There are many paths to become a professional mariner, and once you have become one, the world can open up and opportunities, plentiful. Mike Weiss spent some time writing a blog to share his story- from trainee to Deck Officer/Able Seafarer – highlighting some of the interesting maritime jobs he has had along the way…
“My original goal was to join the USCG, because I was getting really *too* good at playing video games and wanted to do something real. When I applied, the Coast Guard informed me that I have a non-waiver medical condition (surgical metal implant), and so I sought a berth elsewhere in any ship I could find and as fast as I could find one.
An internet search for “adventure ship jobs” brought me right to a tall ships website and featured prominently on the page was a sail-training barque looking for paying trainees that was preparing to get underway on a circumnavigation voyage. While I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of paying to work, I thought of it as being my career education and signed on. Two years later, I signed off that ship with a vast amount of experience and skills, and enough sea time to sit for my first AB ticket and first Master’s license.
After that, I quickly found work in an ocean-going tug and barge and racked up more experience and sea time, not to mention a very healthy paycheck. A couple of years later and I was running the waterfront of a maritime museum and directly in charge of the care of several world-famous ships! A few years doing that and then I was working at the US Merchant Marine Academy with midshipmen under my charge. There have been lots of twists and turns, to say the least, and more keep coming. I have put my name out as much as I can and became involved in various maritime organizations, because word-of-mouth is a powerful tool in this business.
Over the past decade I’ve only sent out a job application twice, and I’ve worked in nearly three dozen different ships and shipyards across the entire world. If you’d have asked me ten years ago what I would have accomplished so far, I’d have thought you were out of your mind! 
Sail-training ships are an incredible and unique platform for developing people, especially young people, and teaching them through sheer necessity how to become leaders, followers, problem-solvers, community participants, and dedicated workers. As a bonus, they’re also lots of fun and really cool. It is thanks to my experiences in sail-training ships that I found direction, and while my career path has been to remain in the maritime field, the benefits I derived are easily applied to any aspect of life.”
*Mike Weiss* Deck Officer / Able Seafarer