{"id":14588,"date":"2018-05-07T09:35:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T09:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/?p=14588"},"modified":"2023-08-07T14:27:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T12:27:01","slug":"life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"Life After Ships: How Stephanie Built Her Career At Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Describing herself as \u201cbright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and seeking adventure\u201d, Recruiter, Stephanie Thomas signed up for the University of Cape Town<\/a> Human Resource Management online short course <\/a>while working as a Youth Activities Counsellor onboard a Disney Cruise Liner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith only my cell phone to work on, and relatively dodgy WiFi, I watched the video lectures, read the course material and completed the assignments, and in November 2016 I was recognised as a Notable Achiever by Getsmarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years on, and Thomas is now working as a Recruiter at Africa’s leading safari company Rhino Africa<\/a>, and planning on taking the UCT Advanced Human Resource Management online short course<\/a> next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with people<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n
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Growing up in Cape Town, Thomas describes how her greatest dream was always to travel the world to meet a diverse amount of people and immerse herself in unique cultures. After studying a Bachelor of Social Work degree from UCT, she went on to gain four contracts worth of international experience in the travel industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy experience on a Crew Advisory and Support Team is where my passion for HR sparked. I love working with diverse groups of people, learning from them, engaging with them, and seeing them succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing the UCT HR online short course, Thomas began her pursuit of a career in the HR field, which is where Rhino Africa came in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI decided to return home to gain experience in the HR industry and apply what I learnt in the course. I began as a Junior Recruiter in July 2017, and now midway through my first year, I’m hoping to sign up for the Advanced HR course to broaden my skill set and apply what I have learnt in the workplace because the only way is up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeking continual improvement<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n
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Through her experience, while working overseas and in recruitment, Thomas has recognised the need for employees to continually improve themselves if they want to further their career path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnboard Disney Cruise Line, I recognised the need for crew members to have a solid support structure within the company to keep them engaged. Working at Rhino Africa in a relatively small and young HR\/Recruitment team has allowed me to play a pivotal role in continually updating and improving on current HR\/Recruitment processes and systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to online learning, Thomas says it offers the opportunity to learn continually, while networking with fellow working professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world is constantly changing and evolving – the more we learn the more we grow. The latest HR trends and best practices are always on my radar. Working for a company at the forefront of travel and technology has inspired me to continually seek to innovate and learn as much from each unique opportunity I am afforded. I encourage anyone wanting to enter the HR industry to do the same – never stop asking questions!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Habits to succeed<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Thomas has developed the attitude that every decision you make in your career is likely to have a knock-on effect. As someone who used to work grueling hours with minimal breaks, she appreciates having had that time to develop good habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery career decision I have made thus far has gotten me to where I am and I couldn’t be happier with the path I am following. The most pivotal decision, however, was definitely joining Disney Cruise Lines. Working 10-14 hour days, seven days a week for up to 6-months (while meeting people from all over the world and hopping from country to country), forces you to learn a lot about yourself, fast! It also helped me find my true passion – HR.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas\u2019 top three tips for success:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Organise everything – I use a detailed desk calendar to ensure I stay on track with all my tasks and objectives and key results (OKR)s.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Stay active – I’m an avid hockey player and definitely need sports to de-stress.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Use every opportunity as a learning opportunity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n
    Are you ready to turn your passion into a career?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

    Find the online short course that suits your life goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    BROWSE SHORT COURSES<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Studying online short courses while working at sea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":17411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[127,123],"article-format":[],"class_list":["post-14588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice","tag-career-advice","tag-talent-management"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLife After Ships: How Stephanie Built Her Career At Sea - GetSmarter Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"GetSmarter past student, Stephanie Thomas built her career by studying a UCT online short course while working as a Cruiseliner Youth Activities Counsellor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life After Ships: How Stephanie Built Her Career At Sea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GetSmarter past student, Stephanie Thomas built her career by studying a UCT online short course while working as a Cruiseliner Youth Activities Counsellor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GetSmarter Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-07T09:35:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-07T12:27:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/LIFE-AFTER-SHIPS-HOW-STEPHANIE-BUILT-HER-CAREER-AT-SEA-mobile-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shameel Mohanlal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GetSmarter Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shameel Mohanlal\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/527df7e5676f2bfa7c943e1653764bff\"},\"headline\":\"Life After Ships: How Stephanie Built Her Career At Sea\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-07T09:35:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-07T12:27:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":694,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/LIFE-AFTER-SHIPS-HOW-STEPHANIE-BUILT-HER-CAREER-AT-SEA-mobile-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Career advice\",\"Talent management\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career Advice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/LIFE-AFTER-SHIPS-HOW-STEPHANIE-BUILT-HER-CAREER-AT-SEA-mobile-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/LIFE-AFTER-SHIPS-HOW-STEPHANIE-BUILT-HER-CAREER-AT-SEA-mobile-1.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\\\/life-after-ships-how-stephanie-built-her-career-at-sea\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getsmarter.com\\\/blog\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Life After Ships: How Stephanie Built Her Career At Sea - 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