SSI or PADI?

[oly5050user]

PADI has largest market share of industry. Logical then if looking for employment there will be greater demand for PADI instructors. I had NASDS, then SSI now PADI instructor ratings. Taught for ten years with NASDS and SSI. For me , in my experience, PADI had most opportunities for employment and highest pay. There are over 7 PADI facilities in a 15 mile distance from my home here in New York. There are no NAUI, SDI, or SSI facilities nearby. Nearest NAUI facility is in Brooklyn, about a 1 hour + drive away. I do not know if it true about cost of becoming an instructor with other agency's , but why go with least expensive if there is next to no chance of finding work with them? I suggest going to facilities you may want to associate with, ask about chance of getting assigned classes there , what agency they work with, and then choose what you want to do. If you are willing to invest your own $$$$$ and get enough gear to run your own classes, rent pools, etc, then you may want to go with an agency that allows independents. We have independent instructors use our pool at a greatly reduced rate if their students purchase mask, snorkel, fins, boots from the facility.

 

[scubadada]

Hello everyone,

Me and my girlfriend we are thinking about becoming professional Divers and undertake this career, we want to start from the Dive Master course and then hopefully the Instructor one, but our doubt is one, which is better for learning process and then find a job? SSI or PADI? I heard that PADI is the most expensive and common, but too many people has it so it's way more difficult to find a job being PADI certified because there is too much competition and if you are SSI instead it's easier to find a job, is that true?

Where is it you would like to work? The distribution of agencies and jobs might help you make a decision. You might also want to do some or all of your training in the location you'd like to end up

 

[Alessandro Calello]

I found some Diving Centre in Thailand, one will train us with SSI and the other one PADI, Thailand is a cheap place where we can do our courses, but our ultimate goal it would be (maybe) to go to Australia...

 

[SubMariner]

Hello everyone,

Me and my girlfriend we are thinking about becoming professional Divers and undertake this career, we want to start from the Dive Master course and then hopefully the Instructor one, but our doubt is one, which is better for learning process and then find a job? SSI or PADI? I heard that PADI is the most expensive and common, but too many people has it so it's way more difficult to find a job being PADI certified because there is too much competition and if you are SSI instead it's easier to find a job, is that true?

To backtrack a bit ... what is your current level of certification? Also, what is your motivation for becoming and Instructor?

 

[Alessandro Calello]

Me and my girlfriend we are both OWD and our motivation is that we love Diving and we want to do it for living, we would be extremely happy if we could do it everyday and share this passion with others...

 

[oly5050user]

Me and my girlfriend we are both OWD and our motivation is that we love Diving and we want to do it for living, we would be extremely happy if we could do it everyday and share this passion with others...

Need to get a lot of experience ..need to do advance,rescue,divemaster, then IDC then pass IE. Diving for recreation on vacation is a lot different than working every day dealing with tourists, filling tanks, sweeping floors, fixing broken gear/boats, cleaning out the head on boat ,and much more. Long days,few days off, little pay.

 

[Alessandro Calello]

We know how it will be, and we both have been working in the touristic industry for more than 10 years...

 

[Neilwood]

So basically it seem that is not so important what agency you get certified with, but for us as our aim is to do this for living it's very important to understand it, because if you get certified with PADI for example then you can never get a job in a SSI or SDI TDI Diving Centre, because they will require someone that knows the ways of that agency, that's what I think... if you want just dive for passion then surely it doesn't matter...

Probably you are right when you say, depends where you go... but we want to do this as career and so it's very important to understand which one would be better for our future... nobody wants to invest so much money in getting professional in a job and then not being able to do it...

It doesn't really matter a huge amount who you DM with as most agencies will accept other agency cards so long as you are moving to the next level. So an SDI DM card will almost certainly be accepted by PADI for instructor training and vice versa.