Questions about becoming a scuba instructor

[craziecutiee]

Hi, I am a junior and high school who is seriously considering the life of a scuba instructor. I posted this thread because I have a couple of questions that I need a bit of information on this is the place to get some answers. (FYI I haven't yet had a chance to take a scuba class and right now I currently live in Michigan)

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1)I have the opportunity to intern anywhere I'd like this June and I thought about going to the local Padi shop and seeing if I could do my intern there, but then I started wondering can I learn from them if I can't even get into the water? Then I thought maybe I could go down to the small aquarium up the street and learn something there, but I'm not so sure. Any ideas?

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2) I have to go to college. So I was thinking maybe I could go to school for marine biology somewhere near the coast and in my free time get more certifications and experience. Is marine biology even relevant for scuba instructors or is there some other nonobvious major that could prove more handy? Or should I just go for any major of my choice.

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3) I am willing to take this risk knowing that the pay isn't grand, but is it likely that I will find a job? Where should I go to find said job? And what to do in my spare time until then? My goals with this career are to work at a resort, or some other training spot, maybe travel a bit, but most importantly to enjoy it. My final question is are these goals realistic and achievable? Thank you for any type of response and advice.

 

[Kay Wilson]

The life of a Scuba Instructor can be very fulfilling, and I am sure that you will be very happy, however if I'd like to offer you some advice to help you.

Focus on college - get a degree!

Marine Biology is a great choice, and will open lots of doors for you.

PADI Instructor rating will count towards college credit.

As an instructor you can earn additional funds teaching your class mates, and arranging travel for them to great dive locations.

If you decide to intern in a dive shop you are unlikely to earn a salary, but you will make tips.

Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo offers a great intern program, but will need to be 18 years old to participate.

Dive centers get literally hundreds of resumes each year from Instructors, especially dive shops in the tropics. You will stand a better chance of employment if you have additional skills. Boat handling (captains license), regulator and compressor maintenance skills are always in demand. A business qualification, accounting, management skills are sought after (a dive shop is a business don't forget). Underwater photography and videography are useful, especially if you have professional experience.

Your goals are realistic, and if you are prepared to approach the dive industry with a focused, professional attitude you can have a career that will be the envy of your classmates!

 

[Mitchell Teeters]

Being a scuba instructor full time would be too cool! Sadly that is hard to do. Most that I know instruct as a second job. Find something that will make you a living then you can do the fun stuff. Good luck!


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[Trace Malinowski]

Lately, I've been seeing a lot more opportunities for marine scientists posted in job sites. I'd consider trying to double major in business and biology. The research seems to indicate that broader degrees are now more sought after than specialized degrees from employers. Biology will allow you to go anywhere and do anything related to it after you earn the B.S. degree. If you desire to specialize, I'd take a serious look at hydrology and limnology as potent drinking water will be more important in the future or coastal zone management as the effects of global warming will continue to trouble the coastlines.

Traditionally, dive shop owners and instructors are horrible business people. If you can get some formal education you may wind up running your own shop some day and have a background that will help you run a small business. If you want to work for someone else in a shop and make it a career, you might end up managing a resort dive center.

Resorts need people who can skipper dive boats, repair compressors, fix diesel engines and the like. Being multilingual or bilingual are also in-demand skills. So, study a second language until you are fluent. Since you'll have part-time jobs while in school try to find ones that will allow you to be mechanically-inclined or spend summers building sea time toward a captain's license.

At some point, many talented people who enjoy diving decide to run away from the real world and become dive pros so the competition is fierce. Long days and low pay or no pay instructor jobs end many mid-life crisis many people have and create openings.

Becoming a PADI instructor is pretty easy and most resorts that are PADI facilities just want to know you are a PADI instructor and don't really care if you have a lot of other advanced or technical certifications. Pretty girls with out-going personalities tend to get hired if they don't have many other talents because men like pretty girls and female instructors are sometimes less intimidating for female clients. Male instructors get hired if they have British accents. Other than that it pays to have another in-demand skill if you are a male without an accent. If you have a southern accent and you are a male you'll be expected to be able to fix stuff.

If you can get a hold of an article from Scuba Diving magazine in the 90's called "Cayman Cowboys" it will give you an idea of the lifestyle. I was once a Cayman cowboy myself. If you want to read about marine biology check this link: Marine Biologist.

If you would like to be saved from yourself have your parents call me.

 

[TravisS.]

2) I have to go to college.

You "get" to go to college. You have the opportunity to do so. Many have worked themselves sick for years trying to get through college. Many have literally fought for the opportunity. Assuming your parents/grandparents are supporting your college endeavor, bless them by having a proper attitude and appreciation for what has been given you. You can change your attitude now, your appreciation will grow with experience.

Just being an instructor would be a hard life, especially once you want to "settle down". But having a job that allows or even demands you dive would be an interesting combination.

 

[Quero]

Hi craziecutiee. I'm curious about how you came up with the idea of becoming a scuba instructor. I used to work in educational advising helping young people decide on what to do when they finished high school, and also I started thinking back when my kids were high school juniors, and I remembered that one of them (the only one who was a junior in a school in the US) took a career aptitude test that year. So I thought maybe you did too, and the test gave you a list of potential jobs, among which was scuba instructor. Of course the idea of becoming a scuba instructor seems interesting (I mean, I'm an instructor, so I know how that goes), even though you haven't ever tried it. With that idea in mind, I found a website that I think gives great information to young people thinking about their futures. There are sections in this website that discuss the work of a scuba instructor, what you should study, how much you can expect to earn, etc. Take a look!

CFNC--Scuba Instructor

 

[Damselfish]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is, since you haven't tried diving yet you don't know for sure you will like it or be able to do it. Sometimes people find they have trouble clearing their ears, breathing UW just does not suit them, or other issues. So it would be good to try at least a discover dive or get into a basic OW course before you get too far ahead of yourself.

 

[Quero]

Some more thoughts in relation to your specific questions:

• Think about the name of the job: Scuba Instructor. The Bureau of Labor Statistics classes this occupation as "Self-enrichment teacher" together with things like music teacher and language teacher. I believe that some education classes as part of your college degree would be helpful given that being a scuba instructor has to do with teaching.
• I agree that business studies would also be helpful. Even if you ultimately don't own a scuba business, you make yourself a more attractive potential employee if you understand how to sell (courses, travel, equipment), if you know how to keep books (billing, banking, etc.), and if you know how manage a business (budgeting, human resources).
• An understanding of marine biology is nice, but not essential, for a scuba instructor. Scuba is more of a supporting skill for marine biologists than marine biology is for a scuba instructor. Business and teaching skills are far more important.
• For an internship, working at a dive shop, even if you can't dive, would help more than working at an aquarium, mainly for the reasons listed above. At least at the shop you will get an understanding of what sorts of skills you lack (and therefore what you might want to study) in order to work in the scuba industry.
• You will find a job as long as you stick to what you wrote--resort area, travel, etc. As to what to do in the meantime, get your Open Water certification and get those jobs at local dive centers. When you get to college, keep working with the divers in training, volunteer at the equipment room, etc. Stay in touch with the activity as much as you can. Get experience. Drag your family into certification so that you can do vacations together at different places....

 

[TSandM]

I think having a goal is what is important. And if you are unsure of what you want to do with your life, taking a few years early on to go do something adventurous like teach scuba is probably a good way to learn a lot of life lessons. A job like that will teach you a lot about self-discipline and diplomacy, and about budgeting and perhaps, in the end, what you don't want to do for the rest of your life (i.e. be poor).

If you set yourself a path toward being an employable scuba instructor -- learn a language, take some business classes, learn some mechanical skills -- and go get your instructor rating and use it for a while, you will be no worse off in the long run, and probably a great deal better off than the majority of people who have never had to learn how to buckle down before they go to college, and have no well-defined goal.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

With the other responses, I want to encourage you and hope you keep your enthusiam. But lets start at the beginning. First thing, you should try scuba diving in something like a Discover Scuba experience. If you like it, and I am about 99.9% sure you will, then the next step is to take a certification course. Many colleges, even land locked ones here in Colorado, offer a certification course for which you can also get a college hour credit. Or you can certify before heading off to college. Either way is good. Once you are certified, you can enjoy your college spring breaks diving in Mexico or Florida, Hawaii, or elsewhere in the world. As you gain diving experience, add additional certifications along the way: advanced open water, rescue diver, and also take an emergency first aid/ cpr class and stay current. The your ready for your initial professional credential, divemaster, and you should have 60 to 100 dives in your log book before you start the program. Some programs let you start with less, but more experience is better. If you are still in college when you do it, many schools have accredited that program for 2 semester hours credit, usually in recreation. A divemaster program can be don in pieces over several months ( I was fast at 3 months 3 weeks from beginning to end, or there are some "boot camps" where you can do it all, all day long , in a couple of weeks. After that, you are ready for an instructor course, again done over a few months part time, or at a "bootcamp" in a few weeks. Achieving the status of instructor requires training, experience, time and competence. A good instructor can find work, sometime full time work. Finally, and this may blow your mind, you can get a 2 year associates degree in scuba diving and credentials as an instructor ( as well as alternate areas) at Florida Keys Community College. And of course, you can go on from there to complete a four year degree at another school. How cool is that?! If was about 40 years younger, i think I migh just start my higher education there. Anyway, explore you options, make good choices, and know that there are lots of ways to include diving in your future.
DivemasterDennis