Going Pro

[marsdiver]

I have decided to make a career change to scuba diving. Right now I am working on my AOW and hopefully reach OWSI level by the end of this year. I am aiming to eventually reach the Course Director level in years to come.

Though I have made the decision, however, I have some dependents too. So, I want to know how much money an OWSI normally make. I realize that it varies from place to place but I would appreciate a general idea. Also, how difficult it is to break in as an instructor?

I have a degree in civil engineering with a masters in environmental engineering. Can I make a use of that somehow?

My main motivation behind the decision is my love for sea and diving, plus the nightmarte I had the other night when I saw myself sitting in the same office cubical in 2030 staring at computer.:11:

 

[Doc]

Also, how difficult it is to break in as an instructor?

Not hard. I have always gone in through the back door with a crow bar

I have a degree in civil engineering with a masters in environmental engineering. Can I make a use of that somehow?

Sure. Find a job that utilizes your excellent career skills, one that doesn't involve sitting in a "cubical". Make lots of money and take lots of vacations to go diving. Better yet- work for an international company in the Pacific Rim and take long weekends in the South Pacific.

My main motivation behind the decision is my love for sea and diving,

Which will simply not be sated with becoming an instructor, much less a CD.

plus the nightmarte I had the other night when I saw myself sitting in the same office cubical in 2030 staring at computer.:11:

I had the same nightmarte myself.

How many dependents you got there? Does the little woman have a familiarity with firearms or kitchen knives?


sorry.

As long as you are okay with being permanently sunburned, having a wasted body (sinuses & lifting injuries), being relatively broke with no insurance, there are some benefits.

Better to go do what you have to do now than to be in that cubicle in 2030 wondering what might have been.

 

[marsdiver]

So basically you are saying that its not a wise move?

 

[RJP]

So basically you are saying that its not a wise move?

The good news is, you can dive all you want for free. Of course the main reason that's good news is that on what an instructor makes you wouldn't be able to afford to go diving if you couldn't dive for free.



But seriously, the actual good news is that you can go down the road of becoming an instructor without leaving your current job. With any luck you'll find that having something like diving in your life makes your day job (ie your PAYING job) seem that much more bearable.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Probably not. Fact is You say you are now working on your AOW. How long have you been diving and how many dives do you have. What conditions have you dived in? Just how do plan to go to instructor in a year? Through one of the instructor mills? Today is the final day of my YMCA Instructor exams. I've been working at this for 4 years. I've switched agencies, nearly gave up the pro route all together, and took alot of time to really decide that I wanted this. I DO NOT plan on quitting my day job. I'm not independently wealthy, do not have rich near death relatives, and my wife is disabled so she won't be supporting me. Full time teaching means many sacrifices. Usually they are made by the family. We love to dive, maybe they do as well, but we also have to eat. If you were single with the kind of job you should have with those degrees then yeah, I'd say work at it a couple years, bank all your money, save up 40 or 50 grand and then go for it. But in the meantime get all the experience you can in as many different environments as you are able. If you only dive warm clear water then you most likely would be best off teaching in only those conditions. Or move the whole family to thailand, while you teach the kids can run through the streets begging and your wife can take in laundry. If you want to go on then do it but don't plan on quitting your day job. I can't count the number of people who after their ow cert say man I want to teach this stuff! that lasts about a month or so until they find out what's involved. Just dive man and have fun.

 

[Garrobo]

When I got into diving at a late age, just like flying, I wondered if I had missed an opportunity as a pro diver or pilot when I was young. Thinking back I decided that I didn't have much of an opportunity since the closest I ever got to diving or the ocean was a tv program starring Lloyd Bridges and episodes of Sky King. I lived in Ohio and only saw pictures of the sea never giving it a thought that one day I might take up scuba. As I think back, looking at my retirement package, and see the BS that a DM or instructor must contend with each day I thank the lord that I took up electrical work instead.

 

[marsdiver]

Thanks guys for your suggestions. I think a wiser way to go for it would be to teach on weekends. Atleast that may pay for my scuba diving, otherwise its eating away a good portion of my current pay and I don't want to quit diving because of that.

Does anybody know that these PADI certifications help in getting jobs in diving companies that are doing commercial work? I have heard that pays are good there??
If not PADI, which organizations certify you to do commercial work. I know that commercial diving is not as much fun but probably better than wasting my time writing friggin' useless reports on MS word. I like to be outdoor.

 

[RJP]

Thanks guys for your suggestions. I think a wiser way to go for it would be to teach on weekends. Atleast that may pay for my scuba diving, otherwise its eating away a good portion of my current pay and I don't want to quit diving because of that.

Does anybody know that these PADI certifications help in getting jobs in diving companies that are doing commercial work? I have heard that pays are good there??
If not PADI, which organizations certify you to do commercial work. I know that commercial diving is not as much fun but probably better than wasting my time writing friggin' useless reports on MS word. I like to be outdoor.

Google is your friend...

commercial diving - Google Search

 

[fisherdvm]

Lets see, my instructor took 4 OW student out for 2 days of OW check out. $75 x 4 equals $300. Now the shop probably take $100 or more, minus PADI fee - maybe he'll have $200 max? He drove the student to both sites, probably costing $20 for the first time, and about $70 the second trip on gas. Minus wear and tear on his truck, he probably pocketed $100. Spent 7 hours on the first day, and about 12 plus on the second day (we met at 6am, returned at 6pm). So 100 divided by 19 is about $5 an hour. Even if he pocketed the whole $300 fee, he still only made $10 an hour.

If you aren't doing it for enjoyment of teaching, OWSI pay is nothing more than an opportunity to write off your diving expenses, as long as you have earned more than you spent 3 out of 5 years! I am pretty sure he didn't get tipped. I am pretty sure too that the DM that helped also did it for free (he told me).

I think part of the reason why OWSI makes pity is that so many of us enjoy doing it, both DM and SI, that we are willing to spend time diving with folks for little or no money.

 

[marsdiver]

Oh, what about owning a dive shop? Is it so pathetic even if you are running your own dive center?