Carmen is a preferencing system not a true bidding system. You tell the system what you would like to do and what you want to avoid. It then produces rosters based on these preferences. Carmen will cover the work, if that means blowing off preferences that is just tough. As a junior bod you will get some "satisfaction" I think it is nominally 40% and this grows with seniority. You can bid for specific trips but the more you ask for, the more specific you are the greater the chance this will fall into the unsatisfied portion of your bid. Carmen is a b***h but it is better than nothing. If nothing else it can help you get earlies or later. Everyone has their own theory about Carmen. In my experience it is better to be very junior on Carmen than very junior on Bidline, though quite what Bidline is these days nobody really knows.
Last edited by Juan Tugoh; 15th Aug 2015 at 11:20.