Friday, December 2, 2011

How do i apply for a job on an alaskan king crab fishing boat?

Where do you apply. Something like the show Deadliest Catch.|||First, let me say this: I have no idea.





Second, let me say that I'm a fan of Deadliest Catch, and they talk about this in the show -- getting a job on a crab boat. There have been several discussions not only about how hard it is to get a job, but how difficult it is to find someone reliable, who can take the punishment of the job, etc. Deck hand jobs are given to people who are personally known to someone on the boat, or someone recommended by a trusted source. For obvious reasons, even greenhorn jobs are given to those with previous experience on fishing boats. You can easily understand why -- the expense of getting someone to Alaska, training them, feeding them, etc., is quite high. To have that person wimp out or quit could be quite costly.





And that is how it was BEFORE the show got so popular. Now, apparently, people are flocking to Alaska to get on these boats, which of course has it made it even more difficult to get those jobs. Consider the Wizard and Captain Keith -- he's gone through one greenhorn (or more) per season almost since the show began. Each one has flamed out -- injured, can't hack it, don't fit in, complain too much, etc. etc. On the Time Bandit this season, they have a greenhorn who was a personal friend of Jonathan's son -- he was supposedly a hard-core worker and a stand-up guy. But last episode I saw he couldn't even stand up straight because he was so sea sick.





I guess my point is that it seems like a very, very long shot that an anonymous guy with no experience on a crab boat and no connections to a crab boat could fly up to Alaska and get a Deadliest Catch type job on a crab boat. So, asking "where to apply" is probably premature. If this is something you really, really, want to do, here's how I would do it: first, be a young (30 or younger), single male with no personal commitments, in excellent health and physical condition. Second, move to Alaska (or at least Washington state) and get a job (anything that pays the rent will do). Third, learn the fishing business -- research it, work in it, network it any way you can. If you can do that for a couple years, you might have a shot at getting the kind of job you're looking for.|||For not having ideas, the guy above me is really onto something. It is in fact a long shot to actually land one of the sweet (now popular, thanks to the TV show) high dollar fishing / crabbing boat jobs. To take advantage of that some companies now are saying they are 'employment services' and will charge you to supposedly get you an in on a job. These are mostly just scams, and the companies can do no more for you that you can for yourself.





Here is one of your best starting points:


http://www.labor.state.ak.us/esd_alaska_鈥?/a>





Also some boats are out of Seattle, and / or are owned by companies outside of state. Not sure if going to them there has any impact, I only have knowledge of what goes on in state. Also it is more likely that you could get a job processing, on shore, or in support areas. Then you would get to know people and may be able to work your way up to the job you want.





And hey if you want to maybe make money at a very dangerous unreliable job in Alaska, check out forest fire fighting.


http://forestry.alaska.gov/employ.htm

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