Hello: Thinking of going pro, need advice

[BabyDuck]

i'm sure most people know more about this than i do, but some shops offer instruction based on their instructors - in other words, a student can pick the naui instructor, or the padi one, or the ssi one, and get the c-card from different agencies. of course, some shops are one-agency places, but the one i got certed through had choices.

 

[ScubaFreak]

Hi Tim,

Looking at your profile, it seems to me you're only rescue diver with PADI?
If this is correct, you have to do the Divemaster course first. The DM course can be done within about 8 -10 days. But to to the Instructor course straight afterwards - trust me, that would be a loooooong 3 weeks!! Ideally, I would advise that potential Dive professionals Dive as much as they can before going down the instructor line. PADI require a minimum of 60 to complete Divemaster course and a minimum of 100 dives for Instructor course. In my eyes and many others on the board that's not even nearly enough!

Teaching Diving is a great way to earn a few extra $$$ part time, and take your mind off your primary studies, but it's also a very responsible part time activity. So don't rush into it. Get comfortable with SCUBA, and dive as often as possibe. What I might suggest is take this summer to do the Divemaster course. Take time at it, and enjoy it. As I mentioned, it's curriculum can be scheduled around 8-10 days, but taking a month or two and doing an "internship" is of much more benefit. Then spend a year or two working with students as a Divemaster, learning what it's like to be role model in diving. You'll also get a chance to observe what instructors do, what kind of things they do, what different ways do they teach.

Hope this helps,

Best of luck,

Scubafreak

 

[Mako Mark]

Tim,

I went through the link you sent me and it sure looks comprehensive and impressive. Halls have been around for a very long time and are widely respected, my only concern is that 15 days from rescue diver to instructor seems a little hasty, and I am not afraid of teaching shorter courses than some, but this seems too short even for me.

I would usually tell potential clients that the Divemaster alone is about 15 days if they have the prerequisite experience, and the instructor training is about the same. Make sure that you know what you are getting in your 15 days (number of dives, number of hours instruction).

As far as the agency, if you have an opportunity to teach at a local college and they teach NAUI, then go for NAUI. If you are thinking of travelling and teaching around the world, you will probably find you have to cross over to PADI as this is more universal around the world.

 

[kent_1848]

I would go with NAUI especially if you can teach for a college. I have also heard they can certify people without being affiliated with a shop which is not the case with SSI, I'm not sure about PADI though.

 

[Kriterian]

Welcome to the board!

While I can't offer any advice from the point of view as an instructor, I can offer some from a practical stand point.

At my local shop (SSI based), one of the instructors is dual certified as an SSI instructor and PADI. This helped him get hired in an already crowded market because all of the other instructors there were SSI only. So when he takes folks out to do the certification dives, he can actually take PADI students too for certification. He just had to take a few extra minutes with them to take care of a few skills that are PADI but not SSI.

You're trying to enter into one of the "fun" jobs. Something that pays little but alot of people want to do it because it's very fun. You have to distinguish yourself somehow, to stand out in the huge crowd.

 

[TimMorrison]

Well thank you to everyone who was kind enough to post here. I have decided to wait another year before going to the dive school. Partially due to conflicting schedules and starting a new job. In the meantime I plan on working on my PADI dive master cert. Then I wil lgo get a NAUI Instructor cert at the school and then come back and work on the PADI Instructor cert.

So hoefully I will see some ofyou in TX or out in the Gulf. Take care.