Captains are the bosses of boats and ships. They let nothing that happens on their vessel go undetected. They watch out for the safety of passengers or cargo on-board and make sure everyone follows safety procedures.
Captains oversee the functioning of all mechanical and electric devices, supervise the navigation of the ship, and keep contact with the destination port and closest coast guard services. In close collaboration with the shipmate, they manage and supervise the day-to-day duties and activities of the staff. Captains are the ones responsible for hiring, training, motivating, and eventually firing members of the crew. The promotion of crew members is the captain's decision as well.
Captains are intimately familiar with maritime law, and they are responsible for making every essential decision during the journey. They have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as they are required to keep the crew content and efficient and passengers calm and pleased.
How to Become a Captain
What is a Captain
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Captain. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.45 an hour? That's $55,025 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -2% and produce -1,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Captain Do
There are certain skills that many Captains have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Customer-service skills, Hand-eye coordination and Hearing ability.
How To Become a Captain
If you're interested in becoming a Captain, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 67.4% of Captains have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 6.8% of Captains have master's degrees. Even though most Captains have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Captain. When we researched the most common majors for a Captain, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Captain resumes include High School Diploma degrees or Master's Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Captain. In fact, many Captain jobs require experience in a role such as Internship. Meanwhile, many Captains also have previous career experience in roles such as Volunteer or Cashier.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
And if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Captain Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Assistant you might progress to a role such as Consultant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title Director Of Food And Beverage.
Captain Jobs You Might Like
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Captain
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
12 Captain Resume Examples
Build a professional captain resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your captain resume.
 |
Kayla Simpson Captain |
 |
 |
Brittany Andrews Captain Experience Captain2017 - Present The Cross Country Group•Medford, MA
Water Vessel Captain2016 - 2017 FedEx•Bronxville, NY
Historian2014 - 2016 St. Stephen's Community House•Bronxville, NY
Skills Positive AttitudeHeavy InstrumentsEmergencyFederal AgenciesVessel MaintenanceCultural ResourcesSocial EventsProceduresChampionshipFood Preparation Education Master's Degree Criminal Justice2013 - 2014 Monroe College•Bronxville, NY Bachelor's Degree Criminal Justice2010 - 2013 Virginia Commonwealth University•Richmond, VA |
 |
Learn How To Write a Captain Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Captain resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Captain Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Captain Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Captain templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Captain resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Captain Demographics
Captain Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among Captains, 34.6% of them are women, while 65.4% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among Captains is White, which makes up 80.5% of all Captains.
- The most common foreign language among Captains is Spanish at 52.9%.
Find the best Captain job for you
Captain Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Captain Jobs - $98K and Up
- Work From Home Captain Jobs
- Entry Level Captain Jobs
- Part Time Captain Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Captain Jobs
Top Colleges for Captains
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, ME • Private
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
8. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
9. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
10. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
Find the best Captain job for you
Captain Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Captain Jobs - $98K and Up
- Work From Home Captain Jobs
- Entry Level Captain Jobs
- Part Time Captain Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Captain Jobs
Online Courses For Captain That You May Like
Learn Logistics, Supply Chain and Customer Service. 3 Courses in 1...
Learn the requirements and standards associated with OSHA and workplace safety. Safety best practices for the workplace...
Build a career in occupational health & safety. Learn the requirements of ISO 45001...
Top Skills For a Captain
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.0% of Captains listed Customer Service on their resume, but soft skills such as Customer-service skills and Hand-eye coordination are important as well.
Best States For a Captain
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Captain. The best states for people in this position are California, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona. Captains make the most in California with an average salary of $86,050. Whereas in Nevada and Oregon, they would average $84,172 and $82,267, respectively. While Captains would only make an average of $74,895 in Arizona, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Nevada
$84,172
Avg. Salary
2. Arizona
$74,895
Avg. Salary
3. California
$86,050
Avg. Salary
How Do Captain Rate Their Jobs?
Becoming a Captain FAQs
How long does it take to become a Captain?
It takes one year or less to become a captain. That is the time it takes to learn specific captain skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 4 to 6 years years to become a captain.