After you get your DM cert, how easy is it to get a visa/job?

[tcovyc]

I am currently saving money to get my DM in Koh Tao, Thailand. My question is after I get certified how easy is it to get work visas for different locations around the world? I emailed a couple places in Egypt and they said that it was almost impossible for them to hire American DMs due to work visa restrictions. Where can I go and find a job? Which countries will let me work safely? I have read horror stories of DMs working illegally and getting in big trouble and I do not want that to be my fate. Any advice or stories would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

 

[supergaijin]

It's not realistic to imagine that you arrive in a country and then get work as a DM as you backpack around. Most tropical locations nowadays hire local DM's for guiding in an effort to source work locally and locals are often paid less than foreigners.

You often need to be an instructor to work in a foreign country and you are often required to speak a language other than English. Many countries require work permits organised by the dive center and it is more beneficial for DC's to hire foreign instructors who can provide both instruction and guiding services. Perhaps the extremely large DC's could afford a foreign DM, but most will opt for locals.

It is still possible in SE Asia to pick up work by being in the right place at the right time... but it requires luck, patience and money to support the down time. Again, a foreign language helps a lot.

 

[tcovyc]

Thank you for the information! That was a a little discouraging to hear. I was hoping to find a place somewhere to work as a DM so that I can stay traveling for a little longer but from everything I have read it will be very difficult if I am not an instructor.

 

[scubafied]

Yup, go for Instructor if you want to find work. I have heard more than one dive shop talk negatively about people that did their professional training in Thailand and they move any applications from those who did to the circular file immediately. I'm not saying that all training in Thailand is bad, there are standards that are supposed to be met regardless of where you train. I can't speak to the variety of conditions you'll find there although, I made some good friends during my IDC in Bali that did their DM in Koh Tao. They wished they had done it somewhere different and their main reasoning was that there is far more emphasis paid to partying than diving and they didn't have the opportunity to learn some of the dive skills you acquire from learning to DM in varied conditions. Again, not saying that training in Thailand is bad, just passing on what I have heard about it.

 

[Bubble Junky]

For Thailand. check the website Thailand news, forum, visa, immigration : thaivisa.com for info about obtaining a work permit, but as already said, life is much easier as an Instructor. On the west coast of Thailand, esp Koh Lanta and Koh Phi Phi, foreign DMs are used. Whether or not they are legal can be a different story tho'. In Thailand there are relatively few local DMs, but in the Philippines and Indo for example, the opposite is the case...

I wouldn't worry too much about people saying you can't find work if you only speak English too - this is a fallacy. I am English and have never, in over ten years, had a problem finding work. You just need to put the right spin on it. Dive centres need languages, sure, but beng a native English speaker is a huge plus too. For example a French instructor would be able to teach in French, and maybe in English, but a native English speaker will be able to communicate better with a wider variety of nationalities. We can communicate and explain things better to people who take the course in English, when English is their second language. And a huge percentage of students in Asia fall into this category. Speaking a second language is a great skill to have, but so is being a native English speaker...

And also ignore the dive centre owners who discard a CV because it says you were trained in Thailand. It's probably not a good idea to work for someone so narrow-minded. If they can't be bothered to judge you as an individual, then look elsewhere. As if all instructors in Thailand are bad ? Thailand just has a huge dive industry, so anyone with the nous to understand the basic concept of percentages should be able to work out the stupidity of these claims. Thailand has more instructors than it's neighbouring countries, and therefore it will have more good instructors as well as more bad instructors, but the percentages of good and bad wouldn't be different. Location doesn't not make someone a better instructor than another person. Having worked all over the Asia-Pacific region, it seems to come from jealousy. For example, the dive industry in Australia looks down on the Thai industry because Thailand gets way more students. Then you go to New Zealand, and they look down their noses at people trained in Australia for the same reasons...

 

[tcovyc]

Thank you so much Bubble Junky for the encouraging words! I am not dead set on training in Thailand. That thought popped in my head because I have done some diving in Koh Phi Phi and Koh Phangan and really enjoyed myself. Last year I did some diving in Belize and met an American DM who Said he was trained in Koh Tao and some how landed a dream job in Belize. I decided that I wanted to walk that same path. I am going to be travelling for a year or so and just thought that since I already love diving then getting my DM and finding work here and there would allow me to stay on the road a little longer. I would like to get my DM somewhere inexpensive, and I do not particularly want to work in the same place that I get certified. If I have the option to work in Thailand then I would like to get certified somewhere else. Do you have any other information on where Americans can work as DMs with regards to obtaining work permits? Or other Recommendations on where would be a good place to get certified if not Thailand? Thank you again for all of the info and I look forward to hearing from you again!

 

[mathauck0814]

Notice the Course Director selling the PADI vision? It's criminal the way that "go pro" is pushed on new divers who get enchanted by the prospect of "living the dream". Go back to school, get a degree and a great job. Enjoy diving from the fruits of your labor. Leave the pyramid scam to others.

 

[DevonDiver]

PADI can be 'over-zealous' (diplomatically speaking) in selling the 'dream lifestyle' that many might associate with 'Going Pro'.

There's always another 'step up' before the lucrative work is going to come..."get your instructor, that's where the action happens".... "get your IDCS/MI it really helps secure work"...."be a Course Director lots of jobs..." etc etc

Yes, you can make it work... a tiny percentage of those who qualify as DM/Instructor manage to do so, in return for great sacrifice, long-term commitment and a realistic appreciation of what their actual lifestyle will be... The majority that don't.... well, that's reflected in the tiny retention figures for professional membership...

It's a dream for many people.... nothing about a plastic DM card stops it being nothing more than a dream...

 

[tcovyc]

yes I did notice the title. I have already graduated and have a good job which has allowed me to do a fair amount of diving. I do not want to live in the dive industry. Basically I am interested in taking a year off and do some travelling. I think it would be cool to take a DM course and work in a different country for a bit to fund some travelling. I am not really interested at this point to Spend the money it would take to be an instructor. I was just mostly asking about Visas and work permits for DMs in other countries.

 

[DevonDiver]

If you go to a location like Koh Tao, you can possibly find 'illegal' work - it's quite common... as it is in some other major diving hotspots on the backpacker trail. Many DMs graduate from courses in Thailand and find freelance or full-time work (and many don't). Very few of those have work permits etc. Sometimes the work is 'on the books' as some form of 'internship' whilst commission is paid (still technically illegal).

If your intention is go and have some fun, but not really forge a 'career', then it's possible. The wages (if any) probably won't cover your lifestyle, but might stretch your savings a little over a finite period. You can have some fun though.

Alternative skills can definitely help - website design, marketing, sales etc...

If you seriously wanted to 'work' over gap year travels etc, you'd be better off investing in a 'teaching English in a foreign language' type qualification....