How To Become A Purser: What It Is and Career Path

What is a purser and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a purser. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.03 an hour? That's $39,585 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 21% and produce 22,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePurserUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,585

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 21%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 9.78%

Black or African American 8.93%

Hispanic or Latino 15.64%

Unknown 7.11%

White 58.30%

Gender

female 52.84%

male 47.16%

Age - 51.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51.5

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.2

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a purser

Explore purser education requirements

Most common purser degrees

Bachelor's

63.6 %

Associate

17.3 %

High School Diploma

7.3 %

Start to develop specific purser skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Procedures	31.52%
Customer Service	26.80%
Front Desk	14.58%
Crew Payroll	7.95%
Guest Service	6.14%

Complete relevant purser training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New pursers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a purser based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real purser resumes.

Research purser duties and responsibilities

Confer with shipboard and shore side management to ensure passenger berthing and over all enjoyment.
Devise and implement specific solutions for sea cloud boutique shop, inventories order, supplies and maintain the crew clothing locker.
Assist in the implementation of safety and quality management program.
Assist physically challenge passengers as appropriate; provide life-saving assistance to ill or incapacitate passengers, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation if require.

Prepare your purser resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your purser resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a purser resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable purser resume templates

Build a professional purser resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your purser resume.