I did my IDC at Crystal. Matt Boulton does an awesome job as CD there... has very high standards... and produces a very good end-product instructor.
Some points for the OP:
1) Most newly qualified instructors on Koh Tao work freelance. There is enough work to go around anytime except monsoon season. The usual method is for a new instructor to drop their 'CV' of at all of the dive centres on the island. Centres call you to cover the 'over-flow' that their full-time staff cannot handle. This means that you will typically run courses of 1-4 students, wheras full-time instructors will get larger courses (4+).
2) Freelance instructors get paid commission, based on the number of students they teach. You can run 2 courses per week, which provides enough money to live. Be prepared to work 7 days a week.
3) Getting freelance work requires reliability. If you let a dive centre down, they won't call you again. If you impress them, then they will keep you in a short-list for freelance. Spend enough time on a short-list, working freelance for a specific dive shop and you could end up getting a regular full-time role.
4) Language skills help get you work. The busiest instructors on Tao... or the ones who get full-time roles the quickest... have multiple languages. Otherwise... personality counts for a lot. The backpackers on Tao like 'friendly and fun'. Lots of smiles, high-fives and post-course beers. Networking and making friends on the island is critical.
5) The MSDT is an internship, not a just a 'prep' course. You will recieve the training to teach 5 or more speciality courses. You will then get the chance to gain the 25 certifications you need for the application. You won't be paid for those courses, as you will be assisting/team-teaching with an existing experienced instructor. It is a good way to gain experience and see how a range of different instructors run their courses, with you gaining more responsibility as you get those courses 'under your belt'. Given the high volume of students on Koh Tao, you could reasonable expect to get those 25 certifications in 2-3 weeks.
6) The 'minimum experience' instructor is not a rare thing on Koh Tao, so you won't be hugely disadvantaged because of that (unlike in other regions). Given that it is a backpacker market, most customers just want a basic OW course, as cheap as possible and as quick as possible. That means you don't need to be a 'super-instructor' to get work there. It is a 'sausage factory' for OW courses. You might do occasional AOW courses and a few Rescue courses, but won't teach many speciality courses unless you 'sell' them to your existing OW/AOW students. From my experience, maybe 1-in-25 OW students that I taught went onto further speciality training (for me, it was usually because they were interested in my stories about technical and wreck diving).
7) Staying on Tao post-course, gives you plenty of chance to gain experience and dive count, as you will be diving all-day, every day week after week after week. That said, your 'breadth of knowledge' about other diving activities, locations, conditions etc will be very limited. That's not a 'show-stopper', but it can make things more tough when looking for work away from Koh Tao. When it comes to working elsewhere in Asia... they key thing is to build up a wide network of friends in the industry. As your friends move off to work in other places, they can give you recommendations and vice versa. That's the best way to secure new jobs.
8) When I took my IDC on Koh Tao, I had over 1000 dives, logged in the UK, Mediteranean, Red Sea, Caribean, Indian Ocean and Asia. I was already a BSAC instructor and qualified Tech Diver. Zero-to-Hero instructors with multiple language skills still got work ahead of me... go figure. lol
9) There is so much diving done on Koh Tao, that you will gain experience very quickly. As an instructor, you will still get DM work. As a DM only, you won't get much work at all. Progressing straight to instructor isn't a bad option given how things work at that location. It wouldn't work well elsewhere.
10) Just be honest with yourself that you wouldn't be as competitive as a newly qualified instructor with someone who had spent much more time at DM level...in other locations in the world. On Koh Tao, it doesn't matter so much. Spend a year on Tao working as an instructor...and you'll have 1000+ dives and 200+ certifications..and lots of dive leading under your belt.
11) You can gain more credibility whilst on Koh Tao by getting involved with the thriving tech diving community there. IF you have the money, and if that suits you, then you can still get some balls-out dives logged as a tech diver. It puts you head and shoulders above the average sausage factor OW instructor on Tao. Cystal has a tech programme (I believe still run my Michael?). You could also talk to Ayesha at Master Divers (here on Scubaboard) or James Thornton at Big Blue Tech.
12) Tao has a very specific 'core' diving market. When you see the backpackers signing up for OW courses, whilst still neon-painted and drunken from the Full Moon Party, you will understand. It's a typical backpacker travelling 'tick in the box'. As such, there is more emphasis on student turn-over than on providing the best possible diver training. That said, it is down to the moral courage of individual instructors whether they chose to provide exemplary scuba courses, or whether they just reach the basic PADI standards and turn-over as many courses/students as possible. There are some amazing, professional instructors on Tao... who produce great results. Try and identify those instructors...and those schools.... because you will get the most out of working for them.
Good look... Enjoy!
