Dressel Divers finacial program.

Greetings fellow salts. I have heard and am intrested in their IDC program. They offer you finacial aid,like working for them and they certify you as an OWI. Does anyone have any knowledge regading them. They are associated with Iberostar Resorts in Mexico & the Carribean. They say that they give you room and board while you are learning and working. If anyone has any info on this please advise. Looking forward if it's as good as they say. Thank you for your responses in advance. George

George....What I am about to type is only a rumor and not a confirmed fact.
I have heard a couple of bad stories. It is one of those deals like working for the coal mines or paying off coyotes by illegal immigrants. It seems that you just never seem to be able to catch up and you will always owe them. I have seen some Dressel provided housing and it was CROWED. I also heard " From A Disgruntled Employee" that they withhold your certs in some way.

All I can say is that a little homework may be in order before diving into that kind of program.

I am still a happy patron of Dressel Divers.

I've heard some disgruntlements about this program as well.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

My son and I were also happy clients of theirs, when I was at the Iberostar in Playa del Carmen.

Their instructors were very good and thorough, although the guy with the lowest status had to do a lot of **** work. They all were very appreciative (and hungry) when I (as a guest) to sneaked them food.

I think will serve you far better. Simply keep diving, take a class or two here and there until your ready to do the IDC, there's bound to be a facility that offers an IDC near you.

On the other hand, there are shake -n- bake facilities liek Halls, Prodive, etc that in 90 days, hammer out instructors by the plenty. This is one option available to you. Arguments against are simple to understand, they are pumping out many instructors who have no experience and will be IMHO less than adequate.

In essence, what's your flavor?

I've heard pro and con about Dressel's op, I imagine it too is a get what you give. Make sense?

Now, why do you want to be an instructor?

Hi

Ive been doing a lot of research too and you can go to almost every dive op and there will be some good and bad points about it, Dressel has theirs.

I may be going onto the program but i figured that I will pay for the majority of idc with my own cash, that way im not tied in to owing them money. I have spoken to human resources for the company in spain and have asked many questions about contracts and pay,so i know how they do things, i know my rights and wont let things get out of hand its what you make it, if its so bad then you can always leave.

This is a tough one for me to comment on as this company is my direct competition, I hope that this post is taken in the light that it is meant, fair and impartial.

I have envied the idea of the program for many years, it is a great idea and an attractive sales pitch, however for a long time while dressel was an SSI facility it was an idea that was used in a bad way. The participants could NOT leave if they didnt like it, as the default payments were exorbitant, and the company held the passports of the participants as collatoral. It had MANY dissatisfied participants.

I know this program had changed since dressel crossed over to PADI, I personally know and highly respect the course director that works there and know that he sees his professional level training as a method to meet his employee needs in house, not as some great money making scheme that it "may" have been in the past.

I have tried in the past to set up a similar but more user friendly scheme, but I failed to get around immigration and other legal issues.

My advice:

NEVER go into debt with the company you work for.

If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Pay for the courses and start earning the money back, you wont be able to do so the other way around, divemasters dont earn enough, especially in Mexico. I have had instructor candidates that earned their money back (IDC & IE) in their first two weeks of work, not every one, but more that just one or two.

Dont listen to comments about "shake and bake", or "just add water" instructor training, all PADI instructors take and pass the same exam that is independantly run by PADI.

Do your research well, look for expreience of the course director, personalised customer service and honest advice about training. Dont be fooled by the "free T-shirt"

Remember, this is your career you are talking about, dont try to skimp or find a cheap way to get the certifications, you will regret it and it will cost you more time and money in the long run.

I hope this helps. Feel free to private message me if you want more advice or help.