A job advertisement selling “A Life Less Ordinary” as a staff member on board Stena Line has attracted 1,700 applications.
he applications apply to posts which form part of a campaign to recruit 60 staff for the ferry company’s Irish Sea routes.
They were promoted online as part of the firm’s new campaign which sells the roles as having the ideal work/life balance.
This includes work patterns that offer 50% time-off for those who want to live and work on board the vessels for one or two-week shifts and then spend equal time off.
The positions available are part of the Onboard Sales and Services (OSS) team, with vacancies for service assistants and chefs.
The campaign was launched last month for those seeking a new career in 2022. Stena Line said it had hoped for a favourable response but said, “Even the most optimistic of predictions could not have expected it to be so over-subscribed”.
The company has now undertaken the initial stage of the selection process and, for the first-time, is hosting two Open Days for prospective candidates on Monday, February 14, where they will get a chance to meet members of Stena Line’s crews.
The Open Days are taking place in Belfast and Birkenhead with the latter being held onboard one of Stena Line’s newest ferries, Stena Edda, to give candidates “a chance to get a first-hand taste of life onboard on the Irish Sea”.
Stephen Bryden, Stena Line’s head of onboard sales and services, said: “I am astonished by the public’s response to the A Life Less Ordinary recruitment campaign. We have never received so many applications.
“It really goes to show how many people are attracted to a life at sea with a company like Stena Line. Now our HR team has the challenge of how to sort and interview so many applicants, but that is a nice challenge to have. Thank you to every single person that has applied to work with us.
Stena Line is the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, with the biggest fleet offering the widest choice of routes including, combined passenger and freight services from Belfast to Cairnryan and Liverpool, Dublin to Holyhead, and Rosslare to Fishguard routes, as well as a freight only route from Belfast to Heysham, a total of up to 238 weekly sailing options between Britain and Ireland. Stena Line also offers a direct service from Rosslare to Cherbourg with 12 crossings per week.
It is one of Europe’s leading ferry companies with 37 vessels and 18 routes in Northern Europe.
The company is family-owned and was founded in 1962. It is headquartered in Gothenburg. Stena Line is part of the Stena AB Group, which has 15,700 employees and an annual turnover of around 37 billion SEK.
