Becoming a DM - Padi or a different Org?

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Questions for instructors...
Getting closer to retiring and am interested in becoming a Dive master. I have lots of certs with PADI, but also have certs with TDI and IANTD. I found that the training quality from TDI and IANTD to be much higher in expectations and to some degree also the skill set from the various instructors. To be fair those were a Sidemount course and Cavern, Intro, Cave and Cave Stage.
Since most anywhere I might choose to work as a DM will likely be a PADI shop - should I take Dm from a PADI shop also?
Or is the training any better from TDi or IANTD?

 

[tursiops]

Questions for instructors...
Getting closer to retiring and am interested in becoming a Dive master. I have lots of certs with PADI, but also have certs with TDI and IANTD. I found that the training quality from TDI and IANTD to be much higher in expectations and to some degree also the skill set from the various instructors. To be fair those were a Sidemount course and Cavern, Intro, Cave and Cave Stage.
Since most anywhere I might choose to work as a DM will likely be a PADI shop - should I take Dm from a PADI shop also?
Or is the training any better from TDi or IANTD?

The quality of DM training depends on the instructor, not the agency. If you will be using the DM credential in a PADI shop, then you MUST be a PADI DM.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Makes that decision easier. Thanks

 

[boulderjohn]

You should also ask yourself about your long term goals. I, too, because a DM when I retired with vague goals of how I would use that certification in my retirement. I got the certification through my local dive shop and was good enough during that experience for them to hire me immediately to assist in classes. I soon discovered that being a DM is not all I thought it would be--I really needed to be an instructor. So I became an instructor through that shop as well.

If you think you are going to end up instructing, it matters very much which agency you choose, because if you are hired by a shop, you must be certified to teach for the agency the shop uses.

Years ago someone started a thread in the Instructor to Instructor forum. He was in a state of despair because he had gone through all the trouble of getting certified as an instructor, yet none of the shops in his area would hire him. How, he wanted to know, could he gain valuable instructor experience if they wouldn't even give him a chance? Someone asked him what agency he represented, and he answered with the name of an agency that many people would not even recognize as an agency, an agency that I have never seen represented by a dive shop anywhere. The reaction in the thread was immediate and exactly what you might expect. "What were you thinking was going to happen?"

He was quite proud of the agency he represented, and he felt they had done an outstanding job preparing him to teach, but that did not matter. His only option was to work as an independent instructor.

 

[formernuke]

Food for thought, crossover from padi to others is easy and cheap, the reverse is not true.

 

[Miyaru]

I found that the training quality from TDI and IANTD to be much higher in expectations and to some degree also the skill set from the various instructors.

Looks like you already found the key to becoming a really good dive professional: learn from as many instructors as you can.

Once you go the DM route, it's not about learning how to dive anymore. It's about how to teach. What did the other instructors do, that made you value their qualities so much higher. And how are you going to achieve the same.
And that is agency independent.

As the others have already mentioned, future employment is agency dependent. Cross-overs from PADI are easy, cross-overs to PADI are not.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Will do the PADI Dm. Everywhere we holiday they are PADI shops.
I have owned a construction company for years. Learnt how to speak to potential customers and customers and staff and suppliers. I liked to teach my staff and explain how to think. That is were the wisdom is. Thanks everyone for your guidance.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

It all depends on the instructor who hires you as a Divemaster. Your responsibilities will be different from the instructor. Since you would be using PADI cue cards to teach but you cannot certify. Or maybe you will be just filling tanks, doing paperwork and guiding. And then there is personality and charisma as an incentive in whether they hire you.

 

[Scraps]

A prospective dive professional ought to consider very carefully before choosing a path that cuts him or herself off from the 2/3 of the worldwide market that PADI controls.

As someone else who took up diving as a retirement activity, let me offer my best wishes as you pursue your DM credential.

Please note that I chose the phrase "retirement activity." I did not call it a "business" or "career" because those terms imply the presence of income. I don't think my work as a divemaster, instructor, or boat captain will ever do more than defray some of the costs of my diving hobby. But that's okay. I went into it with my eyes open, and I'm enjoying the experience.

 

[boulderjohn]

Please note that I chose the phrase "retirement activity." I did not call it a "business" or "career" because those terms imply the presence of income. I don't think my work as a divemaster, instructor, or boat captain will ever do more than defray some of the costs of my diving hobby.

Absolutely. The main benefit to me, living as I do in Colorado, was it gave me scuba activity in the winter. It was in a pool, but it was better than nothing. I was also a career educator, and I enjoy working with students.