Basic Interview Tips:

1) Know about the Company/Organisation you are applying for. Find out a few
details as they often ask what you know about them.

(2) Don't Ramble on too much. Keep awnsers to the point.

(3) Be prepared to ask a few (intelligent!) questions (even if you know the
awnsers already). This shows that you are not shy.

(4) Try not to Umm and Aarrrgh too much

(5) Be prepared to talk at length about why you want to work there

(6) BE SMARTLY DRESSED - Tidy and well presented people make a good
first impression, which is very important.

(7) On introduction, shake the interviewer's hand FIRMLY but not like a vice.
Look them in the Eye, Smile and Introduce yourself, in one fluid motion. Practice
on a willing friend/relative

( When talking, look the interviewer in the Eye (Don't stare into space while
talking, or listening)

(9) Don't Lie. Whatever you do, don't do this as you will almost certainly be
sussed out. Be honest, but don't put yourself down.

(9) SMILE. Honestly, this is probably the most important thing of all. If you smile
a bit, interviews are loads easier. It is tough tring to be an *&^$hole interviewer if
the interviewee appears happy!

Hope this is of some help & Good Luck!

Some Important Questions For Interview:

WHAT IS THE MERCHANT NAVY?

Merchant Navy is an industry which involves transportation of cargo (solid, liquid and gases) as well
as passengers by ships. In other words, it is a non-combatant commercial fleet which involves
carrying cargo and passengers from one place to another safely.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO JOIN THE MERCHANT NAVY?
Merchant Navy as a career offers the following advantages because of which I would like to take it
up as a career:

 You are allowed to shoulder big responsibilities at a young age. For e.g. a captain at the
young age of 35 is responsible for the safe carriage of millions of worth of cargo as well as
the life of his crew.
 You usually get well paid tax free salary working on foreign ships.
 You work in a clean environment i.e. the open seas.
 You do not have to commute to work.
 You get 3 – 4 months (if not more) of paid holiday in a year.
 There is always the pride in wearing a Uniform.
 You may get to see a lot of places which is not possible in other professions.

WHAT ARE THE DISADVANTAGES OF WORKING IN THE MERCHANT NAVY?

 Merchant Navy is ranked as the 10th most hazardous profession in the world. Number 1 being
Formula One car racing.
 You may have to work in extreme climates i.e. in very cold and very hot climates as well.
 You have to be sensitive to the cultures of other nationalities as well as you have to be
working in a multinational / multicultural environment.
 You have to be away from friends and family for extended period of time.
 There are no fixed working hours and in terms of emergency one may have to work for a
couple of days without sleep. Work on board ships can be very physically demanding at
times.
 Some people may report sea sickness also during rough weather.
 Piracy has also loomed as a threat to the lives of marine professionals
 Inspite of the advances in technology a ship may not be able to stay afloat in extreme rough
weather i.e. the risk to life is always there.
 One may not get to eat food of one’s choice as the cook could be a person of some other
country. It could be even more difficult for vegetarians.

DO YOU KNOW ANYBODY IN THE MERCHANT NAVY?

It is good if you know someone in the Merchant Navy. An Uncle, friend, cousin or any acquaintance
would also do. Find out their Name, Rank, Company they are working for and get some first hand
information from them about a career in the Merchant
Navy.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR FAMILY BACKGROUND?

Tell the interviewer about your Father’s name, Age, Occupation, City and any siblings that you have.
Students whose parents are in the armed forces are usually given slight preference because they are
used to having their fathers away from home for long periods of time in comparison to students
from business families. Also interviewers have been found to be reluctant in taking students who are
sole child of their parents.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO JOIN THIS COMPANY?
The interviewer here is checking if the student has done some background check on the company where he
is applying for a job or not. It is good to read about the company from their website or by searching on the
internet. The important reasons for joining could be Reputation of the company, Number of ships available,
Safety record of the ships, Number of seafaring employees with them, Reference from present / ex
employees, etc.

NAME THE MAJOR CONTINENTS, OCEANS, SEAS, PORTS, SHIPPING COMPANIES, CONTINENTS,
TYPES OF SHIPS, RANKS ON SHIPS, ETC.?

The continents are: Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, North America, South America and Antartica. The five
oceans are: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Artic Ocean and Southern Ocean.

The major seas are: Arabian Sea, Caspian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Japan Sea, China Sea, Barring Sea,
Black Sea, Dead Sea, Agean Sea, Red Sea, Aral Sea, Caribbean Sea, North Sea and Baltic Sea.

The major ports in India are: Kandle, Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Marmagoa, New Mangalore, Kochi, Haldia,
Paradip, Vishakhapatnam, Madras and Tuticorin.

The major ports in the world are: Singapore, Rotterdam, South Louisiana, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Houston,
Chiba, Nagoya, Ulsan and Kwangyang. The different types of ships are: Containers, Tankers, Bulk Carriers,
Car Carriers, Passenger Ships and various other kinds of specialized ships. The ranks in the deck
department are: Captain, Chief Officer, 2nd Officer, 3rd Officer and Deck Cadets. The ranks in the Engine
department are: Chief Engineer, 2nd Engineer, 3rd Engineer, 4th Engineer and Trainee Marine Engineer.
The Deck side crew consists of Bosun, AB, OS and Trainee OS. The Engine side crew consists of
Motorman, Wiper and Fitter.

Students would also be expected to have some knowledge about Latitudes, Longitudes, Equator, Tropic of
Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, etc.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY OR WHAT YOU DO AT YOUR LEISUIRE ?

ANS: SIR AS I AM KEEN TO JOIN THIS MARINE WORLD FOR THE LAST 1 YEAR I AM
TRYING TO KNOW MORE AND MORE ABOUT THIS FIELD ONLY.AND OPTED THROUG
ONLINE MAGZINE MAREX,SOME COURSE BOOKS ,INTERNET ETC.
ALSO I HAVE INTREST IN WATHING MOVIES,PLAYING CARDS AND READING
MAGZINES.

WHAT IS WORK OF A DECK CADET ONBOARD THE SHIP?

A CADET AFTER COMPLETION OF HIS PRE-SEA WILL UNDER GO FOR 18 MONTHS OF

CADETSHIP OR SSTP(-STRUCTURED SHIPBOARD TRAINING PROGRAMME) WHERE WILL
DO WORK AS ASSIGNED IN DLP(DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMME) GIVEN BY IMU.
ALSO HE HAS TO ASSIST CHIEF OFFICER IN WATCHKEEPING (WORK TIME 4.00HOURS
-8.OOHOURS AND 1600 HOURS-2000 HOURS).ALSO HAVE TAKE PART IN
PAINTING,CHIPPING,LOADING,UNLOADING AND ROPE WORKS).
3.WHY YOU WANT TO JOIN MAERCHANT NAVY?

ANS: MERCHANT NAVY JOBS ARE GLOBE JOB WHICH GIVES INDEPENDENCE AND
RESPONSIBILITY AS VERY YOUNGER AGE ALSO THE PAY AND PERKS GIVEN IS
ALSO VERY LUCRATIVE ONE.PROMOTIONAL PROSPECTS DEPENDS UPON INDIVIDUAL
SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE SO THRRE IS NO BONDATION EXCEPT THE SEA TIME
REQUIREMENT.
ONE ALSO GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL AROUND THE GLOBE AND EXPERIENCE
THE WORLDWHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE IN OTHER PROFESSION.
ALSO NO TWO DAYS ON SHIPS ARE SAME , SO NO MONOTONOS LIFE AS OTHER
JOBS USUALLY 10-5 BUT ADVENTURUS LIFE.
ONE ALSO GETS LONG VACATIONS TO SPEND WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. AND
THERE IS ALWAYS THE PRIDE IN WEARING THE UNIFORM…. DUE TO ALL STATED
FACTOR I AM AIMED TO JOIN THIS PROFESSION ONLY.

4. WHY YOU WANT TO JOIN THIS COMPANY? HAVE YOU APPLIED TO

ANY OTHER COMPANY?
ANS: AS MY COUSIN BROTHER/UNCLE(mention your reference) FROM ALL HIS
EXPERIENCE HAS STRONGLY SUGGESTED FOR YOUR COMPANY ONLY AND ALSO YOUR
COMPANY IS A OWNERSHIP AND ITF COMPANY .YOURS EMPLOYMENTS TERMS AS
MENTIONED ARE VERY ATTRACTIVE AND LUCRATIVE.( LEARN TERMS IN MAREX).YOU
HAVE A LARGE NUMBER AND ALMOST ALL TYPES OF FLEETS AND A WELL RENOWED
NAME IN SHIPPING WORLD.BEST COMPANY MEANS BEST TRINING AND THIS 18
MONTHS TRAINING IN YOUR COMPANY WILL PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN MY FUTURE
PROSPECTS.
FOR ALL THESE THINGS I AM AIMED TO JOIN YOUR COMPANY ONLY.

NO SIR I HAVE NOT APPLIED TO ANY OTHER COMPANY. IF WOULD NOT GET SUCCESS
THIS TIME ,WITH MORE BETTER PREPARATION I WILL APPLY FOR NEXT BATCH IN
YOUR COMPANY ONLY.

*IT SHOULS BE THE FIRST AND FOREMOST DUTY OF EVERY SEAFERERS TO ENSURE
SAFETY ONBOARD AT EVERY TIME AND AT EVERY PLACE,WHICH INCLUDES THE
*SAFETY OF LIVES…
*SAFETY OF SHIP… AND
*SAFETY OF CARGO……

5.WHAT IS THIS DNS COURSE AND WHAT YOU MEAN BY SPONSORSHIP?

ANS: DNS STANDS FOR DILLOMA IN NAUTICAL SCIENCE , FULL COURSE NAME IS
DIPLOMA IN NAUTICAL SCIENCE LEADING TO BSC NAUTICAL SCIENCE. A CANDIDATE
AFTER CLEARING IMU CET AND COMPANY EXAM WILL UNDERGO 1 YEAR PRE-SEA
TRAINING AT APPROVED COLLEGE . AFTER SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETION OF 1YEAR i.e
SEMESTER 1 AND SEMESTER 2 ,HE WILL JOIN A MERCHANT SHIP AS A CADET AND
COMPLETE 18 MONTHS ONBOARD TRAINING (SSTP).AFTER COMPLETION OF 18 MONTHS
ONE HAS TO UNDERGO PRE-SEA COURSE FOR 2 MATES PREPARATION AND OTHER
MODULAR COURSES LIKE ROC,ARPA,GMDSS ETC , THEN HE SITS FOR COC EXAM AND IF
CLEARED SUCCESSFULLY WILL AWARDED 2 MATE COC AND BSC NAUTICAL SCIENCE
DEGREE BY INDIAN MARITIME UNIVERSITY.
IF ANY COMPANY SPONSOR A CADET MEANS THAT THE 18 MONTHS TRAINING WILL BE
GIVEN BY ON THE COMPANY MANAGED SHIP OR VESSEL.

6.WHO DID YOU COME TO KNOW ABOUT US ?

ANS: SIR YOUR COMPNAY IS AMOUNG THE BEST, EVERYONE RELATED TO MARINE
WORLD MUST BE AWARE OF YOUR ESTEEMED ORGANISATION.
ALSO MENTION THAT YOUR REFERENCE RELATIVE HAS GIVEN YOU A WIDE KNOWLEDGE
ABOUT YOUR COMPANY :

7.INTRODUCE YOURSELF/TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF.

ANS:Good Morning sir/mam,

It's my pleasure to introduce myself to you. I am UR NAME , my father name is FATHERS NAME
And my father is a FATHE JOB , I am from UR HOME TOWN,
(Dear candidate refer this as a sample and make ur own accordingily to ur
qualifiacations.)
I have APPEARED FOR MY 10+2 BOARD EXAM FROM …………. UR from Einstien P. G. College,
Osmania University, Hyderabad in 2011 with 70 aggregation and I have completed Batcher
Deggre from Nalanda Deggre College, Osmania University, Nalgonda in 2008 with 69%
aggregation and I have completed 10+2 from Nagarjuna jr college, Nalgonda in 2005 with 75.
6% aggregation and my schooling completed from Z. P. H. S, Nalgonda in 2003 with 73. 2%
aggregation and I have completed core java, jdbc, servlets, jsp, struts, hibernate, oracle, html,
javascript and ajax courses from ameerpet, Hyderabad in sathyatechology.

My hobbies are listening melody songs, reading news paper and learning about new things by
through friends.

My strengths are self confidence, hard work and smart work nature and easily mingle with
others.

My weakness is "I feel uncomfortable when I didn't finish my work with in a given time".

That's all about me sir. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. :

 WHAT IS MATHS ,SCIENCE MARKS ?

 LEARN BY HEART….

WHAT IS YOUR IDEA ABOUT SEA LIFE?
ANS: Life at sea is full of adventure and
interesting experiences but Cut off from
normal life on shore for months, even years, sailors had to accept cramped
conditions.

WHAT IS YOUR FUTURE AIM?

ANS: MY FUTURE AIM IS : To learn and function effectively in team organization to
constantly upgrade my knowledge and skills .I would like to improve my skills connected
with my education as a bachelor of navigation.

What to reply if you don’t know answer to the question asked by the interviewer?
Simly tell him that I have not exact idea about this but if you allow I can guess sir….
Pls reply to the point only..No rubbish ... And never try to make fool……

Thanks ….. Best of luck……