You have uploaded your CV to eleven agencies and heard nothing for three weeks. Meanwhile a girl in your crew house who registered with four agencies and walked into two of their offices has a trial on a 50 metre. The difference is not luck. It is how she registered.
What a Crew Agency Actually Does
Crew agencies are recruiters paid by the yacht, not by you. Their client is the captain or the chief stew, and their reputation depends on sending people who do not embarrass them.
That has three consequences:
- A reputable agency never charges you a placement fee. Registration is free. If someone asks you for money to get you a job, walk away.
- They will not push a green candidate they have never met. You are a risk to their reputation until they can vouch for you.
- They rank you. Being on their books is not the same as being top of their list.
How to Register Properly
- Choose a handful, not thirty. Pick agencies that are established in your hub and actually place interior crew.
- Complete the profile 100%. Half-finished profiles get filtered out of searches before a human ever sees them.
- Go in person if you are in the hub. A face and a firm handshake beats a PDF.
- Upload every certificate and keep expiry dates current in the system.
- Check in weekly — polite, short, specific. Not daily. Not never.
- Answer your phone. Jobs move in hours. Crew who miss a call get replaced by the next name on the list.
Being the Candidate They Trust
| Do | Do not |
|---|---|
| Reply within minutes, professionally | Send voice notes or emoji |
| Say yes to day work through them | Cherry-pick only glamorous yachts |
| Tell them immediately if you accept a job | Ghost them and leave them chasing you |
| Ask for honest feedback | Argue when they say you are not ready |
If an agency sends you to a yacht and you do not turn up, you are finished with that agency, and quite possibly with the ones they talk to.
Green Crew and Agencies
Be realistic: for your very first job, most green crew are found through day work and the dock, not through an agency. Register anyway — but treat agencies as one channel, not the plan.
Onboard Notes
- Never pay for a job. Legitimate crew agencies are paid by the yacht.
- Read what you sign at registration; some agencies have terms about accepting work you were introduced to.
- One professional, honest agent who knows your name and face is worth twenty databases you are buried in and forgotten.