Working on a passenger ship

Conditions on board for ship workers have improved out of all recognition since the days of the Windrush. If you are drawn to the thought of travelling and working, then you could work on a cruise liner.

Working on a cruise ship is like living on a scaled-down city at sea. There are 300 types of jobs on board, and you will be able to travel the world. Some jobs ask for specific professional skills, others don’t.

Cruise lines are always hiring people with experience in the following: hospitality, tourism, entertainment, restaurants and bars, teaching, childcare, sales, customer relations, gaming, marketing, fitness, health and beauty, medicine and healthcare, administration, banking, accounting and financial management.

To find a job, begin by familiarising yourself with the major cruise-liner companies, details of where they travel to and the kind of passengers they attract. Royal Caribbean International, Princess and Carnival, have the largest fleets and are considered to be the “big three”.

Compare the qualifications and responsibilities required for several jobs that interest you. It will help you pinpoint which skills or certifications you need. A foreign language and First Aid experience are an advantage.

Further information

• For further information on degree and HND courses and entry requirements, visit www.ucas.com

Contacts

• http://www.cruiselinejob.com/

• http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/other/jobs_overview.asp

Calypsonian

The arrival of the Windrush brought Calypsonians to Britain (although they were not quite the first, as a few had already reached Liverpool) and signalled the start of Calypso’s growth in popularity. Other Calypsonians arrived later, such as Mighty Tiger, who came to Britain in the 1970s from Trinidad. Today, Calypso will soon be integrated “officially”, because it is about to be included on the school curriculum.

If you are considering becoming a Calypsonian, firstly you need to be able to sing! It can help to join a choir, as Calypsonian Mighty Tiger did when he was still at school. On that solid basis you can begin to develop a personal style. Mighty Tiger says, “When I first began singing, they said I performed like a little tiger, so at the age of 15, I was given the nickname Young Tiger; as I grew older, as my voice became stronger. I was given a new nickname.

“Calypsonians can sing about anything, from songs about politics to songs about black heroes like Martin Luther King, Bob Marley and Yaa Asantewaa, but I’m a love-song kind of person – I like to sing lovely, loving words; occasionally politics comes up, it all depends how I feel – you can say anything as long as it rhymes at the end.”

The aim of the Association of British Calypsonians is to educate and encourage the development and promotion of Calypso. Workshops are presented in schools and within the community. There is also a new competition, the Junior Calypso Monarch Competition, and the proposed education programme will eventually include a recognised qualification. Courses are offered in music arrangement, writing lyrics and storytelling.

If you are interested in attending workshops, courses or performances, contact The Association of British Calypsonians for details, or you can book a workshop online.

Contacts

• Association of British Calypsonians: ABC is the only representative body for British-based calypso composers and singers in the UK and Europe. The organisation supports varied activities, including the London Calypso Tent based at the Yaa Asantewwa Arts and Community Centre –  1 Chippenham Mews, Chippenham Road, London W9 2AN. Tel: 020 7286 1656. Email: yaasant@btclick.com Web: www.yaaasant.demon.co.uk

•  – and tours nationally. The association runs the Calypso Youth Exchange Programme in collaboration with the government of Trinidad and Tobago. Web: www.yaaasant.demon.co.uk/ABOUT/abc.htm

Navigator

Navigation has changed enormously since the days of the Windrush! Nowadays, if you want to learn to be a navigator it is best to begin by taking courses at a local yachting club.

Courses vary from intensive ones run over a few days to regular classes held over a longer period. There are also fast-track intensive courses, which include a month in Cowes on the Isle of Wight and three months in Australia.

A navigator gains skills across all areas, including theory and First Aid, but may decide to specialise in one field.

Contacts

• Royal Yachting Association, RYA House, Ensign Way, Hamble, Southampton, SO31 4YA: UK body for all boating, including disabled sailing. Oversees yachting, windsurfing, cruising, motorboat and dinghy training courses. Tel: 023 8060 4100. Web: www.rya.org.uk/

• The United Kingdom Sailing Academy, based in West Cowes, Isle of Wight, offers a whole host of serious training for leisure sailors keen to develop their knowledge and skills to the highest level. Tel: 01983 294941. Web: www.uksa.org/

• Flying Fish trains and recruits yachtmasters and sailing instructors, plus professional training and international adventure for a year out, a gap year or a career. The website includes careers advice. Web: http://www.flyingfishonline.com/

Archivist

Almost everything we know about the Windrush is catalogued and preserved in archives around the country. Images, documents, records… nothing escapes categorisation. Perhaps the reason there is such a shortage of archivists is that the volume of our collective memories is growing at too fast a pace. There are many vacancies on offer for potential archivists to store and classify the past – could you fill one of them?

You can find work with local authorities, universities, national archives, museums, charities and businesses. Before moving into permanent posts, most archivists start by taking on short-term contracts.

Ideally, to become an archivist, you should have a good honours degree in any academic discipline and a postgraduate qualification in archives and records management. It is possible to find work overseas, and it is increasingly easier to generate work as a freelance archivist.

Further information

• Visit the Connexions website for further information.

• Degree and HND courses and entry requirements, www.ucas.com

Contacts

• The British Library, St Pancras, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB. Tel: 0870 444 1500. Web: www.bl.uk

• The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU. Tel: 020 8876 3444. Web: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

• Records Management Society (RMS), Woodside, Coleheath Bottom, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire HP27 0SZ. Tel: 01494 488566. Web: www.rms-gb.org.uk

• Society of Archivists, Prioryfield House, 20 Canon Street, Taunton, Somerset TA1 1SW. Tel: 01823 327030. Web: www.archives.org.uk

• Black Cultural Archives, 1 Othello Close, Kennington, London SE11 4RE. Tel: 020 7582 8516. Web: www.bcaheritage.org.uk

• The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) is the national development agency working for and on behalf of museums, libraries and archives. Web: http://www.mla.gov.uk/

• MDA, The SPECTRUM Building, The Michael Young Centre, Purbeck Road, Cambridge CB2 2PD, is the UK’s leading provider of training in documentation and the management of information about collections. Tel: 01223 415760. Web: www.mda.org.uk

Artist

Maybe you were inspired to become an artist after seeing the work of Jeremy Deller, whose 2004 Turner Prize-winning work included the woven banner commemorating the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks in Essex. 

Being an artist can be a very precarious occupation, unless you are immediately snapped up and labelled as the “next big thing” or considered to be a “Young British Artist”. Your work might take one or several of the following forms: painting, drawing, installations, conceptual art, printmaking, sculpting, modelling, photography, performance, video and computers.

Often the success of the artist is built upon recognition of their work by collectors, and by building a reputation in the art world generally. It is important to market, promote and network wherever possible. Exhibitions are important to raise awareness of your work and the backing from the right gallery or venue can instantly increase status and collectability. Another way to achieve recognition is to produce work for a public art commission.

Artists often take up teaching or become involved in running workshops. Other opportunities for developing your work can come from applying for artists’ residencies (advertised in the Artists’ Newsletter)

Most artists have formal qualifications, including a degree in fine art or an HND in a related field. Many specialise on their course in fine art, painting, photography, film, sculpture, or performance, while others explore all media. Some progress to a postgraduate qualification. Applicants for degree/HND courses in fine art are usually required to have achieved a Diploma in Foundation Studies (Art & Design) and to present a portfolio. Other preliminary routes and courses exist for mature students and under-represented groups.

Further information

• Visit the Connexions website for further information.

Contacts

• The Arts Council of England, 14 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 3NQ. Tel: 0845 300 6200. Web: www.artscouncil.org.uk

• a-n, The Artists Information Company, First Floor, 7-15 Pink Lane, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 5DW. Tel: 0191 241 8000. Web: www.a-n.co.uk

• National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD), The Gatehouse, Corsham Court, Corsham, Wiltshire SN13 0BZ. Tel: 01249 714825. Web: www.nsead.org

Genealogist

If looking at the history of the Windrush has given you an appetite to trace your roots (or someone else’s), you might be about to become one of the 25,000 genealogists who study family histories in their spare time.

Knowing where and how to look for information is important – for instance, in tracing family history back to the West Indies you need to be very creative in your search. You'd be surprised to learn, say, how many people had a criminal record - usually for violating a petty law, and only because the law was so strict. For example, if you were a servant you could be arrested for whistling in the street, and because only white women were allowed to wear silk, a black woman could even be arrested for wearing a silk slip.

Job opportunities are extremely rare and most genealogists are self-employed. In total, only about 30 work full time, so competition is fierce. There is part-time work for a further 300, but the overwhelming majority of genealogists are amateurs, driven by enthusiasm for their hobby and extreme curiosity.

Formal qualifications are not necessary. It is very unusual for a young person to enter this job straight from school. Most part-time genealogists develop a solid basis for their business by cultivating contacts before they commit to working full-time.

Further information

• Visit the Connexions website for further information.
  

Contacts

• The Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA), 29 Badgers Close, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 5RU. Web: www.agra.org.uk

• The Federation of Family History Societies, PO Box 2425, Coventry CV5 6YX. Web: www.ffhs.org.uk

• The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, 79-82 Northgate, Canterbury, Kent CT1 1BA. Tel: 01227 765617. Web: www.ihgs.ac.uk

• Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA. Tel: 020 7251 8799. Web: www.sog.org.uk