What a captain reads first
A captain hiring a chief stew is hiring a head of department: someone who will run a team, a budget and the owner's guests without needing him. The CV has to prove all three, and it has to show the climb.
- Team size and charter count. "Lead an interior team of 5 across 22 charters, 8 back-to-back with same-day turnarounds" is the line. It shows scale, pressure and that the team held together.
- Money. Interior budget, provisioning, cellar, APA reconciliation. A chief who has run EUR 180,000 a season and reconciled it with the captain is a different hire from one who has only served.
- Progression on the page. 3rd to 2nd to Chief, with dates for each rank. A promotion inside one boat is written as two entries, not collapsed to the final title, because staying and being promoted is the strongest longevity signal there is.
- Service depth. Silver, plated, family-style, themed dinners, a 400-bin cellar. A chief still serves, and the captain wants to know she can.
- Training and SOPs. Chief stews who write the standards and grow green stews into 2nd stews are the ones captains keep.
The sample above is a fictional chief stewardess with six years across two boats, one promotion shown as two entries, and a hotel management background written like crew work.
The certificates this role needs
- STCW Basic Safety Training (refreshed, with the refresher date) and ENG1, both dated
- PDSD
- GUEST Advanced Service or equivalent; the GUEST programme is recognised across the industry
- WSET Level 2 as the working minimum for a chief; Level 3 reads well on 70m+
- Food Safety and Hygiene Level 3, because you are responsible for the interior's food handling, not just your own
- HELM Operational is increasingly asked for at head-of-department level
- First Aid at Sea or equivalent
List highest first. Nothing expired. Certificates you did years ago that have been superseded (Food Safety Level 2 once you hold Level 3) can go.
How to write the experience lines
One line per rank per boat: role, M/Y, name in bold, length in metres, private or charter, Month Year dates. Then two or three fragments with the numbers that prove management: crew led, charters, cabins, budget, stews trained.
- Before: Managed the interior department and led a team of stewardesses to deliver an exceptional guest experience on a busy charter yacht.
- After: Lead an interior team of 5 across 22 charters in two seasons, 8 of them back-to-back with same-day turnarounds. Interior budget of EUR 180,000 a season: provisioning, cellar, flowers, amenities, APA reconciliation with the Captain.
- Before: Supervised restaurant staff in a luxury hotel, ensuring the highest standards of service.
- After: Floor of a 90-cover fine-dining restaurant, rota and training for 12 waiting staff, VIP and state guests.
A refit inside a role stays inside that vessel entry as its own bullet, with the yard and what you did. A separate dated block implies you left the boat.
If your CV lists duties rather than this evidence, upload the CV you have and it is rebuilt in this format: each rank as its own entry, certificates with dates, the personal block, two pages.
Three mistakes that bin this CV
- Ranks collapsed. Four years on one boat written as "Chief Stewardess" hides the promotion, which is the best thing about it. Show 2nd Stew and Chief as two entries with dates.
- No money on the page. A chief stew CV with no budget, provisioning or APA line reads as a senior stew who has not yet run a department.
- Leadership claimed, not shown. "Strong leader" and "excellent communicator" are the phrases captains say they skip. Team of 5, three stews trained to 2nd, SOPs written. That is leadership.
For the general rules on what goes where, read what to include in a yacht CV.
Where this role goes next
Chief Stewardess on 55 to 70m to Chief on 80m+ with a 2nd Chief or Head of Housekeeping under you, or across to Purser on the largest yachts, where the job becomes accounts, crew logistics, clearance paperwork and guest administration. Rotational chief roles are common at that size and worth stating as a preference. Shore-based interior management and yacht management roles are the usual exit routes after ten years.
Salary
Published crew-salary guides put chief stewardesses in a wide band that starts in the mid thousands of euros a month and rises with vessel size, charter programme and rotation, plus tips on charter boats. Reported ranges vary widely; verify with an agency for the size of boat you are targeting.
