every
now and then , So bad that it makes me wonder why the hell did I ever
get to take this course in college in the first place - I think being a
Filipino sailor is a big joke grandeur and a mistake.
(Pictured above is the score's of unemployed filipino sailors hanging
out in the streets of the T.M. Kalaw,Manila this is a clear picture on
how worst it gets in being a sailors nowadays, pictured here is only
partial view and not the exact numbers of unemployed sailors overall )
In other matters…
A few years ago , Me and my two other friends Joenar Palomas and Rommer
Banal came up a good discussion while we were in McDonalds. Joenar made
a good question "What would happen to us if we don't happen to ever get
to *work* as sailors ??? " , Rommer answer that if maybe the case then
he'd just simply drive his cab and move on to life while joenar palomas
answer that he'd help his parents personal logistics business , Now
among the three I was the misfit on the answers and said "I don't know,
maybe I'd end up as a beggar in the pavement down the road". My two
other friends laughed at my answer, Seriously I said that answer on the
reason that I would never see myself beyond it and don't have any good
solid answers - to simply put it , I'm as helpless as a cockroach
without it.
Now a few years after , Given the same kind of question I would answer
it very differently now. Maybe I'd answer that I'd end up in a call
center and hope for the best.
The question has a good point , but what if by some chance a student
sailor doesn't become an *actual* sailor at all ? Or a sailor met some
untimely reason and had to stop ? As what I point out a kind of
"Professional afterlife" , were do a person go In the event of a
catastrophic situation that leaves him / her no way of getting back.
First off a person should have a positive thinking in life and be open
minded of other possibilities that they could continue on with life
without being a sailor. Keep in mind that choosing on how to continue
with life is your decision and yours alone. Be brave and have the
courage to move on, make a career plan and base it on a long term basis
Here are some things to consider on choosing an *alternate* job
1.What are some of the task I'd be required to do ?
- What will be as typical month or day be like ?
- Would I chiefly work with, data, people, or things ?
- Would I sit all day ? Stand? Get outside the office ?
- What distasteful things would I have to do ?
2.What personal qualifications are required ?
- Are my skills and talents compatible with this ?
- Are my personal traits compatible with this job ?
3.How much money will I make ?
- Is the base pay for the job at the entry minimum wage ? Above minimum
? Or top pay ?
- what employee benefits are usual with this job ?
4.What are working conditions like ?
-What do most people in the job say they like the most about their work ?
-The least ?
-Are the hours regular or irregular ? Long or short ? Would I work even
on weekends or holidays?
-Is the work hazardous?
Some of the people I knew do other jobs aside from being a sailor. Most
of them doing other manual work as a replacement, I've heard some
students sailor take up jobs like being a construction worker, tricycle
driver , Service crew on the fast food store, etc. I even saw one as a
receptionist in a hotel. I think there is nothing wrong in that and its
nothing to be ashamed of , what matters is that person should continue
living and it's definitely not the end of the world if you don't make
the "cut" being a sailor. I myself became a call center agent (and up to
now) , I took it as an alternate job incase of a situation arises that I
could not work as a sailor anymore, I chose this on the perspective of
my traits and skills (being not physically fit to work in manual labor)
and never regretted being there.
Overall the main fact is that a sailor should have a secondary skills
not related to the sailing job itself. A parallel kind of job , working
independently or side by side, related to being a sailor will do.
Personally I think a sailor should have this as secondary skills as
mandatory , given on the fact that although working as a sailor has an
"extended" age of something like 65 years old (sailors who have a
license ) to 56 years old (ratings) the reality is that this kind of job
is still based on a contractual basis and has no stability, to simply
put , a sailor is expendable and could lose your job at anytime.
For sailors who already had a taste of sailing and yet ended up being
cut short on their dreams , well there are two possible options. If a
sailor has a license then perhaps he could set up shop in the teaching
profession or even go to the HR personnel as some sort of consultant ,
if a sailor doesn't have a license then he should refer to what I've
written earlier.
In reality there is no such way on how to "circumvent" or even swap the
marine transportation course compared to marine engineering. In other
words there is no other related field in marine transportation , Its
just a stand alone course specifically targeted to being a sailor ,
sadly to say that this course cannot be converted to anything else.
