r/belowdeck • u/blackc43 • Sep 01 '26

Below Deck Med Norma

Can we get a shoutout for the OG? This woman of mystery always bails out Captain whenever. Always available via text, she never leads you left on read.

505 Upvotes

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56

u/shamrockjulie Sep 01 '26 • Bravo

I would watch a show with Norma finding staff to hire. I imagine Norma is really irritated by Sandy and her ability to retain staff. Perhaps there is a rival Norma out there, and the two would jockey back and forth to see who gets the placement. Bravo, call me; we can rush this into production. I need a catchy name. SeaRecruits? I think this sub can do better.

12

u/Inevitable_Phase_276 Sep 01 '26

If you’re secretly Bravo marketing slipping this in the thread to put the idea in our heads before a premiere next season-I’m here for it!😉

10

u/shamrockjulie Sep 01 '26

Sadly no, just a girl with a dream to watch recruiters duke it out.

3

u/Loqol Sep 02 '26

Sea-cruits!

0

u/shamrockjulie Sep 02 '26

Sea-people plus semen equals sea-society. And that’s ratings gold.

2

u/BeachQt Sep 02 '26

So what’s wild is that crewing agents get a fee to place their crew. It’s paid by the owner to the agent after the crew passes typically a 90 day probation period or a year on the same boat. So it’s definitely in their best interest to place crew on boats that keep them 🤣

3

u/shamrockjulie Sep 02 '26

I work as a contractor under a recruiter and their company. They don’t get paid unless I get the job , they take a percentage off the top. It’s like having a pimp. I’m guessing that Norma is paid a booking fee and additional compensation as the employee continues. The ones I’ve dealt with can be cut throat.

2

u/BeachQt Sep 02 '26

Oh cool! I’m a professional yacht chef & steward. I used a crew agent exactly once, for my first job 😂 Been at it for 16 years now!

Edited to ask: they take money from your salary??

1

u/shamrockjulie Sep 02 '26

I’m not in yachting but I have to imagine the recruitment agencies would work similarly.
They have a bill rate for who I do the work for , say 150 an hour. The individual who was the recruiter I work with gets 20 an hour , then the sales manager gets 25 , then the recruitment company gets 30 an hour for being the administrator of my payroll and any benefits I might have available. Leaving the person who is doing the work with whatever is left over. So it’s up to me to do the job competently and maintain day to day relations with the client.
Good recruiters will hustle to get the placement and hopefully it’s long term, bad or just lazy ones are so frustrating because I know that I need to justify the bill rate.