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The written reference is dead

Tim Clarke, Quay GroupTim Clarke
2 min read

At Quay Crew, we are responsible for scrutinising candidates CV’s, qualifications and verifying that the information provided is true and accurate.

We dig deeper to understand our candidates

The only way to determine a true picture of someone’s personality, attitude and previous employment abilities is to seek a verbal reference from the employer though many still seem to rely on written references. This type of reference is great for useful things like making fires or for the Crew Agents who like to send CV’s without doing their due diligence. However, it isn’t until you pick up the phone and speak to people who have worked closely with the crew member that you start to paint a picture and get a proper idea of a candidates history, their strengths and more importantly their weaknesses.

Written references are only part of the story

When finishing employment on a yacht it is standard practice to ask for that all important written reference and in most cases, a reference will be provided. This is likely to be from your Captain or Head of Department confirming the dates of employment, the position held and possibly a small paragraph about how great the crew member was at their job. Unfortunately there are few Captains/ Chief Stewardess’ who would write a truly reflective reference for a crew member who had been less than satisfactory, not only because they would then have to hand the paper to the crew member but also with UK law, amongst others, a ‘bad’ written reference, however truly reflective, could end up being used in court citing the Defamation Act of 2013.

We will send people you want to meet

At Quay Crew, we may not always get the first CV in your inbox but we will make sure you get the right one. We believe that the only way to determine whether a candidate is good enough to send you is by taking the time to speak to previous employees directly, which takes a little longer than checking a written reference.

In Yachting, reputation is everything and just because a piece of paper suggests a good fit doesn’t mean they will be!

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