Customs and excise officer to shipping agent
A customs and excise officer already meets 32% of what the shipping agent role asks for. The move turns on 7 required skills not yet in the profile.
64.4/ 100
1 How much of what a shipping agent is expected to do is already part of a customs and excise officer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the shipping agent role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A shipping agent role treats 5 of its required skills as things a customs and excise officer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- control trade commercial documentation
- international import export regulations
- manage import export licenses
- provide advice to clients in terms of export restrictions
- provide advice to clients in terms of import restrictions
What stands in the way is 7 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 6 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A shipping agent role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a customs and excise officer background worth leading with.
- already held provide advice to clients in terms of export restrictions communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide advice to clients in terms of import restrictions communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held manage import export licenses information skills
- already held coordinate import transportation activities management skills
- already held control trade commercial documentation assisting and caring
- already held international import export regulations business, administration and law
All 6 carried skills, including the 5 the shipping agent role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn apply procedures to ensure cargo complies with customs regulations required
- still to learn ensure compliance with port regulations required
- still to learn comply with regulations related to export in different countries required
- still to learn liaise with port users required
- still to learn make bids in forward auctions required
- optional, not held book cargo optional
- optional, not held liaise with transportation services optional
- optional, not held create import-export commercial documentation optional
- still to learn keep up-to-date to current customs regulations required
- optional, not held analyse shipping rates optional
- optional, not held handle shipment paperwork optional
- optional, not held inspect freight optional
- optional, not held keep written records of cargo optional
- optional, not held observe freight shipment loaders optional
- optional, not held prepare bills of lading optional
- still to learn port regulation required
- optional, not held oversee arrival and departure of ships into port optional
- optional, not held coordinate export transportation activities optional
- optional, not held administer multi-modal logistics optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a shipping agent role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply procedures to ensure cargo complies with customs regulations practise this
- 02 ensure compliance with port regulations practise this
- 03 keep up-to-date to current customs regulations practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 6 skills that carry over
- already held control trade commercial documentation skill
- already held international import export regulations knowledge
- already held manage import export licenses skill
- already held provide advice to clients in terms of export restrictions skill
- already held provide advice to clients in terms of import restrictions skill
- already held coordinate import transportation activities skill
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held oversee arrival and departure of ships into port optional
- optional, not held analyse shipping rates optional
- optional, not held book cargo optional
- optional, not held coordinate export transportation activities optional
- optional, not held handle shipment paperwork optional
- optional, not held inspect freight optional
- optional, not held keep written records of cargo optional
- optional, not held liaise with transportation services optional
- optional, not held observe freight shipment loaders optional
- optional, not held prepare bills of lading optional
- optional, not held administer multi-modal logistics optional
- optional, not held create import-export commercial documentation optional
24 held skills the shipping agent role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role calculate tax skill
- not needed by the target role check official documents skill
- not needed by the target role comply with legal regulations skill
- not needed by the target role conduct research interview skill
- not needed by the target role give instructions to staff skill
- not needed by the target role handle surveillance equipment skill
- not needed by the target role illegal substances knowledge
- not needed by the target role import export regulations of dangerous chemicals knowledge
- not needed by the target role international business knowledge
- not needed by the target role international taxation of transfer prices knowledge
- not needed by the target role maintain operational communications skill
- not needed by the target role patrol areas skill
- not needed by the target role prepare documentation for international shipping skill
- not needed by the target role present evidence skill
- not needed by the target role process payments skill
- not needed by the target role regulations for international transportation knowledge
- not needed by the target role respond to enquiries skill
- not needed by the target role select items for auction skill
- not needed by the target role tax legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role train animals for professional purposes skill
- not needed by the target role transport dangerous goods skill
- not needed by the target role undertake inspections skill
- not needed by the target role use different communication channels skill
- not needed by the target role write work-related reports skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn port regulation required
Other moves recorded from customs and excise officer
Common questions about this move
Can a customs and excise officer become a shipping agent?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A customs and excise officer already covers 32% of what a shipping agent is expected to do: 6 skills carry over, 5 of which the shipping agent role treats as required.
What skills does a customs and excise officer need to become a shipping agent?
7 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is apply procedures to ensure cargo complies with customs regulations.
How hard is the move from customs and excise officer to shipping agent?
Its learning distance is 64.4 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.