Yachtie Guide: should my social media be private?

Posting like a boss: should your social media be private and how can you keep it Captain-friendly if it isn’t?

Don’t get us wrong – social media can be an amazing way to connect with other people in the yachting community and show off the amazing adventures you’re having onboard. However, a risqué social presence can also damage your career as a yachtie, preventing you from getting roles and publicizing bad behaviour onboard. So what guidelines should you follow to stay everyone’s favourite crewmate? Below, we break down whether your social media should be set private, what recruiters like Cottons Crews look for when checking out social profiles, how your social media can actually help you get yacht jobs and what onboard behaviour can be damaging.

What do recruiters look for when scanning my social profiles?

  • You’re a real person

    If we search all over the internet and can’t find any trace of you that could come across as slightly suspicious. However, we understand that there are still some people who have never put themselves online – this is more common amongst senior yacht crew.

  • Who you’re friends with

    At Cotton Crews, we know so many yachties that the first thing we do is check out who our mutual friends are. Who you hang out with is a good indication of your personality, and if you’re in the same circle as people that we have previously asked to leave our crew housing for bad behaviour, that would be a red flag.

  • You’ve got the right attitude for the job

    The next thing to consider is what kind of content you are posting. For example, if you’re sharing pictures of you out partying every night, we might start to doubt your commitment to hard work. Likewise, if your Instagram is just full of selfies, it could come across like you’re only interested in promoting yourself, and might just be using yachting as an opportunity to visit more ‘Insta-worthy’ locations. And if your feed is full of political rants, while we admire your passion we might wonder whether you could get on with people with differing beliefs.

Yacht Crew Social Media Use | Cotton Crews Luxury Yacht and Estate Staffing

So, should I make my social media private or is public okay?

Our snap-happy candidates often forget to ask themselves, “should I make my Instagram private or public if I want to succeed in yachting?”  The quick answer is as long as you put some thought into your posting and make sure you are promoting the best version of yourself, having a public profile is fine and may even be beneficial. However, you’ll want to avoid making the below yachtie mistakes if you want a long and successful career working on a yacht.

“Cotton Crews app has been the best app for finding yacht work. The work Cotton Crews does is amazing and it was the perfect place to go for crew placement.”

Social Media DOs

  • Let everyone know you’ve arrived

    Firstly, checking in at different locations is a great way to let other crew members know you are in the area, which is ideal for networking and keeping in touch with friends. Your future yachtie friends or next employer may well be in the same port as you, and checking in ensures you won’t miss any meet-ups.

  • Show off your talents

    Social media can also help show off the technical skills mentioned in your CV. Those going for yacht chef jobs may display their own beautifully-presented dishes on their Instagram, while candidates chasing yacht stewardess jobs may post pictures of their flower arranging accomplishments or general love of the salt life.

  • Let your personality shine through

    Our biggest goal is trying to place candidates on the best boat for them, and a big part of this is matching different personalities together. That’s why the more we know about someone, the more we can really find them the right job. And more often than not in today’s world, this information comes from social media.

Social Media DON’Ts

  • Break confidentiality

    Once you get on board and sign confidentiality agreements, it’s likely that your posts will be monitored to check you are not violating these terms. Even if you’re not restricted by an NDA, we’d always recommend using discretion about your boss or guests as a professional courtesy – and just in case someone sees something they don’t like!

  • Be the resident Regina George

    It should go without saying that those who post about the Owners and guests’ escapades onboard can face instant firing. But this isn’t the only thing you have to think about. People who share onboard drama from the crew mess will not only find themselves the least popular on the yacht – they could also find their job and future progression at risk. Remember that yachting is a small community, meaning that your posts can quickly circulate from those in your immediate group to everyone else.

  • Slack off online

    While we don’t expect you ever to be slacking off from work, social media can be an easy way to expose this to your managers and crewmates. For example, those who are supposed to be on watch but post a photo sipping cocktails in the local bar will find themselves on the next flight home, with no reference for future roles.

Handle your social media like a pro

So there we have it – our top tips on how to handle your social accounts like a pro, so you can make informed decisions about whether you should make your social media private.

Remember, these no-nos may sound obvious but you would be surprised at the number of people who get carried away and post thoughtlessly, only to regret it later. (Below Deck star Danny Zureikat might not agree, but then again he did get fired after only one season, sooo…)

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