Interview prep

HR section
• What is the job description of 2EO
o Act as operator in the ECR
o Ensure the safe operation of the ships plant
o Maintain essential guest services
o Communicate with all departments to maintain ship wide situational
awareness
o HESS
o Wellbeing of team
• What is your daily role?
o record and log keeping, e.g. log book and oil record book
o safe operation of ships plant
o Monitoring of ships plant
o Planned maintenance
o Reporting of problems
• Why will I be good at 2EO, what value will I bring to the team?
o I believe in a shared workload and will always offer my assistance to
others who might need it which I feel will be a great asset to the
overall watch keeping team onboard and help to improve long term
performance.
o I pay close attention to detail and often look for ways to improve
anything I can be it small day to day things or by noticing safety
concerns.
o I feel as though I apply this by being good at communication and being
able to express my thoughts and opinions while being considerate of
others.
o I am a very open and approachable person and will always encourage
my team to speak up and providing them with reassurance and
confidence that I will listen and learn from what they are saying or
their concerns.
• History with the company?
o Been with the company nearly 3 years, I have been on QV as 3EO on
watch, HSE and covering the position of 2EO several times.
September 2020 I attended college and completed my 2EO ticket in
February.
• Why do you want to be a 2nd engineer?
o Added responsibility
o I feel like I have been having steady career progression as a 3EO and
have established a lot of skills and experience which I feel will be
beneficial to the bring to the role and I am ready for the next step to
progress my career within carnival UK
o I want to progress to a position where I can establish my self within the
company and have a more direct impact on the watch keeping team to
help improve the standards of the vessel. Feel as though I can be a
strong support and have a lot to bring to the engine and watch keeping
team as a senior watch keeper
o I feel as though I have a strong leadership style which I think will be
beneficial to the team.
o I have already established a strong base knowledge of the role by
stepping up on several occasions and I want to progress myself and
build upon this knowledge.

• What makes a good 2nd Engineer?

o Organised and well planned
o Neat and tidy in appearance and workspace
o Attention to detail in operations as well as ability to have an overview
on everything that is happening on the vessel.
o Good knowledge of ship systems and an ability to troubleshoot and
problem solve
o Communication skills both within the department and other
departments
o Ship wide awareness
o Calm, approachable and thoughtful of team members wellbeing
(culture essentials)

• Main priorities as a 2nd Engineer?

o Safe operation of the ships plant
o Safety systems and safety/emergency procedures
o Environmental restrictions/port or sea day for planning of jobs
o HESS compliance
o AMOS planning
o 1EO/work orders
o ECP considerations and limitations
o guest experience to be maintained at all times

• What challenges may you face as 2nd Engineer?

o Conflicting plans or restrictions with other departments
o Inexperienced watch teams or depleted teams
o Environmental constraints and compliance restrictions
o maintaining essential guest services
o safety considerations
 o increased workload
o time management

• When have I tried to implement changes and was there any resistance?
• When have you changed a senior officers mind?
o while having problems with the boiler, (there has been internal fires
recently due to excess fuel spray), the staff chief came down and
wanted to repeatedly try to fire the boiler to attempt to locate a fault, I
explained that I had a safety concern regarding the previous fires and
that I thought it would be a good idea to stop the investigation for a
short time and carry out a full inspection and clean of the furnace
before continuing, I expressed my concern in a respectable manor as
well as providing a recommendation and gave him all the information
from what had happened prior to this as he was not aware, he agreed
with me and we halted the investigation.
• Operational pause allows for development opportunities, utilising time to
train, share knowledge, further develop team skill sets with scenarios which
helps build confidence therefor empowering the team. We have been doing
this onboard by hosting informative presentations amongst the technical
department where each member is carrying out a presentation on a chosen
subject.
• What are your main development professional challenges?
o I am aware I have only been on QV and changing to a different vessel
would entail learning the new systems, team styles and ways of
working. this however would be a huge opportunity to broaden my
skill set and I would be able to learn from it and apply my self and
improve my knowledge.
• When have you dealt with a conflict on watch and how did you handle it?
o in early 2020 I had a new to company 2EO who I was on watch with,
he came from a cargo ship background where a junior officer would
never challenge or speak up to a more senior officer. There was a
number of incidents where safety was of a concern operationally and
potential for confrontation but throughout I respected him and
remained calm but also had to consider the safety of the vessel and
people onboard along with environmental concerns. I listened to his
opinion and tried to explain to him that I was not trying to overpower
him but was instead trying to help him learn and onboard we work as a
team. After numerous attempts to help him I deemed it was beginning
to become unsafe, I explained without improvement I would have to
speak up and reach out to the staff chief and express my concern which
I ultimately did.
• Have you ever brought about a positive change in the department? what was
the outcome?
o I created a database of isolation references for mainly new to ship
engineers but also for anyone to refer too. This was a guideline for
different isolations, what to consider and how to carry them out. This
has proven very useful as it has been used many times by new to ship
3EO’s and since starting it I have made everyone aware and the whole
team has worked to compile more references.

• Motorman communication example:

o we had a new to company motorman who was not using closed loop
communication and was not communicating through the team as he
was nervous. I took time to talk to him in a private place, I checked on
his wellbeing and offered to listen to any concerns or thoughts he may
have had.
o I explained to him what he was doing was not wrong as such and he
was not in trouble but it is not we do as per company standards, I
explained with clear examples and how he can improve while making
sure I was respecting him.
o The feedback I received from him by the end of my contract was that
he felt a lot more confident and empowered and his performance
coincided with this.
Technical section
• How do you ensure a safe watch?
o Toolbox talks
o situational awareness
o HESS checklists
o LOTO procedures
o referring to chief engineer standing orders
o Closed loop communications and thinking aloud/cross checking plans
within the team
o Dynamic risk assessments/think SHARK
o Ask questions
o raising manning state and closing ECR dependant upon situation
o Good pre-planning of jobs and time keeping to considering any
complications or conflicting jobs not to rush
• Have you ever been involved in a Main Engine Overhaul? What is involved?
o Yes I have from a watch keeping perspective:
o Planning isolation, lock out-tag out’s with 1EO
o Planning- time frame, how long engine will be off, what other plant we
have available etc, have to consider this while on watch
o Outside my watch keeping times I was going down and assisting the
overhaul and observing what was being done to learn.
o I was then involved with the testing and running in of the engine as a
watch keeper.
• Environmental Impacts on watch?
o Discharges- Bilge/GW/BW/Food waste/pools/incinerator
o Fuel grades (different fuel specs in different tanks etc) and AAQS
systems required
o Emissions
o Ballast water
o distance from shore OS 12/4nm, ECA (environmental compliance
area)
o oil record book entries, garbage book entries, AAQS log
o Record and managing of ECP locks, seals and portable pumps
o OWS equipment and operation, planning ahead if and when we need to
use OWS equipment
o Promoting a culture of environmental compliance, communicating
with the team to emphasise the importance and encourage them to
speak up with any concerns to help protect the environment.
• Maritime standards?
o Creating a fleet wide standard that every ship needs to aspire to
o Use of scoring systems for each part of the ship eg piping, paint,
insulation from 1-4 and what we can do to improve it
o QV currently 3.2
o Officers taking responsibility for compartments and actively trying to
improve them with a continuous assessment
• Give an example of a time you have been handed over a problem on watch
and what did you do to fix it?
o Previous watch were having several problems to deal with, one being
the operation of one of the boilers and the 3EO on watch was slightly
less experienced on this plant.
o We sat as a team after carrying out handover and explained we
understand there has been a large workload and asked them to explain
the situation with the boiler, what happened, the current state and what
has been done so far.
o I then offered to take over the job after fully understanding what was
going on. I asked the outgoing 3EO to come down with me to
physically show me what had happened and had been done not to
cause a potential safety concern.
o I then offered to take time to explain to them what to do so that I could
help develop their knowledge and help empower them.
o For this I explained what to do and took a step back to safely guide
them and allow them to carry out the job themselves to help build their
confidence.

• EVAP investigation - boiler running 100%, unable to establish good

production rate and need to reduce boiler load.
1. Is potable water pre-heat on the same system as the EVAP, if so change to
other system as this is taking potential heat for the EVAP.
2. Is the engine configuration as efficient as possible, could a different EVAP
be ran or engines changed over, is there an economiser on that engine?
3. ask 3EO to confirm that HT inlet to EVAP is fully open and check
temperature differential across the heater.
4. 3EO to check engine HT cooling valve is operating correctly, position
corresponds with indication as well as common HT cooling valve.
5. Can the BTT set point of the EVAP be reduced to reduce the heat demand
but still maintain production?
6. Is the steam valve in manual position or automatic?
7. Reduce seawater throughput of the EVAP to reduce the amount of heat
required for production, rate may drop but this will be more efficient and
can be made up by RO plant.
• Emergency response plans
o SBAR
o Inform bridge
o Engineers call
o Hi-Fog
o Consider limitations
Video questions

Adaptable

EXAMPLE : Most importantly working as 2EO at short notice.

Adjusting to different roles as 3EO watch and then HSE which is a
change of mindset to a managerial role c

Communication

EXAMPLE : Currently watch keepers are carrying out weekly

presentations onboard to all watch keeping team where we have a
chosen subject to discuss to inform the rest of the team about

Problem solving

EXAMPLE : Chief asked me to investigate a long term problem

with an evap where we had high conductivity and kept filling up.
I Applied a logical process where I broke down the system into
different possible causes referring to manuals
I Recorded all of my actions which have been carried out for
future reference and reports

Decisive
EXAMPLE : HT failure on common system, very big isolation to
be carried out, I called in extra help which at the time was 2
inexperienced 3EO’s which I took charge and guided them
through the situation and what to do.

Composure
EXAMPLE : While working as 2EO during a critical manoeuvring
out of southampton we had a failure of pressure for the main
engine LT cooling system, I remained calm and assessed the
situation such that I could provide information to the bridge
regarding manoeuvring limitations as to not compromise the
safety of the vessel as well informing the CE, I calmly called in
for extra help and provided suggestions for investigation.
notes

How did you deal with situation?

SBAR
EMR checklists
Chief standing orders
HESS procedures
Resources?
Call for extra manning
Raise manning level, close ECR
Steam uses?
HFO tank and trace heating swap over to MGO,
guest experience (hot water, laundry, galleys, sanitation),
fresh water production

Culture essentials

Speak up
Improve
Respect and protect
Communicate
Listen and learn
Empower

CUK Business goals

Cash management - finances

Compliance and culture - HESS, wellbeing
Environmental, social and governance
Return to service
ACTUAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ( HR in RED) (14
- 27 was technical questions)
1. Talk us through your career to date?
1. Joined the company as 3EO in september 2018 on QV, Since
then I have carried out 6 contracts on QV where I have worked
as 3EO, HSE, ERM and 2EO.
2. In september 2020 I attended college to obtain my 2EO ticket
where I passed everything first time by february 2021.
3. Long term career aspirations, go back to college to obtain CE
ticket to allow for strong progression through the company and
would ultimately like to work through all of the ranks onboard
and establish a long serving career with carnival UK
2. How have you found the lay-up period/operational pause?
1. I’m fully aware that it has been a challenge for every crew
member and employees in the office due to all the changes but
with the changes came opportunities.
2. We have all had to adapt for the company to survive and for me
this meant looking after the vessel and maintaining the high
standards of work onboard in order to consider cost saving but
also not to compromise the safety onboard due to minimum
manning.
3. For me personally this allowed me to step up and cover the
position of 2EO on occasions, it allowed for more time to focus
on team members and carry out training. Currently I have been
working as 3EO on day work, working closely with the 1EO
carrying out maintenance and a lot of planning, including dry
dock specifications but this hands on experience most
importantly gave me lots of safety training, a new perspective
on jobs and time considerations.
3. What appeals to you about the role of 2EO?
1. I feel like I have been having steady career progression as a
3EO and I know I want to keep the momentum going. I have
established a lot of skills and experience which I feel will be
beneficial to the bring to the role and I am ready for the next
step to progress my career within carnival UK
2. I want to progress to a position where I can establish my self
further within the company and have a more direct impact on
the watch keeping team to help improve the standards of the
vessel. Feel as though I can be a strong support because of my
knowledge and experience and have a lot to bring to the engine
and watch keeping team as a senior watch keeper because of
my attitude towards the job.
3. I have already established a strong base knowledge of the role
by stepping up on several occasions and I want to progress
myself and build upon this knowledge.
4. Tell us about the role?
1. Act as operator in the ECR
2. Ensure the safe operation of the ships plant
3. Maintain essential guest services
4. Communicate with all departments to maintain ship wide
situational awareness
5. HESS
6. Wellbeing of team
7. Planned maintenance
5. and what are the challenges?
1. Conflicting plans in terms of planned jobs or restrictions with
other departments, example working on water systems during
night times
2. Inexperienced watch teams or depleted teams
3. Environmental constraints and compliance restrictions to take
into consideration at all times
4. maintaining essential guest services
5. safety considerations of jobs and emergency responses
6. increased workload being able to deal with stress
7. time management, cost considerations, limited parts
8. Following planned maintenance schedules
9. being able to adapt to short notice changes
6. Why do you feel ready for promotion?
1. I thrive in improving my self and learning new skill sets and
would take great pride in moving up through the company.
2. I am looking for the next challenge in my career and have been
preparing my self for some time now by shadowing and
stepping up.
3. I believe in a shared workload and will always offer my
assistance to others who might need it which I feel will be a
great asset to have as a 2EO which would help to improve long
term performance.
4. I am a very open and approachable person and will always
encourage my team to speak up and providing them with
reassurance and confidence that I will listen and learn from
what they are saying or their concerns which I think is very
important for a managerial position.
7. If we asked your manager what your main development area
would be, what do you think they would say?
1. I am fully aware that I have only been on QV therefore if I was
to change vessel then I would have to learn a completely new
operating system, ship and adapt to a different style of team.
2. I would do this by applying my self to the role and learning the
vessel, asking plenty of questions, making notes and shadowing
3. During my time stepping up I only had a small experience of
manoeuvring due to operational pause so I would like to
improve on this
4. I would do this by shadowing in my spare time and carrying out
touch drills and scenario training.
8. How will you support your self in this area?
1. I would do this by applying my self to the role and learning the
vessel, asking plenty of questions, making notes and shadowing
2. I would do this by speaking up and expressing my interest to
improve my skills and by listening and learning from other
team members in my spare time and carrying out touch drills
and scenario training.
9. What do you believe are priorities as a watch keeper?
1. safety of the vessel and everyone onboard crew and guests
2. Environmental compliance
3. Maintain a high standard of guest experience by not
interrupting any guest essential services
4. Planning and carrying out planned maintenance
 5. Monitoring of equipment, noticing trends and looking for any
potential problems before arise.
6. Looking for ways to improve efficiency of the vessel as in
plant, personnel and safety.
10. What equipment will take highest priority?
1. Propulsion,
2. power generation
3. Boilers (hot water, laundry, galleys)
4. Fresh water production and distribution plant
5. Sewage processing
6. ECP equipment
11. How will you organise and plan your watch?
1. I always plan 1 to 2 watches in advance and always aware what
planned maintenance I have coming up so I can plan for spares
etc.
2. Be fully aware of the navigational plan of the vessel, where we
are, if we are in port etc.
3. Allow time considerations for unplanned events/emergencies
4. At the beginning of every watch I will carry out an open
discussion with the entire team, a toolbox talk, make sure
everyone is happy with the desired outcome of the watch and
allow them to discuss and express any concerns they may have.
12. How will you manage your watch keeping team?
1. By setting specific and measurable goals for the team where
everyone understands their role and contribution within the
team working towards a shared outcome.
2. I will always remain open and approachable and will always
encourage my team to speak up and always providing them
with reassurance and confidence that I will listen and learn from
what they are saying or their concerns.
13. Who will you be communicating with?
1. My team, other watch keeping members and other members of
the technical department (ETO’s, plumbers etc)
2. Senior technical officers
3. Deck department and senior deck officers
4. Hotel departments, guest services
14. you are 2EO, a fitter comes in ECR saying he is preparing to
work on an engine, 1EO has told them to replace a fuel pump,
what do you do?
1. Tell the fitter to stop and explain that the engine is not yet
isolated, ask him to relay back what I am saying so that I know
he understands. Explain that he done the right thing by
contacting and checking with the ECR to encourage this
behaviour and give him a sense of empowerment.
2. Contact 1EO and ask him what his plan is, can also check
worklist, and confirm what is required from the watchkeepers
and explain your intentions.
3. Call 3EO to ECR for toolbox talk, ensure he knows fully what
is required of the team, discuss the isolation plan ensuring it
complies with HESS requirements of LOTO, locks and proving
removal of potential energy source and encourage him to speak
up if he has any doubts.
4. Inform SCE/CE and bridge that 1 DG is going to be unavailable
with basic info on the job being carried out.
5. Maintain communication with 3EO throughout the isolation
updating him on confirmed pressure drops on the system and
when reading 0 pressure.
6. Report to 1EO that engine is ready for work to be carried out
once LOTO procedure complete and sheet available.
7. Fill in log book, update situation board and current isolations.
15. Why is planned maintenance so important?
1. Planned maintenance is important as it allows for pre-emptive
maintenance which allows the machinery and plant to operate
correctly and efficiently and reduces the risk of unexpected
breakdowns which could consequently lead to expensive repairs
and downtime of systems.
16. How does AMOS help with planned maintenance?
1. AMOS allows for good planning of maintenance jobs by clearly
indicating what jobs are required to be done on which days.
2. It also contain instructions and guidance notes on how to carry
out jobs as well as previous history information which may
highlight any key areas of concern.
3. Parts for certain jobs can also be found with the job details
allowing for good pre-planning.
4. Records are easily accessible of maintenance previously carried
out.
17. as 2EO how will you be using the planned maintenance system?
1. looking ahead to see what jobs are coming up, what parts are
required for the job which allows for good planning
2. pre-planned toolbox talks and discussions based upon amos
instructions for the job.
3. Able to discuss with 1EO/SCE what jobs are coming up and
plan to harmonise jobs and plan regarding environmental
restrictions/port restrictions etc.
18. What is your understanding of SBAR?
1. Situation, background, assessment, recommendation
2. A tool used to inform an incoming officer on a situation such
that they have full situational awareness of the ship and plant,
for example to be used on calling out CE or to be used at a pre-
manouvering briefing.
19. When should it be used?
1. In an emergency call out
2. Pre-manouvering briefing
3. Change of charge
4. when calling in extra personnel when raising manning level,
e.g. ERM coming to yellow plus
5. Informing the bridge
20. Give me a situation when SBAR has been used?
1. During a 3AM handover we had an internal HT leak on the
engine, the leak was dealt with relatively quick but the engine
was unavailable.
2. CE was called and he came down and requested an SBAR I
provided info on the situation of what has happened, the
background prior to the event, an assessment of what is
currently happening and what could happen and a
recommendation of further actions.
21. What is your understanding of the purpose of preferential trips?
1. A preferential trip is a method of avoiding overload or blackout
by removing non-essential loads from the electrical switchboard
in a definite order over a specific time frame in order to
maintain supply to essential loads
22. Which items would you expect to see offloaded first if a
preferential trip is activated?
1. Firstly if propulsion is on then propulsion load will be
automatically limited before pref trips are activated.
2. If no propulsion or after limitation then:
3. 2 seconds: galley and laundry
 4. 7 seconds: AC units
5. 12 seconds: accommodation ventilation and substations

23. Fresh water evaporator production rate is low and the boiler is
constantly firing to maintain BTT, keep production rate high as
possible, what investigation would you carry out?
1. Firstly I would call 3EO to the ECR, explain the situation to
him what is going on and what is the desired outcome. We will
have an open discussion where I share my thought process and
ask him if he has any suggestions and listen to his contribution,
this will help him feel value within the team and empower him.
2. After listening to his suggestions we will compile a plan
together and I will encourage him to speak up if he notices
anything while investigating.
3. I will ask the 3EO to check if the HT feed valve is fully open on
the control panel as well as confirming local indication of
valve, if so open more.
4. I will check which engine room potable water pre-heat is on as
this may be draining heat from the HT circuit, ask 3EO to
confirm position matches with situation board.
5. I will also confirm position of engine HT recirculation valves
and set points and ask 3EO to confirm positions locally.
6. Ask 3EO to check temperature differential across the seawater
heat exchanger and compare this to previous notes, this is
carried out regularly as per AMOS. Also compare this to remote
readings. Could indicate poor heat transfer.
7. Is the engine configuration as efficient as possible, could a
different EVAP be ran or engines changed over, is there an
economiser on that engine?
8. Is the steam valve in manual position or automatic?
9. Carry out a full performance monitoring check and compare to
previous results.
24. after some time you find the feed heater is lacking heat transfer,
water ROB will continue to drop if boilers are not firing 100%
1. Short term: Call SCE and explain the situation that we are not
producing water as expected, I would suggest swapping over to
a different evaporator and running the most efficient engine
configuration to do so.
2. Longer term: Explaining our findings, including results to the
1EO and explain the poor performance of the heat exchanger,
prove which side is lacking heat exchange and suggest chemical
cleaning.
 3. Carry out performance monitoring after to confirm that the
cleaning has worked.

25. How do you ensure safe working practices in your team and the
people you work with?
1. Correct handover procedure
2. Toolbox talks
3. situational awareness
4. HESS checklists
5. LOTO procedures
6. referring to chief engineer standing orders
7. Closed loop communications and thinking aloud/cross checking
plans within the team
8. Dynamic risk assessments/think SHARK
9. Ask questions
10.raising manning state and closing ECR dependant upon
situation
11.Good pre-planning of jobs and time keeping to considering any
complications or conflicting jobs not to rush
12.Carry out touch drills to practice emergency response
26. How does the temperature of the HT circulating water effect
EVAP performance? what costs are associated with this?
1. The system is designed such that the HT alone should provide
enough heat exchange through the plate heat exchanger for
sustainable fresh water production.
2. engine outlet temperature set point is 84’C and BTT is generally
around 75’C. If HT alone is not sufficient then steam may be
used as a booster unit to raise the temperature to desired BTT.
3. Temperature range is generally dependent upon engine load,
must be able to consider is it more efficient to have multiple
engines on the same circuit.
4. If the boiler is having to fire constantly at high load to maintain
BTT temperature it must be considered the cost of the fuel
consumption, if this is the case it might be a cheaper alternative
to bunker the fresh water.
27. Explain the purpose of maritime standards, how did you use the
heat map on your previous vessel?
1. Maritime standards is used to continuously monitor and
progress the husbandry and condition of the vessel and highlight
areas that require improvement.
2. On QV each watch keeping team and responsible officer was
allocated a compartment and every month we would carry out a
husbandry assessment of the compartment checking the likes of
 paint condition, piping, lighting, bilge wells etc and grading
each one on a scoring system 1-4 and indicating key points for
improvement.
3. QV overall maritime standards score currently 3.2

BELOW IS NEW CULTURE ESSENTIAL HR QUESTIONS, might

not be the right wording but more or less

28. Please tell me a time when you had to persuade someone to your
point of view? ( COMMUNICATION)
1. we had a new to company motorman who was not properly
using closed loop communication and was not communicating
through the team as he was clearly nervous. I took time to talk
to him in a private place, I checked on his wellbeing and offered
to listen to any concerns or thoughts he may have had.
2. I explained to him what he was doing was not wrong as such
and he was not in trouble but it is not we do as per company
standards, I explained with clear examples and how he can
improve while making sure I was respecting him.
3. The feedback I received from him by the end of my contract
was that he felt a lot more confident and empowered and his
performance coincided with this. He even recently received a
HESS hero award because of his confidence and service.

29.Tell me about a time when you have challenged someone who was
working unsafely? (SPEAK UP)
1. there has been a couple incidents of small internal fires within
one of the boilers onboard recently due to excess fuel spray.
2. a 3EO came down after I had been working on one of the
boilers in the morning, I had been called to assist elsewhere and
I heard on the radio that he wanted to repeatedly try to fire the
boiler to attempt to locate a separate fault even though it had not
been deemed safe to work on yet.
3. I went over and stopped him and explained that I had a safety
concern regarding the previous fires and that I thought it would
be a good idea to not carry out the investigation for a short time
until we could carry out a full inspection and clean of the
furnace before continuing, I expressed my concern in a
respectable manor as well as providing a recommendation and
gave him all the information from what had happened prior to
this to ensure he was fully aware, he agreed with me and we
halted the testing.
 4. The challenge I faced in this situation was that the other 3EO
had been requested from his 2EO to carry out this investigation
so we went up together and I explained the situation and
background to the 2EO and that I did not consider it safe to do
so.
5. I offered him suggestions and we all decided together to
postpone the testing until it had been deemed safe to do so.
6. The problem outlined here was a communication breakdown
between the watch keeping teams.

30. Tell us about a time when you could not deliver what you were
asked? (EMPOWER)
1. What was the situation? I was assigned to investigate an
compile a report of ongoing problem we had been having with
one of the boilers onboard by the SCE, this had been ongoing
for a few days along side various other workloads and watch
keeping duties and I was finding it very hard to have time to
investigate. This however was time constricting as a report had
to be compiled come the end of the weekend to send away on
the monday.
2. it was getting to a point where I was becoming overwhelmed
with workload and did not have time to compile my report.
3. Once I realised this I expressed my concern to my line manager
the 1EO and asked if my other duties could be evenly shared
amongst the team so that I could have time to focus on my
assignment
4. A newly qualified 3EO was assigned with me so I began
coaching him on my other duties so that he could carry them out
while I focussed on my report, this was a new skill for him
which gave him a sense of empowerment.

31. Tell me about a time when you identified and implemented

improvements or efficiencies within your section? (IMPROVE)
1. I created a ship specific database of isolation references for
mainly new to ship engineers but also for anyone to refer too.
2. This was a guideline for different isolations, what to consider,
how to carry them out, location of valves etc. This has proven
very useful as it has been used many times by new to ship
3EO’s and since starting it I have made everyone aware and the
whole team has worked to compile more references.
3. how did you identify the need for improvement? When I first
joined there seemed to be different people isolating things
differently and I thought it would be safer to provide a guideline
 and base standard for isolations so that everyone was following
the same procedures.
4. How did you approach the situation? I approached all of the
3EO’s and explained my intentions and the benefits which
would come from this, I listened and learned from their input
and explained what i was going to do and made sure we all
communicated as a collaborative team with equal input to
improve as a team.
5. What challenges did I face? Some peoples opinions were
sometimes different so this required evidence to be shown and
equal understanding through the team by means of researching
manuals etc and further learning systems.
6. How effective was the improvement? Feedback I have received
from new 3EO’s and cadets is that it is very useful for training
purposes and to crosscheck with any doubt, this is because there
is not always others around to help so it also provided them with
a sense of confidence.
7. What lessons did you learn? That it is better to have a
collaborative knowledge input from all the team when
discussing ideas as there was times where I was provided with
information I did not know otherwise.

32. Describe a time when you had a number of conflicting demands

on your time and how you dealt with this? (LISTEN AND
LEARN? maybe)
1. While on watch we had a major HT leak along with other
several problems alongside watch keeping duties.
2. How did you decide what was important? I decided that the
safety of the vessel and the operation of the power generation
was most important so me and the 2EO decided this was highest
priority.
3. How did you feel? a sense of stress but also very focussed on
what needed to be done, referring to training and touch drills.
4. How did you deal with this? I spoke up and explained to the
2EO that I was beginning to become overwhelmed and that we
needed to call in for extra help.
5. What planning tools did you use? I had to prioritise what needed
to be done in terms of safety first and then deemed what could
wait until the rest of the problems were under control.

33. Please explain how the role of 2EO affects environmental

compliance? (RESPECT AND PROTECT)
 1. the 2EO plays a vitally important role in ensuring environmental
compliance this is because as a team leader I am setting an
example to the rest of the team in terms of mindset and
consideration towards the environment.
2. I am also responsible for the safe operation of the plant within
environmental regulations
3. Why is it important? it is important because I am setting an
example to the team and I ultimately hold the responsibility of
the watch, therefore it is my responsibility to ensure my team is
always fully aware of correct actions
4. Do you think we could do more?

NOTE: at the end HR said the culture essential questions are to be

structured in such a way that they provide:

BACKGROUND (explain what lead up to it, what was going on etc so

paint the picture and why things were the way they were),

SITUATION (explain the situation and how it links to the example,

explain as much of the situation as possible)

HOW YOU WENT ABOUT DOING WHAY YOU DID (how you
spoke to someone, how you handled the situation, what you said, how
you said it etc, what you were thinking at the time)

OUTCOME (explain what happened at the end, was it positive, did you
get feedback, was the situation sorted or ongoing etc)