Also called: Nautical Science Instructor, Marine Engineering Instructor
Teaches future ship officers navigation, engine rooms and ship handling at a maritime college, on simulators and real training ships.
Mornings you teach cadets celestial navigation and collision rules; afternoons you run a bridge simulator where they steer a giant tanker into a foggy harbor. Each summer you sail with them for weeks on the academy's training ship, standing watch at 4 a.m. and grading how they handle the real thing.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's plus a U.S. Coast Guard officer license and years at sea; many have a master's.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Marine Transportation, Marine Engineering, Nautical Science.
Growing about average. Steady at the handful of US maritime academies; ship officer shortages help.
Low risk for 10 years. Simulators and online modules help, but teaching seamanship and sailing with cadets on a real ship stay human.
Classes: Physics, Trigonometry, Earth science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 25-1194.
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