A Dive Instructor's CV

[Dharker]

Dharker,

It might be different for different regions but scoobydrew might have something. I just started working as a DM. Walked into the shop, talked to the owner. He got me in touch with his Course Director. She told me they'd be in the pool on Saturday and to drop by the shop with all my gear. She gave me a tank full of air, had me sit in on a DSD briefing then we went to the pool and she had me DM with her for two DSD classes. End of the night she sent me the pay schedule and said I was hired. No CV and didn't even look at my log book.

That's really cool - well done

I think I'm just covering different bases, if I never use it it's no loss - I've always had a CV but can't remember the last time it had anything to do with me getting a job, other than it keeps a record of skills/quals etc

Mostly just distracting myself while I'm bored at work

 

[scoobydrew]

it's definately worth writing one out, even if it does not get submitted to the person that gives you work it's good to see what you can do on paper sometimes to get things straight in your head.

Look up on this website getting work as a SCUBA instructor and you'l find a tonne of posts so I'm not gonna cover old ground.

The places I have found work in have been a result of knowing the comapny and diving with them. The job I currently have is an exception to that rule, I am currently teaching SCUBA in Korea which is a pretty nice set up I am the only English speaking instructor in this city, I emailed about 50 centres in Korea before arriving and these were the only guys that got back to me and now here i am.

Get the CV together, I immagine devon divers is pretty impressive, even if you do not have the content you will surely get ideas from it.

Here is a little point that could help if you are bored sat at a desk look up fish recognition for the area you are going to. Sounds silly but it's important to be able to talk to people about the dive and I have seen many guides along the way that have no idea what is swimming around in their sites.

Is there a dive centre near you? if so going in and asking if you can hang around could be an option. you can learn alot without realising it while gimping around carrying tanks and making coffe

 

[DevonDiver]

A CV is important, even if you will be visiting a shop in person. They may not have vacancies for instructors at that time, but you can ask them to keep your CV on file.

When applying for jobs online, be sure to include a well-written cover letter. I applied for a job in Fiji once, and was asked to write a letter explaining why I wanted the job and why I loved diving. I poured my heart into that letter and it was very well recieved by the owners.

Communicating your passion for diving and the underwater world is important.

 

[Crowley]

Speaking as somebody who has been involved in the recruitment of new staff in both my past life and my dive life (although not for my current centre), and somebody who has put in dive job applications based only on CV, I can say the folllowing.

If you are required to provide a CV for a job application - all that stuff about "people would say my greatest weakness is that I work too hard" is rubbish, get rid of it. They want to know who you are, what makes you tick and what your experience is, even if it's not much.

Depending on the job, your years of experience may not be important; many dive centres will take a chance on an inexperienced instructor in the hope they will be good at it and then become experienced instructors themselves - as long as you're honest about it. If you feel you must put your certification history then put "Open Water (or whatever), Feb 2005, DM March 2006, Instructor October 2006" or something. Put your current certification level under your name: ie:

Quentin J. Instructor
PADI IDCS - 783493

Now your employer knows when you started, when you decided to become a pro, when you became an instructor and we already know your current certification level. They are really not going to be interested in when you passed every specialty course that you took. I have seen a few CVs which list every single dive course the applicant ever took!! Makes you look silly.

Specialties can be important so list all courses that you are capable of teaching.

In many resort areas, languages are the key. Important to be honest with your ability here - if you can't teach in it then it's nice to know you speak a little french or japanese or whatever, but if they need a fluent language speaker and over-exaggerate on the CV, then you are going to be in trouble when you turn up for work!

If you don't have much dive instructor experience, or none, then prior experience from jobs that is relevant would include supervisory skills, sales of course, customer-facing jobs of any level that require a modicum of personality and/or authority to be successful. Any water based activity including boat handling is good - plenty of jobs require you to have a professional license.

But there are thousands of instructors out there who can whip up a good CV and have the necessary qualifications. Make it easy to read, cut out the male cow-poop and put in what's relevant to a job where you are required to both educate and entertain whilst maintaining control of your customers!

A photo is essential in many locations - I put mine in by default because I don't want to work for a company that won't hire me based on appearance, so I'd rather they cut me out with a photo before I waste my time with them. I also think it adds a personal touch. For many places however, there is no substitute for putting in a personal appearance at the dive centre for which you wish to work.

Hope that helps a bit - any other specific questions please feel free to ask.

Cheers

C.