Canadian Coast Guard west/east coasts

[responsexone]

Anyone participate in the Coast Guard on either one of the coasts of Canada? What's the experience like. I am considering checking out a part-time career with them.


Thanks in advance,

[jedi]

hey there,

I worked for the CCG this summer on Vancouver Island. It was a great summer job! the pay is okay but you get so many extras it works out quite nice in the end. I worked in a very remote area with a temporary base (it was actually someones cabin we rented for the summer). I worked 2 weeks on 2 weeks off for 4 months. Depending on your location the job can be very boring. sometimes there is nothing to do so you just sit around. other days you have 3 calls in a row and never get a chance to eat for 12 hours. The actual calls are rarely how shall i say "glory calls". the vast majority of calls if you work for a search and rescue unit are tows or searches. both are very tiresome and its hard to maintain a mental edge for hours on end. but when you are bored out of your mind sitting around all day getting ANY call is wonderful.

there is one problem though.... if you were to start right now in the coast guard you probably wouldn't be doing that job. you would most likely be sent to work on a ship doing buoy tending. thats a tough job. lots of hard grunt work. you have 12 hour shifts for 14-28 days straight (even 6 weeks straight if you are in the arctic)

all in all i think if you are interested in working for the CG you need to be able to entertain yourself. if you cant do that you WILL go crazy. its a feast or famine kind of job whether you are on the ships or at a base. i loved being able to explore the west coast on the governments dime! there are many perks thats for sure, especially the time off (which you get paid for by the way).

there is lots of room for advancement, and officers make pretty darn good money. so if thats what you are looking for then i say apply! everyone i know in the CG loves it. but those who don't leave VERY quickly.

Sarah

[rtmackie]

a website. with applications? or info?

[responsexone]

so the hire ncm's as well has fulltime officers just like in the forces then?


thanks,

[FLASHOVER05]

They also offer a volunteer Program, I know one Volunteer Captain with the Auxillary Coast Gaurd.

The Auxillary Unit (If I remember correctly) train once a month and go out for any size emergency small or large

here's the link

http://www.ccga-gcac.org/home/home_e.asp

[jedi]

hey all sorry for the late reply.

as for getting a job, you can go to the coast guard pacific site and look under employment. the link is here: http://www.pacific.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/employment-emplois/ship_e.htm

you would probably have to apply as a deckhand first and then work your way up. the qualifications are:

* Marine Emergency Duties – A1, B1, B2
* Advanced Marine First Aid – Occupational First Aid (level 3) is an asset
* Restricted Radio Operator’s Certificate
* **Applicable shipboard/fishing experience
* Valid Transport Canada Seafarer’s Medical
* RCMP Criminal Records Check

the marine emergency duties are kind of expensive. they are offered at BCIT on the mainland for about $1500 not including books. all together the courses will take about a month to complete.

oh but don't worry about experience or anything, they are pretty desperate for warm bodies to fill in. they will hire you right away if you have the qualifications.

oh and for the auxiliary, its different at every unit. my unit, #10 in richmond, meets every tuesday night. we train every week with our particular crew. and we are on call for usually 1-2 weeks of each month. we have about 5-6 crews which rotate every week.

if you have any more questions just fire away

[Coastal]

oh but don't worry about experience or anything, they are pretty desperate for warm bodies to fill in. they will hire you right away if you have the qualifications.



Wrong. We are not desperate for warm bodies. Our ships have out of service periods, scheduled refits and at times unscheduled refits. The crews of those ships are used to fit in open spots on other ships where guys may be injured or on holidays. It is difficult to earn a spot on a ship. Simply having the proper qualifications will not keep you around.

"Interviews" are conducted at sea. When you get your first call to go to sea with the coast guard you better be willing to bust your ass, especially if you do not have a high level of seamanship. You have to prove that you are a hard worker who can get along with the crew, and think on his toes. I have seen many people come to sea who expected gravy and left with a piece of paper stamped with "Do Not Re-Hire".

Working at sea for the coast guard is an amazing job and if anybody has any questions I'd be happy to answer them. I don't want to discourage anybody with what I've said above but a reality check is important, especially when we are made out to take any joe off the street with a couple pieces of paper. Besides, "warm bodies" don't last too long out at Station Papa in February.

[jiujitsujake]

that sounds more like it...did not think the C.C.G just took eny joe or jane blow off the street...I just wanted to make sure that jedi was right about what prerequisites i need to get hired as a deckhand. (before i waste time and money)...thanx for eny reply......jake

[Coastal]

Jedi is correct about the basic requirements to get on deck; Marine Emergency Duties A1, B1, and B2 (Which are basic safety, survival craft and marine fire fighting), Marine Advanced First Aid (Glorified basic first-aid), Restricted Radio Operator's Certificate, and a Seafarer's medical.

Having experience working on boats is the best additional qualification you can have to move you up the list. The Bridge Watchman program at BCIT is a good course to take to learn basic seamanship and to have on your resume, but it's a 3 month full time course. Any trade or skill is beneficial when applying and can set you apart once you get on a ship, because as you can imagine when something needs to be done the yellow pages is useless.

When you get your first call it is usually a case where somebody has been injured on the job or a family member has died and they have had to go home unexpectedly. HR calls a person from the list that has a good resume and asks them if they are able to join the ship the next day. That person is now a casual employee and needs to make a good impression on the ship to get any future work. After 6 months of unbroken casual work you become a term employee, after 3 years of unbroken work as a term employee you get a permanent number.

The point being that if you are wanting to work at sea with the coast guard you should have something set up at home that will allow you to leave for a couple weeks with little notice.

Also if you do not have seamanship skills you should buy a copy of "Seamanship Techniques" by DJ House. Read it and take it with you when you join a ship.

Send me a personal message if you would like the phone number for the person in charge of the deck side of fleet human resources. She can give you an idea of what she's forecasting as far as future openings and any additional courses that they looks for from the office perspective.

[DCCHam]

You must be on the West Coast are you 'Coastal'? Most of the folks hired here on the East Coast come through the Coast Gaurd Academy here in NS. They seem to prefer them over people with experience...but then again, anyone that has worked elsewhere on a ship usually doesn't want to take such a cut in pay to join the CG.

[Coastal]

That's a good point to differentiate between the different regions. Currently policies differ quite a bit from region to region. All the information from Jedi refers to the Pacific Region and that is what I am talking about as well. I don't know much about how they operate back east but I have never heard of the coast guard college offering any kind of deckhand program. As far as the fleet goes the college trains engineering officers as well as navigation officers. It's a 4 year program after which the graduates are dispersed throughout the different regions and work as officers.

Starting on deck you can also work your way up the hawse pipe and become an officer if that is a person's goal.

The East coast's hiring procedures I believe are different than out west but I am fairly confident in saying that even back east you don't go through the college to work on deck.

Nobody joins the coast guard to get rich but there are other benefits of the job that make up for pay.

*Edit* And as for the powers that be prefering officers from the college than officers with experience or people that have worked their way up that is unfortunately true.

[jedi]

wow things have been going on since i last checked. anyway, i want to clarify some things.

when i said they wanted "warm bodies" i did by no means mean to infer that the coast guard is made up of a bunch of idiots. i personally know many great mean and women that work for the CG. however, when i was working this summer, there were many people (usually 19-25 yrs old) with no experience that got jobs working on life boats. they were indeed casual employees, just filling in for sick employees. what i mean is, it doesn't seem too hard to get your foot in the door, but after that its up to you to make a good impression. i know of many young people who got hired on and then received a "do not re-hire" because they couldn't cut it. the CG is not for everyone. Coastal is very correct about how hard it is to actually get a "number". but what I was talking about was getting a experience with CG first hand. go see what its like, you really wont know until you get out there and try it.
(personally, i thought i would love the CG. I was so excited about it, but then the real job just didnt cut it for me. far too much down time for my liking. but im glad i had to opportunity to see what its really like)

and as for the BCIT bridge watchman course, i would only suggest that if you have absolutely no marine experience. I personally would not pay $5000 to learn how to tie knots. its a very basic course that doesnt even include your MEDs. so for me, someone with experience, it is a waste of time.

anyway, just thought i would clear that up. but of course that is just my 2 cents. Ive only been with the CG for a short time, and im sure Coastal must have more experience than me.

[Coastal]

Thanks for the clarification. You're right, for somebody who has experience in the industry the Bridge Watchman course wouldn't make sense. If you have never worked on a ship before this course can help. For one it looks good on your resume especially when you have no time at sea to list. Transpot Canada also recognizes it as 4 months sea time, so you only need 2 more months of sea time and MED B1/B2 (which aren't included) to write your Bridge Watchman's ticket which is a requirement for many positions on Coast Guard ships. MED A1, ROC-MC (radio ticket), and Marine Advanced First Aid are all included.

Jedi is right that the course only covers basic seamanship, but that's exactly what you need if you have none. It depends on the crew you end up with as to how forgiving they'll be. Some guys will be happy to teach you, but it helps a lot if you can look out the bridge window and tell the mate that you see a tug and tow 2 points to port showing green instead of showing up and asking what those lights are. It's also nice when the bosun asks you to head up to the foc'sle and make some 4 foot wire snotters out of 3/8's using a 3 2 1 splice that you can do that and not laugh because he said "snotter". There is a lot more to seamanship than just tying knots (although that is huge). The course can teach you this or you can buy a copy of DJ House's book. You aren't expected to know it all or be a pro on your first day it just makes for a shorter learning curve compared to coming in with zero knowledge.

This of course is to do with ships and wouldn't matter as much to the IRB student program. I understand the IRB program can be slow, but as far as down time goes it all depends on what avenue you want to go down in the Coast Guard. In the Coast Guard I have worked on SAR ships, science ships, fisheries research ships, multi-tasked buoy tenders and shore stations. I've worked the entire West Coast and the Western Arctic. Working SAR in remote locations there will be days when there isn't anything going on. Other stations can be very busy and if you are working a multi-tasked vessel, downtime can be unheard of.

[shawn123]

Hi im 21 years old and im realy looking into the workin with the coast guard,i was just wondering if someone could give me some information on how to go about doin this.

Thanx

Shawn

[PFD023]

Shawn...http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/eng/CCG/Careers ..I'd give them a call first and then if they can't give you the info you need ...throw the question out here. It's just that unless you have something specific you are looking to have answered, it's hard to find a starting point.

[FLASHOVER05]

Shawn...http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/eng/CCG/Careers ..I'd give them a call first and then if they can't give you the info you need ...throw the question out here. It's just that unless you have something specific you are looking to have answered, it's hard to find a starting point.

Hiring period is over for this year, a comrade of mine is waiting to see where he ends up

[shawn123]

Well id like to be a part of the search and rescue team,is there a course i can take for that or do i gotta start somewhere lower then that and work my way up?

[FLASHOVER05]

Well id like to be a part of the search and rescue team,is there a course i can take for that or do i gotta start somewhere lower then that and work my way up?

Where do you live? there are opportunities to learn with the Auxiliary. They Train regularly and are as well prepared as some of the Motor Life Boats ;)

I'd be more than happy to send you to the correct channels

[shawn123]

Im from Glace Bay Nova Scotia.

[FLASHOVER05]

Im from Glace Bay Nova Scotia.

Shouldn't have a problem finding an Aux. Unit there

[DCCHam]

Im from Glace Bay Nova Scotia.

Just wondering how you were making out with this? I'm going through the hiring process now myself. They were advertising for Leading Deckhand positions on the lifeboats a few months ago. I'm on the "short-list" now, and am hoping to hear something back from them in the next couple of months.

[Spilly]

Shouldn't have a problem finding an Aux. Unit there

hey guys, I'm in the same boat, i am very interested in the Coast Guard, have commercial fished, and recreational fished a lot offshore on the westcoast VI, volunteer firefighter with the NFPA 2 certificates along wiht others....and the more and more time i spend out there on the water, I could definetly see myself working out there as a Career. I have looked into the Bridge watchman course, willing to spend the money just to have the certificate to help my odds out! but what else could a guy do to better better his chances! the Paramedic course be worth taking?........i'm not really in the position to head to the east coast to the academy for 4 years, but wondering if theres a "backdoor route"? so to speak if you know what i mean?........

Thanks
Spilly

[DCCHam]

I have two (WK/Mate & 4th Class Engineer)) Marine tickets along with all other courses required. I was a full year going through all the CG's testing and interviews and have been on their "list" after being sent my congratulatory letter accepting me into the gaurd for months now with not a single job posting to date.

I grew tired of waiting and have accepted a F/T position with HRM Transit as a Mate on the ferry two months ago. I've heard that some people have had to wait years to ever even get a job posting anywhere.

Best of luck to you if you decide to pursue the CG as a career.

[DCCHam]

UPDATE: I've since had two job posting offers from the CG, but I've turned both of them down. They were both only a month in duration with no promise of any more work afterwards. I'm not about to give up a F/T job to do that!

[JennImme]

Great information.
Thanks