South Shields Marine School has held an open day on Saturday, November 2, to give budding seafarers a glimpse into careers at sea.
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00:00The Careers at Sea Open Day at South Shields Marine School is a way for the industry to promote
00:05what we do. It's also a way for us to promote the jobs that are available for a career at sea,
00:11whether or not you want to be a Marine Engineering Officer, where you can work on engines,
00:16nothing like you'll see in the average Ford Escort, or you want to be a Navigation Officer
00:20working on the bridge, or an Electrical Technical Officer working on the switchboards and the
00:25generators. It's also an opportunity for any potential cadet, any person of any age,
00:31someone who maybe was looking for a change in career to come and also speak to our sponsor
00:34companies. The good thing about it is a bit like an apprenticeship, everything is paid for,
00:37so you get an allowance as a cadet, the companies will pay for all of your training while you're
00:43here, and at the end of it you will come out with a qualification in Higher Education,
00:48so something equivalent to a HND or a Foundation Degree, but more importantly you'll get a
00:53professional qualification that will allow you to sail as an Engineer Officer or a Navigation
00:57Officer on board a ship, and it's a fantastic career. The other big advantage for doing this,
01:03if you end up being deep sea, you end up seeing the world, and it doesn't cost you a penny. It
01:08really is a phenomenal career, but it's not something that's pushed too much in skills,
01:13just simply because I don't think people know too much about it, so this is a chance to raise
01:19awareness of what the industry is about. The industry needs about 1,500 to 2,000 cadets
01:24coming through the system every year, and at the moment we're not near that, so there's always
01:29plenty of opportunities. Once you've been trained, there'll be a job waiting for you at the end of it,
01:35and a very, very well-paid job. In terms of South Shields Marine School, we've been here for over
01:39160 years. We've got lots of experience in doing what we do, and we develop, I know you can see
01:45behind me, we've got full-size marine diesel engines, but we've also got state-of-the-art
01:50simulators, both in the engine room, where we can mock up what it's like to work in an engine room,
01:55to the point where you even have to wear e-defenders when you go into the simulated engine
01:59room, to our bridge simulators, which are phenomenal. You can, being local, obviously
02:05we've got a very, very good port mapped in the River Tyne, so you can sail up and down the River
02:10Tyne, but we've also got the likes of Sydney Harbour, so if you fancy sailing a cruise ship
02:14under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we can do that, we can do that for you. But as well, all of the
02:19lecturers that work here, all of the staff work here, have all sat where our future trainees are
02:24going to sit, because we've all gone through it.