looking for advice for any type of jobs a diver can preform with open water cert, i live in nashville tennessee,, im new to the dive world so i was hoping someone could point me in the riht direction,,thaks,,,josh
An OW cert does not qualify you to be a pro in the industry. It, in fact, certifies you to be a customer in the industry.
If you want to go pro, you have basically 2 tracks...
1) Start working toward a dive leader certification Dive Master, Instructor, etc. To do this, you will need to do your AOW, Rescue Diver, get certified in CPR, First Aid and O2 delivery. And dive, dive, dive... You need as much experience in different types of diving as possible.
2) Commercial Diving and Scientific Diving... most commercial diving schools will accept you with only an OW cert or no cert at all, because what you don't know, they will teach you, anyway.
Commercial or scientific diving is the only business where you can make a steady, livable and regular income. Under the right circumstances, you can really make a killing. But, be prepared to be "washed-up" at about 30 years old. Commercial diving really takes a toll on the body. All the commercial divers that I know quit when they hit "30 something" because they just couldn't take the beating anymore.
Dive leaders/Instructors don't really make a livable income unless they own the store. All the instructors that I work with have "day jobs" and, between income and expenses, actually just break even. Most of us teach because its fun and we have a passion for passing on our experience to new divers. And... it's cool getting nice expensive equipment on key-man deals.
