Stargate Crewing runs a well-developed cadet placement programme which has, over the years, turned out to be the most economical and professionally rewarding recruitment solution for our clients. Our cadets are all honour students from the two premier maritime training schools in Romania – Mircea Naval Academy and Constanta Maritime University – that collectively put out 1,800 fresh marine graduates each year. We handpick each candidate for cadetship after verifying his/her educational record, extracurricular activities, attitude, motivation and even their social media history. Each candidate cadet is preselected through a standard vetting procedure by our office staff before appearing on a final recruitment interview.

Investing in a Romanian cadet is a lifelong commitment to our seafaring community. We do this as an investment in the future of young officers who will one day work with us, and become valuable assets for any ship owner. Fortunately, we have the pick of the lot from each academic session because of our excellent personal relations with the maritime academies. We can place cadets throughout the year because the Romanian marine education system allows students to enroll into a cadet program and sail from the second year of their usual four-year degree program. Moreover, since many of our cadets are the meritorious candidates, they manage to avail ERASMUS scholarship from the European Union for going abroad on duty.

Selection of cadets needs to be carried out in a controlled and methodical manner, carefully assessing candidates for their academic merit, their attitude and motivation levels, and preparedness for life at sea. Since selection remains a key component of ensuring the quality of cadets picked, the process and criteria involved are of great importance. Applications are invited throughout the academic year which are then reviewed periodically and screened for authenticity of information and academic record. Pre-selected candidates are then invited for preliminary one-on-one interviews with our crewing staff. Those who qualify are then screened on certain other criteria such as extracurricular activities, good references from teachers and peer groups, social media history and social reputation. Finally, each qualifying candidate is interviewed by the selection board and then approved for cadetship with our clients.

We  understand the importance of training meritorious officers who are loyal to their parent company where they start out their seafaring career, and we are committed to recruiting and training high achievers from each academic year and give them adequate training and opportunities to develop their career and become fist class officers of the future. Stargate’s current portfolio includes over 400 officers who all started out as cadets working for our clients, and quickly developed into officers with a 95% promotion rate and a 90% retention rate, a record that has few equals anywhere in the industry. We focus on developing the attitude, motivation and competence of our recruits with an eye on their training and growth needs.