(Anatoly Menzhiliy/Shutterstock)
| Median Salary: | $72,800 |
| Salary Growth (2010–2016): | +16% |
| Total Employees: | 5,200 |
| Change in Employees (2010–2016): | +18% |
Job Description:
A deck officer is responsible for overseeing important duties on a vessel, be it handling cargo, ensuring passengers’ safety, or plan navigation. They may also command or operate ships.
Job Qualifications:
Aspiring deck officers will first need to go through a cadet program from a nautical school, many of which are three years. Of course, you’ll need between one to three years of sea time as a deckhand. Transport Canada also provides a certification program that involves progressing to several levels of certification after experience and training.
Salary:
The median salary for this role is $72,800, rising 16% over the past five years.
Career Opportunity:
It’s a long journey to get fully certified as a deck officer, but if you can make it, there’s an extreme shortage of deck officers—the government predicts over the next seven years, they’ll only be 7,600 job seekers to fill 11,400 jobs.
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