- Focus & Clarity
- Colors & Standing out
- The smile
- Body Language
- Clothing and Appeareance
- Background
The problem is that everyone is everyone giving out CV advice on Facebook and agencies, do not actually understand what it is that makes us choose the candidate we choose on board. It really is simple. Following these simple steps you will beat 90% of other crew that thinks they know what they are doing. The human eye is drawn to contrast, this means that on a CV with a pile of text the Captains eyes are drawn to the image and away from the text.
Why do you need to know this ?
Because it means the CV photo is the first thing we will look at.
What does your Yacht CV photo need ?
It needs to tell me a story. Making me picture you as a crew member on my Superyacht. If my mind is convinced by the photo that you are yacht crew and that you can be trusted, the chances of continuing reading your CV increases x10 times.
So how do you tell me this story with your CV-photo ?
1 Focus & Clarity
The focus of the photo needs to be on you. Not the background, not the yacht, not the beach. The image has to be the right resolution for the size and you need to be 100% clear on the photo.
Why ?
The mind is always drawn away from confusion and drawn towards clarity. When something is clear we experience positive emotions and are drawn to that subject.
2 Colors
Everyone will tell you wear a white polo. Thats great, that makes you look like crew….BUT
It also makes you look exactly like the 200 CVs I have on my desk.
So do this to stand out, yet convince me that you belong on board.
- Polo, Plain t-shirt etc, as long as there is nothing extraordinary you are doing good.
- Use colors to draw out positive feelings from the recruiter. Try blue – It has been proved, that blue colors conveys trust and calm feelings, something you definately want your next employer to feel. It also makes you stand out from the other 99 candidates. For junior positions such as Deckhand and Stewardesses a soft light shaded blue color will achieve the best result.
3 The Smile
We are 6x times as likely to interact with a person that is smiling. Simply just smile, increase your chances and your odds by simply smiling. As easy as that.
4 Body language
People ask us, should I have a full body picture, or portrait, or half, one arm? It does not matter, what is important about a Yacht CV photo is the overall message. We see so many CV photos, with hands in pockets, behind your back, crossed arms etc. All this is subconsciously sending signals that you are hiding something, which leads to confusion and not clarity, and by now you know that we want clarity !
So do this on your CV photo:
Be open, hands relaxed in a natural position or slightly open your palms. This is what successful politicians have done for centuries, why not try doing the same on your CV- photo. IT WORKS.
5 Clothing and appearance
Just me simple and natural, nothing outrageous. Follow the advice above and do not ruin it by doing something extreme. The less you show and display here the better. Piercing, make up or anything else that will stick out, should simply be removed.
Less is more has never been more true than in this case.
6 Background
I get it you want to display a beautiful background, with some yachts showing that you are crew and that you can be crew. This should be secondary. If the picture is taken in a Marina, that is great. Make sure the focus of the image is NOT the background, it needs to be you. The background should be slightly out of focus, not contain to many items and have soft colors.
You do not need to think about your CV-photo anymore, it is not that complicated, by simply following this guide you are displaying trust, telling the right story, standing out from other crew and increasing your chances to step on board your dream yacht.
If you have questions about your CV-photo you can type CV in the chat box or read more about how to become the 1% top crew here:
