My son is considering ATM-Galveston, maybe pursuing a degree in Marine Transportation. What type of jobs would be avaialbe if he goes this route?

Thanks

Well, you and I are in the same boat--see what I did there??? Ok seriously, mines going there in the spring for same major, freshman w/15 transfer hrs. Lots of jobs available, talked to a graduating senior on a visit 2 weeks ago on campus.

Per the TAMUG Marine Transportation Home page

quote:

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Marine Transportation majors are required to enroll in the Corps of Cadets and to remain enrolled through the time of graduation.

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marine transportation is geared to working as a crew member on maritime vessels with a chance to eventually become a captain.

another option is one of the engineering degrees. you can chose the option to also do the corp too.

if he has an interest in business, there is marine administration.

There are tons of jobs in this field and not just for sailing. All sorts of maritime administration jobs that look for people with sailing experience from logistics to insurance to surveying etc.

All of the jobs above are likely going to require some sea time as well...

I recently (though not anymore) worked for a major LNG carrier with HR responsibility. We were hiring graduates into Third Mate/Engineer positionst at around $70K rising to ~$105K upon achieving Chief Mate/Engineer license --> generally this takes about 5-6 years.

As mentioned, lots of opportunity for a Chief to come ashore and make lots more or you can choose a life at sea where you work 6 months on-board and 6 months off.

Just watch out for pirates (only half kidding)

Thanks! if it were your kid, would you push transportation, or some other field?

I posted in this thread the other day prior to the blackout and my post got deleted. It read a little something like:
I graduated in 2007 with a MART degree. I worked in the industry for four years and ended up obtaining my unlimited tonnage Chief Mate’s license. After that I like many other MART majors decided going to sea for eternity is not my life’s goal and now I am in law school.
Jobs at that time and from what I hear now are still fairly easy to obtain upon graduation with a little effort and lack of pickiness.
Blue water jobs (large ships such as container vessels and oil tankers) are harder to find but it can still be done. Brown water jobs are a mix. To get a job straight out of school aboard the floating drilling rigs can be difficult. However, the smaller supply vessels or support vessels are very easy and eager to hire graduates (this is where a high percentage of individuals start their careers). These smaller supply vessels provide training floating rigs are looking for prior to hiring so they are still a good option.
As for pay most of the graduates will make $60,000-$100,000 their first year out of school. The pay is based upon the type of vessel and the schedule (amount of time) one works. For example blue water vessels usually work guys 60 -90 days in a row with 60-90 days of vacation. Rigs usually work 2-3weeks on with 2-3weeks off. Supply vessels usually work 4 weeks on 2 weeks off. Ultimately, a sailor must be consciously aware that they will spend at least six months a year away from home and in all likelihood at least seven to eight months a year away. Also, the 5 year salary range for my friends that I know is $80,000-$160,000 excluding those guys that became river pilots…
As for MARE v. MART, it really comes down to preference. Engineers spend the majority of their working day in the engine room while MART majors spend most of the day standing on the bridge of a vessel not doing a whole lot. Engineers have more opportunities when they do decide to work ashore than deckies do, therefore, if I were to go into one of the majors without knowing what I wanted to do, it would have to be MARE. In addition, MART classes are very specific and very few outside the core curriculum will provide any credit if one changes majors.
Lastly, DO NOT PUSH anyone to pursue either of the careers above. Going to sea is a calling that requires much more sacrifice than anyone can imagine when. I have personally missed Christmas and Thanksgiving 4 out of the 5 years after graduating and have known guys that have been aboard a ship (even out of cell phone range) for the birth their first child. Most guys that have sailed have had relationships destroyed or not started due to it. Again, this is not a career one should be pushed into.
As an illustration, I’ll use numbers from my class. We started out with about 95 incoming MART majors. Of those, four years later about 40 graduated and in whole, of those individuals starting the program, I would estimate only 60% graduated. The reason for this is not due to the difficulty of the curriculum but the realization of the career’s demand on the rest of a person’s life. As for those that do graduate, five years in I would estimate that 50% are no longer sailing either. And of those still sailing almost half of them are interested in shore side jobs.

The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities (especially upon license upgrades) to find work ashore. One can go ashore and work in offices in managerial roles in HSE or vetting types operations. Others have become schedulers and things of the like. Other opportunities include pilotage (very difficult and almost a pipe dream if you aren’t connected) or graduate school. As for myself, I am pursuing a career in Admiralty law.
I know, tl;dr, but if you only pick up one thing, DO NOT PUSH ANYONE to pursue this career path. A career at sea is too demanding emotionally to be pushed into. If you have any questions, just let me know, and I will be happy to answer.

Thanks for sharing. i had these concerns, which is why I asked. Is there a better option for a guy who might want a regular home life? Some other degree he could pursue at ATM-Galveston which would still provide solid job opportunites without all the away time?

That's a pretty fair analysis IMO.

The company I was with had a very clear 5 year training program with full intent to place employees into shore based positions at the end of the program.

The only people that we ever lost were 3 guys that absolutely wanted the sea time.

I also had no idea that being a river/port pilot was so lucrative, but apparently it is mega $$.

What a great thread! And thank you veek for your input.

As aforementioned, my son is starting the program in the spring and we just had this same conversation yesterday. He's 18 and like most teens start out one way and then come to the realizations of life and then change every plan they just laid out for you last week. He brought up being away for so long with the job and then realized he's young and if he was military it would be the same (this was one of his other options). He's truly a water person but realizes he may not want to do this forever and I'm grateful he looks to me for advice.

FWIW, every person we've talked to with the same major has mentioned how great the pay is and have zero regrets. He's excited to say the least.

[This message has been edited by always gig em (edited 12/5/2012 5:43p).]

Ezra:

I am pretty sure I interviewed for that program when I was in school at the time. And yeah, Pilot’s associations are paying quite well. Pilots in at the major ports in Texas have a range of $300,000 to $600,00 or so. However, this greatly depends on the port and the business of the port because pilots are not salaried, they get paid by job more or less.

Txagbear:

TAMUG is great school that offers a variety of degrees that provide good opportunities. MART and MARE are the most employable degrees due to the license option and thus availability of seagoing opportunities. However, MART is the only degree that requires the pursuit Merchant Marine license to graduate. I personally would look at the MARE program non-license option. The job opportunities for MARE graduates is great and they are highly sought after in the petroleum world from what I understand. Also, if your son is undecided about a seagoing career the MARE degree provides a bit of the middle ground. MARE (license option) unlike MART does not limit your job opportunities to sailing jobs upon graduation. In fact, the year I graduated the majority of MARE (LO) graduates actually had accepted shore based jobs. I think the MARE (LO) is a good option because it offers all of the MARE options in addition to the possibility of a seagoing career if one so desires.

Another decent degree is MARA (maritime administration, essentially a general business degree). From what I have heard the job prospects are good. However, in my opinion, one would need to be more proactive in making connections to secure. I think all MARA majors should join the school’s Propeller Club because it has direct contact with employers in the maritime business throughout the Houston and Galveston area. In addition to decent job opportunities, as a general business degree, it has universal applicability, so it does not limit graduates to just maritime related jobs. From an academic stand point it also has added value. I am sure you are aware of the ability to transfer from TAMUG to TAMU. This transfer is simply a department transfer and not a school transfer so it should hypothetically be easier to do than a school transfer. The MARA degree offers a lot of courses that mirror TAMU business curriculum, and therefore, if your son decided to transfer to TAMU, less hours would be lost.

I cannot speak for the other degrees because I did not know enough individuals to be able to form a good basis for opinion. However, I have heard that MARB is a difficult degree and that it is hard to find employment without a masters degree. However, that being said, I know MARB majors that work at the Houston aquarium and ones that have worked for Sea World.

Always gig em:

I looked at things the way your son did when I attended school. I thought of it as being just like the military too. I had a couple things occur that made my attitude shift towards a shore based career. First, and most importantly, there is a glass ceiling that one will reach aboard vessels. Once you are a Captain, there is no further room for promotion (without going ashore/becoming a pilot). While this is good pay, it is also highly monotonous. A good day to a sailor (especially for Captain’s with liability) are days when nothing goes wrong. I didn’t want to have a career where my goal each day was to hope nothing bad went wrong. In addition, I was nearing that glass ceiling fairly quickly (w/ in 8-12 years of graduating from TAMUG). If I had not left for law school, I would have been sailing as a chief mate for well over a year now and would be looking to get my master’s license in less than 6 months. Once I had done that the question would have been what’s next?

I also had a couple captains talk to me about the career and what they thought about a long term sea going career. One of the first captains I ever sailed with told me “if you are sailing in five years, I will be disappointed for you.” Another captain (with 30 years of work aboard vessels), upon hearing I was leaving a seagoing career told me “when you walk down the gangway, don’t look back. I wish I could have made the decision you are making now.” He continued on to tell me how much the career cost him and his family and how he had missed his two daughters growing up.

I guess the short of it is, I knew I was going to want a change (to come ashore) and I didn’t want to wait until I couldn’t afford a change because I needed the money for a family. I decided to leave and pursue a career in law before starting a family. As you have stated, I like others do not regret getting a MART degree or sailing and actually miss it at times. However, a lifelong seagoing career takes a special individual. If your son is like that great. If not, sailing can provide an excellent foundation for a great career later in life. The only trick is finding the right change and when is the time to pull the trigger.

Thanks for taking the time to provide all of this info. i intend to share it with my son. i want him going in eyes open. Now, about that law degree. I passed the bar in 1986. Things have changed a lot since then. I think a lot of old lawyers would sound like the old sea captains. It's a tough life at times and you will be hoping every day that nothing goes horribly wrong. I wish you the best, but there are many days that I wish I was on a ship.

Why doesn't he consider Maritime Administation? It is essentially a business degree, and if at any point he wants to transfer to CS in his first two years, the majority of the core curriculum can be applied towards another business degree (assuming he meets the minimum GPA requirement to change majors and get accepted into Mays).

txagbear - Highly suggest you re-read and fully digest what veek has shared. It's spot on.

I worked for a subsea installation contractor... Lot's of experience with Chouest, Candies, Tidewater and so on. His feedback is almost identical to experiences/conversations I had with marine crew members. It's a calling, and it has to be in your blood.