Arlien Ken Cabrera – Social Media Content Writer

My name is Arlien Ken Cabrera, you can call me Ken (don’t bother trying to pronounce my first name). I am a graduate of the University of Cebu METC with a course in Maritime Transportation. I have been on board two ships – Technically three but one of my contracts was voided due to an office problem. I was transferred to another ship after two weeks of my repatriation. My first experience with my career was a domestic shipping line, here in the Philippines. Running from the North down to the south islands. My second (and technically third) is international.

I am a seafarer by profession. In my short time in the industry, I have been to a few notable cities/countries along the way – Venice (Italy), Istanbul (Turkey), Korea and Vancouver (Canada) to name a few (other than my own country). Countries that, in other circumstances, can only be dreamt upon to be visited one day – at least once in our lives. The largest – and dare I say ONLY good thing my career can, in reality, offer.

Even at the beginning of my career, all I have ever heard from my ‘predecessors’ are regrets and longing for more than what they have. Yes, the pay was good, but all that is meaningless if you do not have the time to even do anything at all. And true to what they said, I too experienced what they meant. That regret and longing for more than what it was. Even more so when I had a reality check back when I was in Peru. Having realised how hazardous and dangerous my current life actually was, 3 seconds and a snap was all it took. “There has to be more than this?” was my question to myself. No matter how much we (onboard the ship) gloss over the grim truth and reality of what our career truly was, we always wake up to the same monotonous and soul-draining routine. Each. And. Every. Day. To some, a generous 6 months. To others, a harrowing year or worse, even more.

I know for a fact that my field of study as well as my past experiences on board with my career is far from what is necessarily ‘needed’ in the field I am applying for. It’s a new world that I am stepping into, but doing so is a choice I am more than willing to make. To that end, I venture into new experiences in line with what I want for my life. Making time for what I want to do and learning new skills and discovering new talents along the way. With this application being the first.

For a copy of Arlien’s resume, please click here.