Advanced Pre-Employment Screening of
Seafarers
ETC – 2014 – Odessa
Henrik Jensen
Danica Crewing Services
The Speaker
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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, HR-Marine Group Director.
Causes for loss at sea
20
Technical
Human
80
IMO’s 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
5
Regulatory Regime
Technical
STCW
ISM-code
ILO
TMSA
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 letter
DPA/Safety Director:
remove the root
All bridge staff ignored
Managing Director:
course?
the Minimum-WaterHow could this
Under-Keel alarm
happen?
It is impossible! We
have procedures for
minimum under keel
clearance
Will training remove
the root course?
Good! Well done. I am
No. To remove the
sorry that you again have root cause the crew
to waste our time to cope onboard should be
with the idiots we have
with a proper
onboard
behaviour and
personality.
Yes. We have. I already sent a
circular letter to the entire
fleet underlining that they
should follow that procedure
Crewing Manager:
I have booked ECDIS
refreshment courses for all
our Masters
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
accountability
Define
personality and
competence
requirements
Screening for
suitability
Personality and Competences Elements
• Behaviour is the will and ability to act, which is
adjusted and tailored to a given situation and
surroundings
• Successful behaviour demands reflection
• Skills represent the
ability to perform an act
in reality
• Skills are the result of
persistent training
• Knowledge is information transferred
to people via ears and eyes
Behaviour
Competences
• Knowledge
is of value when put into
- Possible
to develop
Skills
Knowledge
Talent
Personal
Characteristics
It is how easy we can do something,
pick-up new things. Intelligence,
ability.
practice through effective skills and
relevant 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:
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Personal characteristics
Talent
Skills
Knowledge
Behaviour
For top-positions: The requirements should also
consider the company’s 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
make the right decisions when under stress and
we do
to define and
not want to employ psychopaths…
check, but very
important
Reducing Crewing Risk
Define tasks
and
accountabilities
Define
personality and
competence
requirements
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
Personality
Talent
Knowledge
Skills
Behaviour
References
Experience record
Carrier path
Practical courses
Theoretical courses
Qualifications
Level of education/marks
Interview
Appearance
Knowledge tests
IQ-tests
Psychometric tests
Simulator tests
Screening methods / tools
Personality
Talent
Knowledge
Skills
Behaviour
References
• 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
Personality
Talent
Knowledge
Skills
Behaviour
Experience record
Carrier path
Practical courses
Theoretical courses
Qualifications
Level of education/marks
• Easy to check – administrative task
• Maps skills and knowledge and also to some
degree the candidate’s talent
• Can be done by less-experienced recruitment
staff.
Screening methods / tools
Personality
Talent
Knowledge
Skills
Behaviour
Interview
Appearance
• Most companies do interviews but the interview
is only about checking the candidate’s 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
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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
Personality
Talent
Knowledge
Skills
Behaviour
Knowledge tests
IQ-tests
Psychometric tests
Simulator tests
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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
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Normally multi-choice tests are easy to handle/evaluate
Most common one Seagull’s “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 candidate’s native language then the result will show a
combination of the candidate’s 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:
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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:
25641 26451 12654 51462 15264
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 candidate’s:
• Behaviour, talent and personal characteristics
• Potential for development
• Ability to adopt to changes
• Leadership
• Most tests are available online
• Test must be in the candidate’s 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 candidate’s 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 operators and
trained observations = valuable selection tool.
Psychometric Assessment Centre
• A full day session including
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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
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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