Best Divemaster Internships?

[stuartv]

They don't do any tasks that a certified DM would do "prior to" becoming a certified DM. Same holds true for their Instructor program. They don't become DM's at the "end of" the internship. They start their training upon arrival and become certified DM's in the midst of the internship and with plenty of time to spare, prior to the end of the 4-6 month internship in order to work as a certified DM and put things into practice and gain experience. As for all of the other tasks and experience they are getting-- such as sales and marketing, customer relations, etc... that is happening throughout the entire internship around all of what we consider the normal "DM certification process" -- on a scheduled basis. That is probably as much as I can tell you. This is not how I became a DM, but how it has been related to me by others who have gone through Dressel. My route was here in the USA, through my local dive shop in the Pacific NW and for the purposes of giving back and volunteering around my day job. I have no desire to make a career in the dive industry, but lots of young people do and this may or may not be a viable route for some.

Gotcha. Thanks. Becoming certified partway through makes sense. Then it just makes me wonder how many of those people bail shortly after getting their cert and go looking for a job where they can get paid to do the same thing. Do they sign a contract that obligates them to either stick around until they've worked off their debt or actually pay the normal DM course fee?

 

[Trailboss123]

Gotcha. Thanks. Becoming certified partway through makes sense. Then it just makes me wonder how many of those people bail shortly after getting their cert and go looking for a job where they can get paid to do the same thing. Do they sign a contract that obligates them to either stick around until they've worked off their debt or actually pay the normal DM course fee?

What I have been told is that it is a symbiotic relationship. The dive op gets their money's worth out of the interns during those months in exchange for the room, board, training and certification. They get them certified early and get a bunch of free labor out of them. Many will go from the DM cert and stay on and get the Instructor cert as well and then more often than not, Dressel hires them on as staff and then has DM's and Instructors that they know quite well and they know have been trained they way they want them to be. For young people with limited means, it works for them too. They are getting thousands of dollars worth of training and room and board, lots of water time and experience and if they are good at what they do, they may have the opportunity to stay on or move to another part of the world with a strong recommendation from Dressel.

 

[george_austin]

So, how can these operations be allowed to have people who are not Divemasters (because they are DMs-in-training) doing DM tasks? How can a DM-in-training (who is thus not a certfied Pro yet) be allowed to conduct a DSD, for example?

Do these operations also have OW classes where the DM-in-training is being used to support having a higher student-to-instructor ratio than would be allowed for just the instructor by him or herself?

From the RR and Dressel website info about their internships, I kind of got the impression that the DM interns are paying their way, in part, by doing the work that a DM would normally be getting paid for. As well as the other work that is just normal work that wouldn't require a Pro card. So, how is that allowed? Do PADI standards have some exception in them that allows a non-DM to perform the tasks of a DM if the person is in training to be a DM?

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For these "free" DM internships, what kind of work are you doing for 4 to 6 months that "pays" for your training?

Specifically, are you doing actual DM work? I.e. working as an assistant to an instructor who is teaching OW classes?

Leading certified divers on guided dives?

Conducting DSDs and/or refreshers?

Or are you...

Lugging tanks?

Swabbing the boat deck and cleaning the head?

Working the cash register?

Washing rental gear?

Is it 40 hours (or more?) of actual work each week, plus the time required for your training?
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He'd be the FNG - of course he's going to be "lugging tanks" and "cleaning the heads" - "washing down the boat" "washing and stowing rental gear"
How is he going to lead dives when he doesn't know the sites?
Americans are so spoiled. DM-ing is about WORK. It's not all assisting the tenured local guys with vacation divers and sitting around in the sun hitting on Dutch girls. Free room and board in exchange for a possible DM cert sounds pretty good to me. My internship was 18 months of hell in the cold Pacific dealing with wealthy, entitled old people that smelled like boiled cabbage and urine - and couldn't swim but saw a show on the Discovery Channel and thought that at 60 years old, they'd like to be a frogman.

Go for it kid, follow your dream. Learn to work as hard as the locals do

 

[george_austin]

4 to 6 months? I think it'd be at least twice that long - at least I would hope so. You're not going to be doing that much diving. You're going to be spending a lot of time at the shop getting the place organized and looking good - learning the ropes while the boats are out during the day.
What you need is to put a few hundred dives under your belt - say - 25 dives a week for 20 weeks? something like that? Theory, dive sciences, marine animals, first aid, equipment - sales and marketing - customer service - a ton to learn. Not possible in 4 to 6 months - JMHO