Quote Originally Posted by Tomj93
I have been reading throughout the forums and have noticed that there is quite a lot of unemployment and divorce with "deckies". Is it too much to ask for to find a good job as a mate out of a maritime academy, make a living, and have a family? So many people are recommending to go into the engineering field. So much, that I am starting to be hesitant into going to mass maritime and major in marine trans. I am willing to have a challenging career, but not an overwhelming one that guarantees a divorce and possibly unemployment. So, is it worth going mass maritime, and majoring in mArine trans, or, switch to possibly engineering.
First of all you are way too young to be thinking about marriage. I know I am echoing here, but a successful marriage is possible offshore. It all depends on the choices you make, how you treat each other and the right girl. This is my second marriage going on twelve years now. My first marriage I was home every night and it didn't make a difference. It was doomed from the beginning.

I agree that you should enjoy what you do, and I do enjoy calling an engineer to clean up a mess that I made. I would NEVER go into the engineering department.

Unemployment? I hear about people having this problem and I would like to comment on my experience with this. I have been working on vessels for 14 years now. If I wanted I could have worked 365 days of everyone of these years. That is including the UPS and downs. I work less now as a choice, but I could work more. Once you get a little experience you should never have a problem finding work as a deck officer.