Regretting Instructor Training?

[Locus]

I read a lot of the threads posted on SB by divers thinking about going pro and asking for advice. Typically, responses to these threads include multiple suggestions that instructorship is not at all as glamorous or lucrative as it is often made out to be.

Is this response intended to keep the less experienced divers' expectations realistic, or does it suggest that job satisfaction among dive pros is not as high as one might think?

Do you or someone you know actively regret investing the time and money to become an instructor? If so, why?

 

[tursiops]

It is hard work. Not everyone likes that.
It has a lot of responsibility. Not everyone likes that.
You may not get to do a lot of diving for fun. Not everyone likes that.
It is a service industry, so you have to be nice to customers. Not everyone likes that.
You will not make a lot of money. Not everyone likes that.
You are usually working for someone who may not be a great boss. Not everyone likes that.

Most burn out after a few years, some don't but should.

Even so.....I've never met any instructor who regretting becoming one.

 

[victor]

Not many people will admit that the x thousand dollars they spent becoming an instructor was a waste of money.
Some I have met are happy that they have managed to live free on some of the more beautiful islands for a few years even managing the odd weeks vacation at some of the top dive locations. Once that grows old I expect the instructing tails off.
Some just love teaching diving, I was luck mine was one of those. Diving in a quary in a northern european winter requires a level of dedication from both the student and the teacher.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I love being an instructor ... but I'm one of those people who will usually try to discourage new divers from jumping straight into a scuba instruciton program. It's mostly an attempt to help someone make an expensive decision with their eyes open. A lot of new divers get sold on this notion that it's an easy entry into the glamorous life ... a few weeks in a fast-track program and you're ready for a career that involves a lot of beach time, beautiful babes, and life in a tropical paradise. It's an easy sell to people who just discovered an activity they love to do and want to believe they can make a living at. The reality is that the typical person who goes through the program will spend a lot of money, teach minimal classes (usually poorly), and either become discouraged or burn out within a year or two.

People shouldn't jump into scuba instruction because they love diving ... almost everyone who gets into it loves scuba diving, but that's not a valid reason to want to make a living at it. Teaching scuba is a job, and you should do it because you love teaching ... scuba is just the subject matter. Scuba instructing can be a lot of fun, but you should understand that it will ... for most ... involve low pay, long hours, and hard work. Like any career decision, you should go into it with realistic expectations.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Colliam7]

Do you or someone you know actively regret investing the time and money to become an instructor? If so, why?

No, I have never met anyone who regretted going through the process of becoming an instructor. I have met people who no longer actively instruct, for a variety of reasons, among them the fact that scuba instructing - as tursiops succinctly points out - is hard work (if done well), is time-intensive (if done well), is not glamorous, is not lucrative, and is associated with considerable responsibility, etc..

Is this response intended to keep the less experienced divers' expectations realistic, or does it suggest that job satisfaction among dive pros is not as high as one might think?

Primarily the former. Younger / newer divers, who are often in that starry-eyed new diver / love every minute underwater mode, and think that teaching scuba is simply a paid ticket to getting to dive a lot, seldom see what is behind the curtain - the time, effort - and money - that go into teaching, nor do we usually share, at least in our shop, the staff compensation schedule with our students - the ensuing laughter would disrupt the class. So, what you see are people, who really do enjoy what they do, trying to help the starry eyed newcomers set realistic expectations.

I read a lot of the threads posted on SB by divers thinking about going pro and asking for advice. Typically, responses to these threads include multiple suggestions that instructorship is not at all as glamorous or lucrative as it is often made out to be.

Instructorship is, generally speaking, neither glamorous or lucrative. And, you probably notice that it is not 'made out to be' that by the instructors that you see posting on SB. Yes, the various certifying agencies do promote becoming an instructor as an exciting path (and that is true across agencies, not just any one in particular). There is nothing wrong with that, frankly, despite some of the carping and criticism that you may see on SB from time to time. And, there is nothing wrong with experienced instructors sharing with newcomers the reality of teaching - it is fun, it can be meaningful and personally rewarding (albeit not 'lucrative'), but it is also hard work. Frankly, sitting at my desk, on teleconferences with silly clients, while drinking a cup of tea and doing emails while on 'Mute', is a whole lot easier, and A LOT more lucrative. Also, a bit boring, but the money makes up for that.

 

[chrisch]

If you turn your hobby into money making it is now your job. I enjoy my hobby much more than my job. Teaching scuba is not a very good way to earn money - if that is the goal it is not a route I recommend. Most people in my experience don't stick at it very long. Here in the UK you can train to teach and teach as an amateur (BSAC) which is a good way to get the bit you like on your own terms.

 

[spthomas]

Like anything, it all changes when it becomes your job.

 

[The Chairman]

I have never met anyone who was bitter about becoming an instructor. However, I have met a lot of instructors who are unable to teach because of instructor related injuries. Most of these are to their ears, and I believe those are a direct result of multiple ESAs done during the OW check out. You're also more likely to get bent as an instructor, so these are not to be taken lightly.

I really enjoy teaching people to dive. I don't push it as much so I teach fewer students, but we have fun with the classes.

 

[drrich2]

Is this response intended to keep the less experienced divers' expectations realistic, or does it suggest that job satisfaction among dive pros is not as high as one might think?

There's one other issue, though I don't think it's as important as what the other posters have replied. I believe it's been brought up in other words on other threads. Someone recently certified who's excited about scuba would probably like to get really good at it, yes? Good enough to be proud of the accomplishment. Such a person might look at PADI's website, for example, and get the impression that if you want to grow as a diver the natural progression is...

OW - AOW - some specialties - Rescue Diver, perhaps get your Master Scuba Diver cert. (not a course), and then, uh...Dive Master and on toward Instructor.

After all, if you can teach scuba diving, you must be really good at it, and sharing something you're passionate about with others in tropical destinations while getting in hundreds more dives sounds great...

Well, actually, if you want to grow as a diver, once you hit Rescue Diver, perhaps you might consider some other paths (especially if you're mainly interested in getting good instead of teaching). After Rescue,

1.) Dive a lot, in a variety of conditions, especially with mentors above your level who can help you grow.

2.) Consider NAUI's Master Scuba Diver course (an actually course), intended to impart instructor level knowledge minus the teaching component (I have no idea how successful it is, and I don't get the impression it's as widely available as some courses, but it is reputable and I like the manual).

3.) Pursue a recreational pass in GUE Fundamentals, or similar from another agency.

4.) Take some technical diving courses (after giving your wallet some pain pills), where the bar is higher, and the deliberate planning more demanding.

5.) Practice exercising skill. Can you dive across a silty bottom, fairly close to it, without stirring it up?

6.) Take a look at some alternative skills, like frog kicking vs. flutter kicking, and gear, such as BP/W vs. a jacket BCD (to see if it aids your horizontal trim), and learn whether that helps fine tune your abilities.

7.) You can learn a lot by spending time on Scuba Board and some other online resources.

8.) Read up on good literature. I've been hitting 'here and there' the reputable The Complete Diver, by Alex Brylske, PhD (nice little bite-size short chapters on pertinent topics and history written with an engaging personality and common sense).

Richard.

P.S.: Please don't infer that I think I am a particularly good diver, or have done much of the above. I advance slowly and sporadically. If I had the time and resources to try to fast-track it, I'd be thinking about the above approaches.

 

[Bob DBF]

If you like teaching, then instructor may be your gig. If you expect rainbows and unicorns when some salesperson sells you a diving lifestyle then grow up, decide what you like to do and act accordingly.

I like to dive, so I dive. Although I have been a mentor on a number of occasions, but I do not particularly like being an instructor, which I have done reluctantly in other fields, so I did not "follow the dream" and become an instructor or DM.

As for regretting anything, the way I look at it is that one sets a goal and achieves it, you won't regret setting and achieving the goal regardless of whether or not the goal is actually relevant after it is achieved. BTDT.



Bob