Monique Scholten - Training Manager at Alphatron Marine

What kind of work do you do?

In 1978, I enrolled at the maritime academy in Vlissingen, which was called the De Ruyter Maritime Institute at the time. I’d wanted to explore the world ever since I heard a wonderful story about Africa in elementary school. My grandfather had sailed as a stoker on a liner service to Indonesia, and my aunt was a hairdresser on the S.S. Rotterdam. Plenty of stories to pique my curiosity! When I was 16, I was allowed to go to Brazil as an au pair on a cruise ship. That’s when I was hooked. The sea, that sense of both calm and turmoil, the smell of the engine room and motor oil: wonderful.

That’s when the idea was born to become a captain on a sea tug, but that wasn’t possible back then. So I went to nautical school, at the boarding school that was part of it at the time. It was a special time of camaraderie, pushing boundaries, mandatory study hours, going out, and oh yes - you had to study too. That caused a bit of a delay for me… I did my internship at Shell Tankers, where we used the F-class ships to supply the east coast of South America with gasoline and jet fuel, sailing from Curaçao through the Panama Canal. After that, I spent years sailing on rickety chemical tankers, until I got married.

After I got married, I looked for a job onshore that somewhat matched my wishes. That turned out to be a work planner at a company specializing in fire detection and Halon fire suppression systems. That’s how I ended up on new-build drilling platforms and in factories — also much fun and varied. With two small children at home, I stopped working during the day and spent a few years teaching theoretical coastal navigation to ocean sailors in the evenings. But,  knowledge transfer is my thing, and this wasn’t satisfying enough. My boarding school classmate was by then working at STC (Shipping and Transport College), and I was able to start working there as a Marcom teacher. In between jobs, I earned my teaching certification — it was tough, but you get used to everything. It allowed me to teach a wider variety of classes. At the time, I found being a mentor very special. The little miracles I witnessed there were fantastic. I’m still in touch with a number of my former students: the teenagers of back then now hold high ranks on board. They’ve become responsible adults (in their work). After working as a teacher for about five years, I felt I couldn’t grow anymore; it no longer challenged me.

Then the opportunity arose to work at Alphatron Marine as an operational trainer, explaining the integrated bridge systems to clients. For over 10 years now, I’ve been conducting a wide variety of training sessions on board ships all over the world. These are often complex training sessions, especially when the ship is brand new and procedures need to be developed. In addition to this, I provide short training sessions on various equipment to my colleagues at the

What do you like most about your job?

Sharing knowledge is my thing - knowledge about “boat stuff,” as I like to call it. In everything you do, you have to realize that you don’t know what’s going on in someone else’s life. So first, see what’s going on. You can only earn respect if you value the other person too. Too many Europeans assume things based on their own perspective, without considering how things work in other parts of the world. So adapt a little, eat what they eat (if they even have food). In some countries, I need a “liaison”, and they become my right-hand person. It doesn’t work to walk in as a small white woman and immediately demand respect - that’s not going to happen. And if you ever fall flat on your face, literally or figuratively, just laugh at yourself. That breaks the ice in a flash.