Advanced Pre-Employment

Screening of Seafarers
ETC 2014 Odessa
Henrik Jensen
Danica Crewing Services

The Speaker

Henrik Jensen
Owner of Danica Crewing Services
Command experience
Studied organization and HR
management at a business school in
Denmark
Crewing Manager, Safety Director,
Managing Director in ship
management/owning companies, HRMarine Group Director.

Causes for loss at sea

20
Technical
Human
80

IMOs homepage, human element, top

text:
The safety and security of life at sea,
protection of the marine environment
and over 90% of the world's trade
depends on the professionalism and
competence of seafarers

Regulatory Regime
Causes for loss at sea

20
80

Technical
Human
Regulatory Regime

STCW
ISMcode
ILO
TMSA

Technical
Human
95

Safety Management
1998: 80% human / 20% technical
ISM-Code implemented in 1998 -2002
ISM risk management approach added
around 2010
Most ISM Safety Manuals are 80% technical
and reporting and 20% about human resources
The industry has spent huge resources on
composing procedures, copying, updating,
auditing and training
2012: 80% human / 20% technical.

A case
03:25 The tanker Golden Hope went aground
The vessel is fully ECDIS equipped and all systems fully functional
08:30 Meeting in the office:
Will the circular DPA/Safety Director:
letter remove the
All bridge staff
root course?
ignored the
Managing Director:
Minimum-WaterHow could this happen?
Under-Keel alarm
It is impossible! We have Will training
procedures for minimum
remove the root
under keel clearance
course?

Yes. We have. I already

sent a circular letter to
the entire fleet
underlining that they
should follow that
procedure

Crewing Manager:
No. To remove the
Good! Well done. I am sorry
I have booked ECDIS
root cause the
that you again have to waste
refreshment courses for
crew onboard
our time to cope with the idiots
all our Masters
should be with a
we have onboard
proper behaviour
and personality.

Risk Management
As we did not really achieve what we wanted with the
ISM we added the magic words
Risk management
New procedures
Risk assessments
Reporting, training, audits
Oil Majors defined good practices (requirements) in the
TMSA guidance.
Again: most of the procedures are dealing with technical
and operational risks. How many have a formal risk
assessment of crewing risks in place?

Crewing Risk Management

What do most shipping companies do:
Job descriptions: Every shipping company is very
good at that minimum 3 pages for the captain
Qualifications: STCW demands minimum
required training/experience
Company requirements: Minimum years in rank
some ship specific equipment training
Cargo owners: Experience matrix
Medical fitness: ILO and P&I clubs have
requirements
Drug and alcohol policy.

Job descriptions
All shipping companies have detailed
lists of tasks each crew member is
accountable for
We are good organized
and we know who is to blame
when something goes wrong.

Requirements
Not many shipping companies define
what
Personality and
Competences
a crewmember should have to be able
to successfully perform the
task/accountabilities listed in the job
description
and even less companies screen the
candidates for their abilities

Reducing Crewing Risk

Define tasks
and
accountabilit
y

Define
personality
and
competence
requirement
s

Screening
for
suitability

Personality and Competences Elements

Skills represent the
ability to perform
an act in reality
Skills are the result
of persistent
training

Behaviour
Skills
Talent

It is how easy we can do

something, pick-up new
things. Intelligence, ability.

Behaviour is the will and ability to act,

which is adjusted and tailored to a given
situation and surroundings
Successful behaviour demands
reflection
Knowledge is information
transferred to people via ears
and eyes

Competences
Knowledge is of value when
- Possible
to
put into practice through
develop
effective skills and relevant

Knowled
ge
Personal
Characteristics

behaviour

Personality or
Individual
foundation
Difficult to
change

It is our attitude and ability

to understand a situation
Stress coping ability

Job Requirements
The requirements should be define for
each element for every (key) position:

Personal characteristics
Talent
Skills
Knowledge
Behaviour

For top-positions: The requirements

should also consider the companys vision
and mission.

Job Requirements - the easy

ones
Some of the job requirements are easy:
Skills and knowledge:
A fitter must be trained in welding,
have passed a class approved welding
course etc.
Such hard requirements are easy to
define and easy to check.
Relative easy
to define and
check

Job Requirements The

difficult ones

When we move to the soft requirements then it

becomes a little more difficult:
Behaviour
We want people with good social skills, team oriented
persons, people who are not afraid of taking leadership
Talent
We want people with a certain IQ and ability to
understand problems and pick-up new ways of doing
things
Personal Characteristics
We want people with good situation awareness,
able to
Not always
easy
to define
make the right decisions when under stress
and
we do
and check,
not want to employ psychopaths
but very
important

Reducing Crewing Risk

Define tasks
and
accountabilit
ies

Define
personality
and
competence
requirement
s

Screening
for
suitability

Screening for suitability

The purposes of the screening are
1) to collect as much information about
the candidate as possible
2) To match the information with the
job requirements
The screening will result in a prediction
of how the candidate will perform in
job environment
By using proper tools then the
uncertainty of the prediction can be
dramatically reduced.

Screening methods / tools

Screening methods / tools

Covers all elements

Must be more than just a confirmation
of employment
Need to ask the right questions to get
information about behaviour,
personality and talent
Recruiter/Caller must be
trained/experienced
Low costs.

Screening methods / tools

Easy to check administrative task

Maps skills and knowledge and also to
some degree the candidates talent
Can be done by less-experienced
recruitment staff.

Screening methods / tools

Most companies do interviews but the

interview is only about checking the
candidates knowledge
Done in the right way the interview can
reveal important information about
behaviour and personality
It is about being an observer
Need to be done by trained recruiters
who are sufficient mature.

Interview Techniques
It is about observing
Standard set of hidden questions to reveal the
candidates profile behaviour and personality
Checklist right after the interview to capture the
impressions

Nervousness vs Calmness
Organization vs Disorganization
Self-reliance or dependence
Objectivity vs Subjectivity
Humbleness vs Fear
Self confidence vs lack of self confidence
Approachable and open vs. taciturn and withdrawn.

Sobriety
Drinking habits are difficult to reveal, ask:
"Do you use alcohol?",
"How often?",
"How much each time?",
"What do you mostly drink?",
"In what situations do you drink?", "Alone?", "To
socialize?",
"When was the last time?
"What do you think constitutes a proper limit for a
weekly consumption?
An alcoholic or high consumer will never admit his
real consumption as he is aware that it is a no-go.

Screening methods / tools

Easy standardized way of mapping a candidate profile

Results are presented in a uniformed way
The correlation of tests used need to be proper documented
Tests used should be relevant to the position
Recruiters must understand how to read the tests.

Knowledge Tests

Normally multi-choice tests are easy to handle/evaluate

Most common one Seagulls CES-Test and Marlins English test
Multi-choice test are to be used carefully:
4 choices = 25 % / 5 choices = 20% chance to select the right answer
The questions have to be relevant
The question/case has to be presented properly
Wrong answers have to be plausible
A group of test persons without maritime knowledge scored 50% in
knowledge test used for examinations of mariners in the UK
If the test is not in the candidates native language then the result will show
a combination of the candidates knowledge of English and his professional
knowledge. This might be ok.
Candidates who are familiar with computers (computer games etc.) might
get a better score
The candidates abilities to see and hear
Noise, light etc. might disturb the candidate
Should always be followed-up with a discussion.

IQ-Tests
Questions to be answered within a short period of time
Purpose of the test is to check the candidates ability to solve problems
by combining his reading skills and visual understanding capabilities and
his knowledge and skills when under stress.
Examples:
The word, "mineral," can be spelled using only the letters found in the word, "parliament."
If Richard looks into a mirror and touches his left ear with his right hand, Richard's image
seems touch its right ear with its left hand.
What is the next number? 2, 4, 8, 16?
What is the next number? 2, 4, 8, 32, 40, 64, 128, 256, 1024? (1280)
Which one of the five choices makes the best comparison? PEACH is to HCAEP as 46251 is to:
2564126451126545146215264
Which larger shape would be made if the two sections are fitted together

IQ-Tests
A lot of tests around
Should not be multi-choice (yes/no
50%)
Many test favours candidates with
good mathematical skills but
questions should include text and
images
Should only be done using the
candidates native language
Candidate not to be disturbed during
the test.

Psychometric Tests
Map the candidates:
Behaviour, talent and personal
characteristics
Potential for development
Ability to adopt to changes
Leadership
Most tests are available online
Test must be in the candidates
native language or language neutral

Test Example

Test Example

Safety Awareness Tests

Test Requirements
Test must be intended for the general
level of the position
Test must be documented:
What does the result mean?
How should it be understood

Correlation: What is the probability

that the candidate in real life
performs as the test results
indicate?

Detailed Correlation

Detailed Correlation

Simulator tests
The candidates skills and knowledge
are tested in various scenarios created
in a simulator:
Bridge, engine room, cargo simulator etc.

Behaviour, Talent and Personal

characteristics?
Requires the simulator operators are
experienced in looking for such
elements
Selection is not the same as training
With proper scenarios, proper

Psychometric Assessment
Centre

A full day session including

IQ-test
Leadership and personality test
Situation awareness test
Stress coping test

Simulators are used

Interviews with a psychologist
Detailed reporting
Can also be used as a tool for development of
leadership etc.
Company specializing in this Marine-Profile
Used for cruise ships
Some oil majors accept this type of screening as an
alternative to the crew matrix requirements.

Some conclusions
Crewing risk management could be
better
Structured approach:
Define tasks and
accountabilities

Define personality
and competence
requirements

Screening for
suitability

Proper screening
Use tests to support the evaluation of the candidate
Off-the-shelves tests are cost-efficient but have shortcomings
Simulator tests used in the right way are efficient but expensive and
sometimes involve travel
Psychometric Assessment gives a high degree of screening but expensive and
also not always available and involves travel.
When the candidate's profile is know then pre-joining training (and later training)
can be tailor-made, more efficient and less expensive

Thanks