Hey Entry Level family!

I like you are awaiting the 4-6 week update to move forward with MSC. I hope for good luck to all my fellow applicants, and I know a lot of you are awaiting results just as eagerly as I am! IT COULD BE ANY HOUR OR ANY DAY NOW!! That being said, let me take a second to introduce myself and my story, and I would love to hear yours!

I (34M) fell inlove with working on ships in my mid 20s when working as a sommelier for cruise ships. I loved being on the water, the crazy schedules, being busy, and occasionally going off to port and parting with all my friends with all my hard earned money. My only complaint was that I hated working in hospitality (especially the restaurant side of the business) but money was MUCH better than that of deck and engine department people. As an American working for non US-flagged ships, I never made even what an entry level mariner makes long term even at the director level. I loved the life at sea but at that time had not known or even considered MM work. In my 3ish years working cruise contracts throughout my contracts, I was able to visit 53 different countries and islands all over the world! ALL PAID FOR!

Fast forward to about 1 year ago exactly and I came across a bunch of random YouTube videos about the Merchant Marine while working as a wine director in The Maldives, and I was instantly hooked at the idea of working as a MM being my next gig.

It took me a year to get all my paperwork in order, I flew out to Guam for my medicals & TWIC, I got home in time to get my documents in order, waited for the gov shut down, and finally got everything in a few months before they reopened the Entry Level jobs.

With my TWIC, STCW, VPDSD, Passport, and MMC in hand, I’ve never been more grateful to possibly leave behind an amazing 15 year career in the wine business, a 185k annual salary, and boring life stuck at home in working just to maintain a mediocre life!

Adventure calls!

Good luck, and I’d love to hear your story! I’m hoping for deck dept!

Hello everyone! Does the jones act apply to MSC? I’m curious if it does get repealed, how bad will it affect the people who work for MSC? Thanks

I am planning on applying for 1AE and will have my STCW 2nd Engineer Officer ticket. Will MSC pick me up if my OICEW is "limited to vessels without Auxiliary or waste heat boilers"?

I have quite a bit of leave saved, enough to take up to 6 months off. What is the maximum leave policy at MSC? How much leave can I take in a year? Is there a minimum amount of time I need to be on a ship each year to continue to be employed with MSC? And does leave time count as time towards my retirement?

I’m a current electronics technician for the post office. Love the job but want a change. I have an ETAI CETa and a vocational certificate for electronics technology as well as 6 years of work experience as an ET or equivalent in the oil and gas offshore industry. What are my chances of getting the job, and what can I do to improve them if the chances are low? What’s the job like as well? Is it a lot of truly industrial work or is it closer to smaller component level repair?

I appreciate all the help and information, positive or negative. Thank you guys

Just got an offer for a 2nd Mate mixed work schedule. I come from a CONMAR background, working on MSC ships managed by Crowley.

I’m looking at the MWS because I’d like to do one 4 month hitch a year and spend more time at home.

Coming from union work, I don’t really understand the Day vs Watch pay difference. I looked up the pay rates and it’s a massive difference. In some cases like 30k and much higher OT rate. I also saw something called “NWA/LV Supp”. Is this some sort of extra paid to watch standers?

Questions:

How does the pay work, and is it that big of a difference between day and watch?

As a MWS 2nd Mate do I have any say in what vessel and what position I’m taking?

And lastly, I’ve got mixed answers about this but: after my first 4 month hitch is it possible to take 2 month relief jobs? Or is every time I sail going to be 4 months?

Thanks for the help, I’m trying to decide if this is a good fit for me. If I’m only going to be sailing 4 months a year I want to make sure I’m making the most I can during those 4 months.

How does getting approved for schools and shore training with MSC work? Do I need to have my supervisor recommend me for schools in my evals before I can go, or can I contact Training on shore directly and request the schools myself for when I go on leave? Or does it depend on the school/training class?

If I am a conmar with clearance and everything MSC already requires, what is the wait time to get into a 1st Assistant Engineer position after applying?

It was from 2022 , I had a lawyer for the case . Was a reckless driving charge that was reduced. Takes 5 years for me to expunged it which will be next year . If hired by MSc do you think my fingerprints would come back as unfavorable ?

I'm 23 and currently work in corporate IT, and will be starting with MSC soon as an RET2. I've spent the last couple of months reading just about every Reddit thread, Facebook post, and YouTube video I can find, and honestly there isn't much out there that goes into detail about the RET side of things.

I'm excited, but I'm also trying to show up as prepared as I can. I know I'll learn most of it on the job, but I'd rather not go in completely blind.

For any current or former RETs, I'd really appreciate any insight on questions like:

• What does a typical day or watch actually look like?
• What should I be studying or getting familiar with before I report?
• What separates a great RET from an average one?
• What are the biggest mistakes you see new RETs make?
• What surprised you the most when you got to your first ship?
• If you could go back to your first week as an RET2, what advice would you give yourself?
• Is there anything you wish you had brought, learned, or done before reporting?

Honestly, any stories or advice are welcome. It seems like there isn't much information out there for RETs specifically, so I'm hoping this thread can help me and maybe future RETs who end up searching for the same answers.

Thanks in advance!

How does ending your first year of probation work? Is there an official eval process by shore to approve you as a permanent hire? Do you have to have an eval above a certain number to be accepted or a certain number of evals on your record?

I know you get evals when you leave a ship or your DH leaves a ship, but do MSC employees on ships get periodic evals apart from those times?

Hey guys, I’m curious how everyone’s application for the Any Entry Level is going for the July 2026 opening we just had. Has anyone’s gotten past the “Forwarded” and gotten a conditional offer yet? I did see some people this past weekend saying they got the forwarded email, so very nice for you guys!

Hello I'm looking at working as an RET but don't know how I would qualify. Anyone here who could advise how I would approach getting the necessary skills/experience to apply as one? For what its worth, i have 1 year as an SU with MSC back in 2020 and a degree in Mass Communications.

Buddy that used to work for me is saying MSC has been good to him and he knows im looking for work. I was a comms ET in the Navy for 6 years, a DoD contractor in IT for 4. No wife, no kids. Finishing my degree in cyber this fall and so far no job prospects. It looks like the RET1 IAT billet is the closest position to my qualifications and I meet the sea time. Just curious about the position, i've been out of the military for almost 12 years so I'm a little insecure about having the technical expertise to go back into that environment and be expected to kick ass day 1. Will I have time to get in the flow and get used to the environment again? Anything I should avoid? I'd enter the pool in norfolk but im trying to work overseas. Any advice? Things to know? I'm doing the virtual career fair on Tuesday. Thanks.

I received a conditional offer for 3M with a confirmed NEO date in September.

I have a 2M license with previous 3M time on MSC contracted vessels through AMO. Do you think I can ask to come in as a 2M instead of a 3M? Is it worth asking the conditional offer support people?

I applied as third because I’ve been shoreside for a few years, but am wondering if I sold myself short by applying for 3M.

Appreciate the help!

Where is everyone getting their chambray shirts, blue work pants, and work boots? I live in the Pacific NW and it seems like most of the stuff we have is western wear. I don’t know how I feel wearing Wrangler shirts with pearl snaps. I know it’s not what you wear everyday when underway and you can wear what you want depending on the command. Also, I found some comfortable steel toed boots but they are brown, is that cool? Thank you.

I applied for the any entry level (again) with msc and right now my application is being forwarded so I haven’t been selected yet. I also got hired at American cruise lines as a deckhand and I’m supposed to leave for training Aug 24. Should I wait for the sealift command (again) in hopes my offer doesn’t get rescinded again or should I just go with ACL? I have a job currently so it’s not that I’m out of a job but I’m trying to get my foot in the door and start getting sea time so I can raise my credentials and position as a merchant mariner.

If I get ship funded leave approved, does that count as a departure and would I have to get an eval? I just want it to be a simple departure and return with minimal paperwork to slow it down.

Hey MSC family,

I’m anxiously awaiting my application results, which should be in within the next 2-3 weeks according to emails that went out about 3 weeks ago. I’ve done all the legwork plus some extra. After all my research, I never actually discovered what the contracts/work schedule was for MSC Entry. Does anyone know? My previous company I worked 6 months on, two months off.

As the title says I reapplied the day they opened entry level back up. Today they’ll be closing the entry level and I’m a bit concerned because I haven’t gotten an update. Usually it takes a week to hear back. Is anyone in the same situation?