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Job Definition
View MovieCommand ships to steer them into and out of harbors, estuaries, straits, and sounds, and on rivers, lakes, and bays. Must be licensed by U.S. Coast Guard with limitations indicating class and tonnage of vessels for which license is valid and route and waters that may be piloted.
Job Zone

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

A bachelor's degree is the minimum formal education required for these occupations. However, many also require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Interests
Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Knowledge
Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Skills
Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Tasks
Consult maps, charts, weather reports, and navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements.
Direct courses and speeds of ships, based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, water depths, tides, currents, and hazards.
Give directions to crew members who are steering ships.
Operate ship-to-shore radios to exchange information needed for ship operations.
Prevent ships under their navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations.
Provide assistance to vessels approaching or leaving seacoasts, navigating harbors, and docking and undocking.
Serve as a vessel's docking master upon arrival at a port and when at a berth.
Set ships' courses that avoid reefs, outlying shoals, and other hazards, utilizing navigational aids such as lighthouses and buoys.
Steer ships into and out of berths, or signal tugboat captains to berth and unberth ships.
Advise ships' masters on harbor rules and customs procedures.
Learn to operate new technology systems and procedures, through the use of instruction, simulators, and models.
Maintain and repair boats and equipment.
Maintain ship logs.
Oversee cargo storage on or below decks.
Provide assistance in maritime rescue operations.
Wages

In 2008, the California average annual wage was $56,870.00.

Most people employed in this occupation were paid between $25,060.00 and $90,920.00.

Outlook

During 2006, there were approximately 2,000 people employed in this field in California. It is projected that there will be 2,200 employed in 2016. This occupation will have about 20 openings due to growth and about 50 replacement openings for approximately 70 total annual openings. This occupation .

Colleges and Training
Below are college programs that are generally associated with this occupation. To view colleges that offer these programs, click on the titles below.
Marine Science/Merchant Marine Officer - A program that prepares individuals to serve as captains, executive officers, engineers and ranking mates on commercially licensed inland, coastal and ocean-going vessels. Includes instruction in maritime traditions and law; maritime policy; economics and management of commercial marine operations; basic naval architecture and engineering; shipboard power systems engineering; crew supervision; and administrative procedures.
Similar Occupations
Locomotive Engineers - Drive electric, diesel-electric, steam, or gas-turbine-electric locomotives to transport passengers or freight. Interpret train orders, electronic or manual signals, and railroad rules and regulations.
Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers - Drive switching or other locomotive or dinkey engines within railroad yard, industrial plant, quarry, construction project, or similar location.
Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters - Conductors coordinate activities of train crew on passenger or freight train. Coordinate activities of switch-engine crew within yard of railroad, industrial plant, or similar location. Yardmasters coordinate activities of workers engaged in railroad traffic operations, such as the makeup or breakup of trains, yard switching, and review train schedules and switching orders.
Ship and Boat Captains - Command vessels in oceans, bays, lakes, rivers, and coastal waters.
Mates- Ship, Boat, and Barge - Supervise and coordinate activities of crew aboard ships, boats, barges, or dredges.
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