Hello! I am preparing to do my DM cert later this year. I have spent 2 years now thinking about it and being picky about where to do it, so as you can see, it is so important to me that I choose the right place, both because the money I will be spending has taken a long time to save and also because I want the most valuable and professional experience possible.
I have one particular concern that keeps popping up for me, and it really is one that I hesitate to ask because so far, whenever I have asked this of a dive school, I often got negative reaction, which makes me even more curious and concerned about it. So here it is...
Is "slave labor" a rite of passage for a (paying) DM candidate intern? I am well aware that the DM course involves hard work, and I am more than ready to work my bum off to get as much experience as possible. Let me clarify. What I am talking about here is, I have seen and heard of a lot of DM candidates spending much of their days loading tanks, rinsing suits, and even doing menial tasks that have nothing to do with diving, such as mopping floors and cleaning toilets. The worst I saw at one dive shop that I spent some time at, the crew spoke disrespectfully to the DM candidate and made comments and jokes that implied that he was their "slave". He only got to go diving every other day, and on the opposite days he was cleaning rooms in the accommodation at the dive shop! And yes, he was a paying customer!
When I have asked some potential schools about work expectations they don't always get what I am asking, so as uncomfortable as it is for me I have to be blunt and ask if they sometimes regard their DM candidates as "slaves" and expect them to do the grunt work that no one else wants to do. Many times I have got a reaction like they can't believe that I had the cheek to ask this question. On one occasion, a young instructor told me that if I wanted to be a DM I needed to know first hand of what being a DM was all about, so they do expect you to do as your told even if that means menial tasks, because that is what is going to be expected of you as a DM. He also said, almost with a grudge, "well, I had to do it, and so did many others, so you will have to do it also".
So, it sounds to me like it is sort of considered a rite of passage for a DM candidate to be treated this way. I'm not sure that I am ok with this. Don't get wrong, I'm not afraid of hard work, I just feel like if I'm laying down $1000 or more of my hard earned money, I want my time to be spent learning and training to do things that I don't already know how to do, and I also want to be treated with respect, like any other paying customer.
So please dive professionals out there, I need your advice...are my expectations unreasonable? What really can I expect from a DM internship? And if this is not normal then what is the best way for me to discern which schools have this philosophy?