Is there an instructor crisis?

[Wookie]

The largest shop in Houston for many years hired independent instructors, over 100 of them, that had to buy their own insurance. I think that they were paid $25 for classroom, $25 for the pool, and $75 for the open water portion. They had employees as well.

 

[ynot.b.diving]

Interesting read and all good points.
I paid $5000US for my instructor certification (no internship) with 12 additional specialties believing I was making a solid investment in my career future. Big name shops all commented "specialties don't mean anything" and offered $600/mth base salary plus $3-5 per student activity.
I know instructor work is not for wealth building but come on. . . . I offer a mature attitude, many years of hospitality grade experience, 20+ years of passion for diving, show up for work early (sober and clean), and can't seem to find a shop interested in a long term arrangement.
The currency of scuba seems to be multiple languages over skill and a solid team worker.
Oh well, I'll just keep looking. I'm a pterodactyl (rare and extinct breed who cares) and still believe there's a job out there for me.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

As an independent my OW class was 400 and included the books, pool and classroom, checkout dives at the local site, and cert fee. That was per student for two students. Private class was usually 600 but if it was winter and they were willing to work with my schedule and do checkouts when it warmed up, I charged the two person rate of 400.
That was plus personal gear, rental gear for checkouts, and quarry fee that the student paid.
Out of that, if the student did not buy their gear from the shop I worked with (WITH, NOT FOR!) I gave the pool owner a fee for it's use. Which was often waved because I cleaned the pool and opened the shop one night a week.
So the bulk of the tuition was mine. No way I'd ever work for 50-100 bucks a student. That's bullcrap.
On advanced and specialties, I kept all of it minus expenses and I was more expensive than anyone around for every class except rescue.
AOW? 425 per for two people. Private? $600 for two days plus one day of classroom at the shop and I picked all the dives and no gear or quarry fees were included.
I considered that a public service. I charged 175 per person for rescue and that included two pool sessions, two classroom sessions, and two days of checkouts. I never wanted to hear money as being an excuse not to take it. And everyone always got a great class and I had fun.

 

[Jcp2]

As an independent my OW class was 400 and included the books, pool and classroom, checkout dives at the local site, and cert fee. That was per student for two students. Private class was usually 600 but if it was winter and they were willing to work with my schedule and do checkouts when it warmed up, I charged the two person rate of 400.
That was plus personal gear, rental gear for checkouts, and quarry fee that the student paid.
Out of that, if the student did not buy their gear from the shop I worked with (WITH, NOT FOR!) I gave the pool owner a fee for it's use. Which was often waved because I cleaned the pool and opened the shop one night a week.
So the bulk of the tuition was mine. No way I'd ever work for 50-100 bucks a student. That's bullcrap.
On advanced and specialties, I kept all of it minus expenses and I was more expensive than anyone around for every class except rescue.
AOW? 425 per for two people. Private? $600 for two days plus one day of classroom at the shop and I picked all the dives and no gear or quarry fees were included.
I considered that a public service. I charged 175 per person for rescue and that included two pool sessions, two classroom sessions, and two days of checkouts. I never wanted to hear money as being an excuse not to take it. And everyone always got a great class and I had fun.

If the instruction was solid, I’d consider that a fair rate. Similar hourly rate for high level private instruction in any activity really.

 

[boulderjohn]

The issue for me was that PADI Standards were the "minimum" requirement for certification and my personal standards were more geared towards "mastery" of skills rather than simply "getting through them".

Whatever a standard is, be it high or be it low, it is a "minimum" requirement. That is what the words mean.

Under PADI requirements, a student is supposed to achieve "mastery" as defined in the standards. The word "mastery" in the standards uses the educational definition of the term, as used in the concept called Mastery learning, which is the basis of almost all scuba instruction today.

If you did what you described when you instructed, you did not meet standards as an instructor.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

It sounds like instructor pay needs to go up drastically in order for scuba training to continue, at least here.
I don’t know about resort diving locations how they are faring? Like I said, this area is not a diving destination, people get certified here to go on vacation so they don’t have to spend the time on vacation to learn to dive. So for those folks I suppose price is a consideration being that they can get a cert in the tropics cheaper than here. They don’t understand that what they get there will not be adequate here in our environment.l, but it probably doesn’t matter because they most lokely will never dive here anyway.
Then there is a very small percentage of local people wanting to certify to dive here. I think they would be willing to pony up more money if it was explained to them what they are getting and why it costs what it costs. This could be true all the way up to the GUE level perhaps even though up here we have about zero tech divers. I know it’s true in Bay Area, south bay (San Jose) and closer to Monterey. Up here we are still kind of a farming cow community with a bunch of rednecks but that’s changing too.
I still don’t understand why instructors are not instructing on the clock at the dive shop. It seems like something that should be in their job description. Is it that dive shops can’t afford to have “employee” instructors due to needing to pay social security, payroll taxes, benefits, etc. I’m surprised they can legally get away with having so many “independant contract workers” do this work. Even Uber and it’s culture if independant contacters was coming to an end and all of the drivers needed to become employees.
But again, who’s fault is it with the current situation?
What is it about teaching that has them lined up willing to work for next to nothing?
It makes no sense to me.
Is it some sort of ego boost?, not that that’s a bad thing, I’m just curious what makes instructors a dime a dozen.

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

Whatever a standard is, be it high or be it low, it is a "minimum" requirement. That is what the words mean.

Under PADI requirements, a student is supposed to achieve "mastery" as defined in the standards. The word "mastery" in the standards uses the educational definition of the term, as used in the concept called Mastery learning, which is the basis of almost all scuba instruction today.

If you did what you described when you instructed, you did not meet standards as an instructor.

Mastery. Is vague depending on who is evaluating IME. min standard indicates depth skills must be demonstrated at yet instructor X is evaluating in questionable depth because the student is barely functioning. Yet I’m parked at 30’ with a 15 year old who won’t put her mask back on. Finally me and her brother get it back on her (did i mention this was an pool checked off student by a CD) and i say nope do it again. I could have said yay mastery but would i have been doing her any good? My cohort in 14’ would have checked the box. I can’t even report. Noone cares.

 

[Pressurehead]

I’m just curious what makes instructors a dime a dozen.

They are not 'a dime a dozen' around here, the ones that are paid-up 'Active status instructors '.
We have a few from overseas on a working holiday [I suspect], not many locals active, we have gone the way of the US, insurance is 'killing it'.

 

[Ben_3]

With the price of insurance and agency renewal feesl many have started to opt out lately around here. Not sure if this will lead to a shortage or not. Around my area the water is frozen half the year. Either the instructors are teaching day and night during summer time or charging a lot just to break even on the yearly fees. The profit per student/class seems to be really low from what I have seen.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yet I’m parked at 30’ with a 15 year old who won’t put her mask back on. Finally me and her brother get it back on her (did i mention this was an pool checked off student by a CD) and i say nope do it again. I could have said yay mastery but would i have been doing her any good? My cohort in 14’ would have checked the box. I can’t even report.

Sorry, the student did not demonstrate mastery as defined by PADI, so signing the student off wouold have been a lie.

Definition​

During confined and open water dives, mastery is defined as performing the skill so it meets the stated performance requirements in a reasonably comfortable, fluid, repeatable manner as would be expected of a diver at that certification level​