Chapter 634 - 287: Recruiting Crew Members! (Part 4)

Whether it’s the ability for precise navigation, or the skills in operating and maintaining the ship, he is top-notch. He can promptly respond to the basic principles of the main components and equipment of a ship, as well as some fundamental malfunctions and emergencies.

Besides, the captain’s most important management and leadership skills, as well as communication and coordination abilities, are not a problem due to his strong personal charisma.

Therefore, what he needs to consider is the roles other than the captain.

Aside from the captain, the second-in-command on a ship is the first mate.

The first mate, in short, is the vice-captain of a ship. In terms of required skills, the first mate needs to be on par with the captain in all aspects, except for leadership abilities, where the demand is not as high. This is necessary to assist the captain in managing the ship well.

In extreme circumstances, the first mate may need to take over the captain’s duties.

For Li Younan, the position of first mate is extremely important because, although he possesses sailing skills, he has no real-world experience at sea.

It’s important to know that in any field, professional knowledge often doesn’t match with experience, and sometimes experience is more important than professional knowledge; this aspect of skill has not been imparted to him.

Thus, an experienced and reliable first mate is a key focus of Li Younan’s recruitment this time.

Generally speaking, a large ocean-going ship might have a second mate or even a third mate, but Li Younan’s plan is not to build such a large ship, so just one first mate will do.

The first mate is the second-in-command on a ship and also needs to have enough prestige. In "One Piece," typical first mates like Zoro, Marco, and Katakuri are all the most powerful beneath the captain.

Next, another important role is the chief engineer.

The chief engineer is the highest responsible officer for the engine department on a ship. For a ship, the most critical system is the propulsion system, and the operation and maintenance of the ship’s power, electrical, and mechanical core equipment all rely on the chief engineer.

Of course, with the electrical and sailing technology mastered by Li Younan, he can undoubtedly master this skill if he participates throughout the construction or modification of a ship.

However, a qualified chief engineer needs to constantly inspect and maintain the equipment, and if dedicated enough, deal with the ship’s fuel lubricants and the noisy engine room every day.

Li Younan certainly cannot handle this personally.

Therefore, having a chief engineer is essential, and the skills and professional knowledge Li Younan possesses can be the confidence needed when interviewing a first mate and chief engineer, ensuring he won’t be deceived by some unqualified person.

Apart from these two most important positions, in Li Younan’s vision, a steward and a service person are also needed.

After all, he is building a yacht, and no matter how it is ultimately built, a yacht signifies that it is entirely a living area. Since it’s a living area, someone is needed to manage it, and the income and expenditure of the whole ship need management as well.

Finally, there are two more positions: a chef and a bodyguard.

The role of a chef is self-explanatory. Although Li Younan is skilled in cooking, as a captain, he certainly cannot spend all his time in the kitchen.

It is important to know that on 318, he could manage cooking daily, but truly at sea, a chef must handle the meals for the entire team and also manage the whole galley’s freezer, planning for the replenishment of supplies, which is very time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Li Younan also cannot handle this personally, so an excellent sea chef is also necessary to recruit.

As for the bodyguard, it is not necessarily mandatory.

It’s just that Li Younan thought, if he ends up at sea, wherever the ship sails, it would sometimes be necessary to go ashore for a stroll or buy and replenish supplies, and there’s always a need for someone to carry the bags.

Having planned out these positions, Li Younan began creating recruitment information.

However, there are two positions that Li Younan did not put in the recruitment information. One is an editor specifically for Liu Li, responsible for video editing on the ship, and the other is a steward because the steward’s position still requires a trusted person for Li Younan to confidently entrust his financial affairs.

Subsequently, the recruitment information was officially released, aimed at recruiting a first mate, a chief engineer, a security officer and sailor, and a chef.

As for the service staff, Li Younan did not include them in the recruitment information either.

Service staff do not require technical skills, and hiring can wait until the ship is truly in place—perhaps they won’t even be hired.

After all, the initial recruitment of crew members also serves another purpose, which is to provide intellectual support for the upcoming shipbuilding, and these positions need to be involved in the shipbuilding plan in advance.

Just as expected by Li Younan, with his strong reputation backing him, as soon as he released the recruitment video, the registration platform was instantly flooded with thousands of applications.

This did indeed create some difficulty for Li Younan. Despite the conditions he had set, he couldn’t deter the enthusiasm of the applicants. Sorting through such a large number of submissions to select a few is quite troublesome, and on this issue, he was slightly at a loss.

The following task involves no particular skill; Li Younan needs to sift through thousands of submitted resumes one by one and determine the candidates for interviews.

However, Li Younan does not plan to interview for all positions simultaneously, as that would be too rushed.

First, Li Younan decided to interview for the chief engineer position.

Then he stayed in Chengdu, spending a few hours each day reviewing resumes, and finally shortlisted 10 out of over 100 candidates for the chief engineer interview and sent them interview notifications.

To be honest, Li Younan was always the one attending interviews before; this was his first time interviewing others, and thinking about it made him a little excited.

Li Younan scheduled the interviews for the next day.

These past few days, Jing Chaoyi hadn’t left but spent all day with Liu Li.

Conveniently, while Li Younan was busy, Liu Li and her could both have something to do.

And with the upcoming interviews, some assistant staff would be needed.

Since both of them were present, Li Younan unhesitatingly enlisted the two as free labor.