How To Become A Third Mate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a third mate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a third mate. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.71 an hour? That's $61,803 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreThird MateUS Average

Salary

4.8

Avg. Salary $61,803

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.1

Growth Rate 1%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.08%

Asian 3.11%

Black or African American 6.64%

Hispanic or Latino 8.69%

Unknown 4.69%

White 75.79%

Gender

female 19.03%

male 80.97%

Age - 40.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40.5

Stress Level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.1

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

2.3

Work Life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a third mate

Explore third mate education requirements

Most common third mate degrees

Bachelor's

74.3 %

Associate

11.4 %

High School Diploma

6.9 %

Start to develop specific third mate skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Equipment	29.02%
USCG	7.75%
Hazardous Materials	7.09%
Mooring Lines	6.73%
PIC	6.72%

Complete relevant third mate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New third mates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a third mate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real third mate resumes.

Research third mate duties and responsibilities

Work closely with surveyors, clients and ROV supervisors to achieve safe and effective subsea operations.
Develop and implement procedures for LNG cargo transfer and ballast operations.
Trained/Mentore multiple junior officers in dynamic positioning, ballast control, and seamanship.
Develop and implement procedures for LNG cargo transfer and ballast operations.

Prepare your third mate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your third mate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a third mate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Third Mate Resume templates

Build a professional Third Mate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Third Mate resume.

Apply for third mate jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a third mate job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do third mates rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Third Mate reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

The things that i like the most as deck cadet are the adventure, learning, discipline, the sea, the sun, the moon, the satisfaction of the work done as well as the friendship and brotherhood on board.

Cons

What i do not like is the negligence.