Instructor internship... to do or not to do

[michelles]

I understand what you are saying, but just because you have alot of experience diving doesn't mean you are competent enough to be an instructor. Working in a PADI 5 star I have had plenty of experiences with incompetent instructors that have alot of diving experience and seeing new DM's who are much more capable and also have a better understanding of diving.... Being an intern you get the experience and knowledge of real life dive situations that he will have to use as an instructor sence he will be hands on. I guess it all comes down to the person and how much they can get out of what ever experiences they have.

 

[michelles]

I knew I wanted to be an instructor after my first DSD. What do you mean by a hard dive? Just because you only have a few dives doesn't mean one wasn't hard. How much is enough experience to you? Going through a DM or an IDC class they wont pass you if they think you will be putting students at risk.



QUOTE=Diversauras]I think your comment about funds is right on the mark and many divers have used it. But what I would like to know is how anyone can justify putting students at risk because they can't afford to get more experiencs and a better background before becoming an instructor.

The other thing I don't understand is how someone with 15 dives can know they even want to be an instructor. They cannot even have done a hard dive to this point. I think this is akin to letting highschool freshmen sit a PHD exam and then award the degree for passing the test. I think it is absurd.[/QUOTE]

 

[michelles]

You can't go straight from openwater to instructor in 3 mo. You have to be certified for six months before being allowed to be a certified inst. That six month period is where you get you experience as a DM. Work for awhile doing that and when you time limit is up do the IDC.

 

[Aquanaut4ata]

I didn't know you could even begin an instuctor course with 40 dives. SSI reqires 40 for DiveCon, and 75 for Instructor (which, by the way, is still pretty light) but those numbers are a prerequisite to start the courses.

 

[Azza]

I didn't know you could even begin an instuctor course with 40 dives. SSI reqires 40 for DiveCon, and 75 for Instructor (which, by the way, is still pretty light) but those numbers are a prerequisite to start the courses.

You can't start an Instructor course with 40 dives.
How the intern course works is that they agree to put you through x,y,z courses and you agree to work like a dog for them for 3 months.
So they use you as boat crew, tank monkey, general dogsbody then when you get your DM ticket they use you as a DM and then after x amount of time they finally they put you through your IDC for you.
So basically you get experience working in a dive operation, and the dive operation gets cheap labour but subsidises your courses.

 

[Aquanaut4ata]

You can't start an Instructor course with 40 dives.
How the intern course works is that they agree to put you through x,y,z courses and you agree to work like a dog for them for 3 months.
So they use you as boat crew, tank monkey, general dogsbody then when you get your DM ticket they use you as a DM and then after x amount of time they finally they put you through your IDC for you.
So basically you get experience working in a dive operation, and the dive operation gets cheap labour but subsidises your courses.

And all of this takes place over the span of 3 months?? I gotta say...I'd be a bit skeptical.

 

[Azza]

Let's assume a diver had over a 1000 dives in many diverse conditions, drift dives, deep dives, ice dives, wreck dives, you name it. He has been in many, oh ***** situations and handled them well.

Would one of these interns be worth attending? Do they have quality instructors or are they a scam. They seem kind of like a diploma mill to me. Are there other divers out there with first hand experience, besides subadoguk?

Let me start out by saying just because a diver has done 1000 dives in many diverse situations, doesn’t necessarily mean that diver would make a good instructor. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a good diver, it simply means that it takes a special kind of person to be able to pass on information that can be understood and absorbed by others, as well as have a never ending supply of patience with students who have difficulty.
In some cases a diver who has done 1000 dives, and never worked with students may find this extremely hard work as they find it difficult to relate to that student, and to remember when they were learning.

Now let’s work on the assumption that this 1000 dive diver is the right kind of person to be an instructor. If the diver has never worked with students or a dive operation before, then yes an intern would be a valuable learning experience.
It gives you valuable insight to how a dive operation works, and it gives you practical experience working with students.
Internships tend to work by the diver paying a minimal amount of money, and working for education. So if you were AOW for instance, they would put you through Rescue, DM, AI and IDC, and maybe deep specialty, wreck, nitrox, etc.
Along with this they put you to work in the shop filling tanks, retail, helping students and customers gear up, changing the oil in the crappy old gear truck, feeding the bosses dog, along with working as a DM.
It takes long hours and dedication on the part of the Internee and I have heard that some operations try to work the Internee’s like a dog in the hope that they will quit before it comes to the IDC so they make money for nothing. I am not saying all places do this but there are some that definantly do.

 

[scubadoguk]

Dive courses like a internship works to train you to be a xxx sort of diver, diving in class settings and diving with customers is a great way to learn if done right,
Having done my own in the UK it was all kinds of dry suit diving and thick wetsuits was I prepaired for my first tropical divers ???????
It should be hard work but its 3 months of training under supervision, I have just got a customer dsl service job the training was and remains usless and was a total of less than 2 weeks and a final week under supervision 20 people training to one very harrased supervisor no one died but a lot of pissed off dsl customers
point is I did a internship of sorts and have taught many people and was very happy to have a great start in Stoney cove learning from experts at what they did.

 

[Azza]

And all of this takes place over the span of 3 months?? I gotta say...I'd be a bit skeptical.

Yeah I agree. You would have to make sure you find a very professional outfit, but if you did I think it could be valuable as long as you had prior experience.

 

[Diversauras]

I knew I wanted to be an instructor after my first DSD. What do you mean by a hard dive? Just because you only have a few dives doesn't mean one wasn't hard. How much is enough experience to you? Going through a DM or an IDC class they wont pass you if they think you will be putting students at risk.

Enough experience is the point where you know enough to develop in the water during a problem, solutions based on what you learned previously.