Identifying Company Selection Criteria applied by Maritime Transportation Engineering Students for Career Planning

Increasing global trade volumes require more and more seafarers to be employed on ships. The reports by international organizations and institutions frequently indicate a shortage of onboard officers, as well as that this deficit will keep increasing gradually. Given all these international reports, businesses need to adopt strategies that will make seafaring more attractive to avoid future issues with the employment of competent seafarers. Such strategies would give them competitive advantage by attracting qualified officers to their ranks. This study aims to determine which criteria officers consider when choosing their future employers and the weight they attribute to individual criteria in making such decisions. The criteria were identified by brainstorming of study subjects (n=8) using the focus group method. The weight ratio of the criteria obtained through focus group and Delphi study results was calculated using the fuzzy AHP (FAHP) method (n=32), and the relevance of individual criteria for the selection decision determined. As a result of the research, 18 sub-criteria have been identified under the main criteria of "Operational factors", "Living conditions onboard", "Personal benefits" and "Personnel management policies" and their weight on the selection decision determined. The study contributed to the literature on identifying company selection criteria for officers. These criteria give businesses and international organizations a scientific perspective that will assist them in identifying new policies that will ensure the sustainability of the maritime profession and the employment of seafarers.