Prep Your Resume: Richard Branson's Cruise Line is Hiring
Are you a creative risk-taker? A sucker for mood lighting? In love with the idea of a forward-thinking work culture?
If you answered yes to those questions, you're in luck. You might want to get in touch with Virgin Voyages, Richard Branson's future cruise line.
TPG covered Virgin Voyages' launch back in May. The cruise line is 18+, so no kids will be on board, and flaunts a more chic design than other cruise ships. It's set to sail sometime in 2020. The idea is to make cruising appealing to people who wouldn't otherwise think of it as an option.
The cruise line has a few positions listed on LinkedIn for what it calls Land Gigs. The listings are all either for Ft. Lauderdale or Genoa, Italy locations — the latter because that's where the ships are being built. Plus, the job descriptions are pretty tantalizing. The Art Director position states that, "you live in a world of colors and shapes and will be passionate about helping us make sure we look our very best in every place that we appear."
There are also Sea Gigs listed on the cruise line's site aboard the future ships. Although no specifics are mentioned, they're accepting resumés to "be on deck for consideration once [they] get sailing."
Entrepreneur magazine spoke to current employees of the company to hear more about what it's like to work there. Jose Ortiz, senior manager of voyage services, said that "prior to joining Virgin, I was with another cruise line for almost 19 years. In the year and two months I’ve been with Virgin Voyages, it’s felt like, Where have you been all my life? We do business with integrity while keeping people in mind."
The culture can sound a bit heavy on the cheesy puns — "our mantra here is ‘Make ship happen,'" in the words of another employee to Entrepreneur — but the people interviewed by the magazine sounded happy. So if you're after a job with a company that calls itself "the world's most irresitible travel brand," you know what to do.
