If your superyacht CV just lists things like housekeeping and service, I’m going to be honest – it’s probably getting skimmed and forgotten in about six seconds.

This post is for you if:

• you’ve got yachting experience but it sounds a bit beige on paper
• you’re newer to yachting and worried you “don’t have enough” to put on a CV
• or you’ve sent your CV out loads and heard… nothing

And if you’re completely new to yachting and still figuring out whether this industry is even for you, start with my honest guide on how to work on a superyacht before worrying about your CV.

The issue usually isn’t your experience.

It’s how you’re writing it.

When Captains and Chief Stews (or whoever is recruiting) are finding CVs, they don’t read them properly – they scan them. And if your experience isn’t clear, structured, and easy to understand straight away, they move on.

So in this post, I’m going to show you exactly how to write the experience section of your yachting CV so it actually makes sense, shows what you’ve really done onboard, and makes people want to interview you – without waffling or sounding cringe.

No corporate CV advice.

No filler.

Just how this stuff is actually read in real life.

What Captains and Chief Stews Actually Look For in a Yachting CV

Okay, real talk.

What recruiters and yachts actually want to see is:

• clear dates so your timeline makes sense
• boat size and programme at a glance
• proof you’ve done real yachting, not just “general duties”
• experience that matches the role they’re hiring for right now
• a CV that feels calm, organised, and easy to read

That’s why structure matters so much.

A well-written CV can make one season look impressive.

A messy one can make five seasons look… underwhelming.

And this is where most people go wrong.

They assume the problem is their experience – when actually, it’s what they choose to highlight.

No one’s trying to take in your entire CV at once. They just want a few clear signals that show what you’ve actually done and where your strengths are.

What Counts as a Yacht CV Highlight?

If you’re thinking “but what even counts as a highlight?” – think about it like your Tinder bio.

You’re not listing everything you’ve ever done. You’re picking the bits that make someone pause and actually take notice.

This section isn’t about bragging – it’s about context.

Here’s the kind of cool stuff that deserves a mention on your CV:

• Regular beach set-ups for guests (yes, setting up a full beach lunch in 40-degree heat is a skill)
  
  
• 6-month charter season with back-to-back trips (aka survival of the fittest)
  
  
• Liveaboard owner (very different vibe to charter work!)
  
  
• Extravagant theme nights (Alice in Wonderland, Sabrina Carpenter, Pirate Night… name some cool ones!)
  
  
• Cultural setups, i.e. Shabbat, Chinese tea ceremonies
  
  
• Kid-heavy trips where you organised activities like treasure hunts, baking days, quizzes, mocktail making etc
  
  
• Helping care for young kids (ages 2+, babysitting, actual childcare stuff)
  
  
• World cruising experience / provisioning in remote places
  
  
• Shipyard periods and refits – e.g., decanting the entire interior, stocktaking, reorganising during shipyard periods
  
  
• Silver service experience with very formal, high-profile guests
  
  
• Extensive wardrobe management – did the guests turn up with 40+ suitcases? or have heaps delicate fabrics to handle in laundry? Give examples!
  
  
• Housekeeping – fancy surfaces to maintain – leather floors, black marble, gold stairs, mother of pearl walls etc

✅ These are the kinds of things that make a recruiter pause and think:

“Oooh, they know their stuff.”

Even if you only have 1–2 highlights – they’re worth mentioning.

🚫 Stop Using Vague CV Bullet Points

A quick but important note: vague CV bullet points are doing you no favours.

If your work experience includes lines like:

• Maintained high cleaning standards
• Provided high-end food and beverage service
• Assisted with guest needs
• Responsible for housekeeping duties
• Delivered exceptional guest experience

…you’re wasting valuable space.

These sound fine, but they don’t actually say anything. They could describe almost anyone on almost any boat.

The same goes for buzzwords like dynamic, motivated, team player, or detail-oriented. If you’re not backing them up with real examples, they don’t add value.

Instead of vague statements, your experience section should help someone clearly picture what you did onboard.

If a bullet point could be copied and pasted onto 20 different CVs without changing a word, it’s probably too generic to keep.

Here’s exactly how to write your yachting (or land-based!) experience section in a way that actually makes people want to hire you.

#1: Start With a Clear, Bold Heading

For every job you list, add a clean title line like this:

Example:
Jan 2021 – Jan 2023: Stewardess, MY Awesome, 65m, Private (2 years)

Or

Stewardess, MY Awesome, 65m, Private
Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 (2 years)

• Dates you worked
• Job title
• Boat name
• Size
• Private or Charter
• (Total time onboard)

✅ Short. Clear. Clean.
✅ Easy for recruiters to read fast.

If you want to see exactly how this should look laid out on a real CV, that’s what my superyacht CV templates and guide are for.

#2: Add a Short “About the Boat” Sentence

This bit is so underrated.

Two stews can both say “Stewardess on a 65m” – but those jobs can be completely different worlds depending on the programme, the guests, and the interior team.

This one sentence gives instant context before anyone even gets to your bullet points.

Here’s what to include:

• What kind of trips? (Family charters, private owner trips, crazy parties?)
• How many crew/ department?
• How many guests onboard usually?
• Where did you cruise? (Itinerary)
• Any refits, crossings, yard periods, special events, or difficult owners?

Example:

A busy vessel with a Med itinerary. I worked in a team of 6 interior crew, rotating through all areas, where I completed 10 back-to-back charters during the summer, with 24-48 hour turnarounds, followed by a 6-month shipyard refit.

✅ Short and snappy.
✅ Instantly shows what kind of experience you have.

#3: Bullet Points – But Make It Interesting

Don’t list 378 separate things like:

• “Cleaned cabins”
• “Vacuumed floors”
• “Polished taps”
• Maintained high standards
• Delivered food and beverage service

Listing every tiny task separately doesn’t make you look more experienced. It just makes your CV look messy and overwhelming.

Group your duties properly, as this shows you understand how a yacht runs – which, trust me, is what people care about.

Group your duties into categories with mini-titles.

Example:

Some ideas for other categories you could include (not limited to!):

• Safety
• Guest ops
• Watersports
• Finance
• Tender ops
• Leadership
• Shipyard
• New build

(I PERSONALLY like to keep these in alphabetical order so it looks consistent across your CV)

✨ Pro Tip: Think Like a Chief Stew

Think like the person reading your CV.

They’re busy. They’re scanning. They don’t have time to decode a wall of text or guess what you actually did onboard.

Your bullet points should be specific and focused on the things that matter.

This is literally how I read CVs when hiring – and how I write them for crew who want to move up, not just bounce between boats.

Example of a Completed Experience Section

Jan 2021 – Jan 2023: Stewardess, MY Awesome, 65m, Private (2 years)

A busy vessel with a Med/ Caribbean itinerary. I worked in a team of 6, rotating through all areas of the interior. Completed back-to-back guest trips with 48-hour turnarounds every season, including owner trips upto 4-weeks and a variety of charters, including parties with up to 50 guests onboard, along with a 6-month refit, and 2 Atlantic crossings.

My duties included:

• Admin: Inventory management, crew expenses, guest provisioning tracking.
  
  
• Housekeeping: Interior detailing, setup and maintenance, turnups and turndowns, wardrobe and luggage management, cared for delicate surfaces (silk carpet, leather floor, marble).
  
  
• Laundry: Guest and laundry, stain treatment (including silk), wardrobe steaming.
  
  
• Service: Food service (Silver, buffet, synchronised service), beach setups, cocktail making, table settings.
  
  
• Theme nights: extravagant themes, including Mad Hatter, Sabrina Carpenter, Barbie, White Parties.

✅ Clean.
✅ Detailed but not waffley.
✅ Looks super professional without boring the reader

Your CV profile also plays a huge role in whether you get shortlisted or skipped, which is why I wrote a full guide on how to write a yacht CV profile that actually works.

Quick CV Formatting Tip

Try to keep your CV ideally to 2 pages.
If you’ve been in the industry 10+ years, a third page is fine – but for juniors or mid-level crew, 2 pages max looks way cleaner, sharper, and easier to read.

(Long rambling CVs = immediate no. Keep it snappy!)

What If You’re Brand New to Yachting?

If you’re brand new and staring at your CV thinking “cool, but I’ve literally never worked on a yacht” – don’t panic.

You still have experience that can work on a yacht CV. It just needs to be written properly, in a way that makes sense to recruiters

I’ve written a full post showing exactly how to write your land-based experience for a yacht CV, so it doesn’t look random or irrelevant.

You’re not starting from zero – you just need to translate what you’ve already done.

Final Tips for your Yachting CV

A few things I always tell crew when they’re updating their CV:

• focus on the experience that’s actually relevant for the role you want next
• newer jobs deserve more detail; older jobs only need highlights
• always ask yourself: does this help them picture me onboard?
• don’t downplay the cool stuff you’ve done – even if it feels “normal” to you

If it shows responsibility, pressure, or real guest experience, it probably belongs on your CV.

If You Take One Thing From This

Your yachting CV isn’t about trying to sound clever or fancy.

It’s about making it really easy for someone busy to skim and understand what you’ve done, where you’ve done it, and whether you’d be a good fit onboard.

Clear structure. Real experience. No waffle.

If you want something a bit lighter after all the CV chat, I’ve shared the cabin essentials I pack for every boat – the things that actually make life onboard easier, or you can browse all my superyacht posts here.