Best Value Agency?

[Saltwater_Parrot]

there are a lot of expenses involved with becoming an instructor. Don't forget if you are in the US, you still need insurance for 7 years after you stop teaching! You are better off saving your money for technical diving. You have to teach like crazy to actually earn. You are better off working part time at McDonald's or retail somewhere to pay for your technical diving.

If you want to pay for helium, well, selling one of your kidneys is a more economically viable way to go.

That's exactly what Ive been reading - I definitely wasn't opposed to the idea of teaching but at the same time, it definitely isn't my goal as opposed to technical diving, which is, and if it's not worth it financially then I will just stick to tech. The insurance part especially makes it seem hard to justify, and from what I've been reading, that isn't getting any better. Didn't know about the 7 year policy either - that's pretty wild. I understand the need for liability insurance but it seems to me that these roadblocks will make less and less people motivated to go the instructor route. I know I would be more inclined to do it if the process was less risky, financially. It seems there's actually a fair bit of risk to lose money, too.

Ha! I saw the thread about helium.. I'm hoping to break into the rebreather world once I start working full time in a steady career job, hopefully by next year, so hopefully that will mitigate those costs a bit and line up with tech training.

It really depends on your location. I don’t know of anyone in the Midwest who makes their living solely as an instructor. They might have a totally unrelated full time job, or the full time job might be something related such as owning a dive shop.

Interesting, I kind of figured that but wasn't sure whether it really pays to teach part time, since it seems to be quite a challenge to make much money teaching, period. Seems that it's not really worth it, unless the passion for teaching is there. My instructor owns my LDS, so it seems thats the case here as well (although Im sure there's some more full timers down here).

Looks like I'll forego the pro route and just make my way into the tech world once the time is right.

 

[tursiops]

Don't forget if you are in the US, you still need insurance for 7 years after you stop teaching!

That depends. There is no requirement for this. What matters is what you've been teaching and to whom. It is all about liability....

 

[boulderjohn]

I'm personally quite a ways away from going into any professional role (and not sure if I want to at all), but just out of curiosity - is going the independent route that much more expensive in terms of insurance and such that it actually nets less than working for a shop and having to provide them with a cut (or rather -- you get a cut of their profits)?

Also, is working as a dive professional part time (say on the weekends) while working a full time job common, do-able, or even possible?

The degree to which going independent makes sense depends significantly on where you live and how the logistics of local diving fit in.

The big expense has nothing to do with insurance. If you are going to teach students, the students need to be in scuba gear and wearing full scuba tanks. Where does all that come from? WIll you need to rent pool time, and, if so, how much will that cost?

If you are an independent OW instructor in my area, that is your major consideration. A local shop doing a lot of business can maintain an inventory of equipment and tanks, fill them, and rent pool time for large numbers of students at a reasonable cost. As an independent OW instructor, I could not possibly do all that. Local shops view independent instructors as competition and are in no mood to help out. Consequently, when I decided to go independent, I decided to focus on tech, where students usually get their own gear and where pool time is not much of a consideration.

In contrast, where I spend a couple months each winter in Florida, I could easily be an independent. There are shops all over the place looking to rent gear for local diving, and they even give discounts to instructors and students. Dive boat operators give discounts, too--in fact, when I did teach some of my Colorado students there, the deal was that I dived free and my students dived at a discount.

Going back to my working as an independent tech instructor, there is a definite upside. When a student pays a course fee to a shop, only a tiny percentage goes to the instructor. As an independent, it all goes to you. You would be surprised how much a difference it makes.

BTW, if you do think you want to instruct for a shop, make sure you choose an agency whose instruction is offered by a shop in your area. A few years ago, there was a thread on the Instructor to Instructor forum in which a new instructor had chosen SEI because he thought they had great standards, but he was frustrated because no shop anywhere near him offered SEI instruction, and so he could not get hired anywhere.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The degree to which going independent makes sense depends significantly on where you live and how the logistics of local diving fit in.

The big expense has nothing to do with insurance. If you are going to teach students, the students need to be in scuba gear and wearing full scuba tanks. Where does all that come from? WIll you need to rent pool time, and, if so, how much will that cost?

Some independent instructors teach only con ed. That requires more word of mouth. Though such an instructor needs to be careful to not be cut off from air fills from LDSs.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

That is a perception of the mind and one that PADI has a firm grip on.

 

[Saltwater_Parrot]

The degree to which going independent makes sense depends significantly on where you live and how the logistics of local diving fit in.

The big expense has nothing to do with insurance. If you are going to teach students, the students need to be in scuba gear and wearing full scuba tanks. Where does all that come from? WIll you need to rent pool time, and, if so, how much will that cost?

If you are an independent OW instructor in my area, that is your major consideration. A local shop doing a lot of business can maintain an inventory of equipment and tanks, fill them, and rent pool time for large numbers of students at a reasonable cost. As an independent OW instructor, I could not possibly do all that. Local shops view independent instructors as competition and are in no mood to help out. Consequently, when I decided to go independent, I decided to focus on tech, where students usually get their own gear and where pool time is not much of a consideration.

In contrast, where I spend a couple months each winter in Florida, I could easily be an independent. There are shops all over the place looking to rent gear for local diving, and they even give discounts to instructors and students. Dive boat operators give discounts, too--in fact, when I did teach some of my Colorado students there, the deal was that I dived free and my students dived at a discount.

Going back to my working as an independent tech instructor, there is a definite upside. When a student pays a course fee to a shop, only a tiny percentage goes to the instructor. As an independent, it all goes to you. You are surprised how much a difference it makes.

BTW, if you do think you want to instruct for a shop, make sure you choose an agency whose instruction is offered by a shop in your area. A few years ago, there was a thread on the Instructor to Instructor forum in which a new instructor had chosen SEI because he thought they had great standards, but he was frustrated because no shop anywhere near him offered SEI instruction, and so he could not get hired anywhere.

Interesting points, actually I think the idea of being a tech instructor/cont. ed instructor sounds more appealing to me than an OW instructor as a lot of the concepts applicable to tech diving, I've dealt with quite a bit in university, and also find very interesting in general. That's way down the road though.
Does one progress in teaching roles in the same way they would as a diver -- ie teaching open water first, and then eventually tech, or can an experienced tech diver go straight into teaching technical diving only?

Regarding the agency - funny you brought that up because I was just looking for prospective shops when I move and found that most of them are PADI, whereas there are quite a few SSI shops here (and who I did my OW/doing AOW/Rescue with). I know it doesnt really matter too much on the student side of things but I definitely see what you mean.

 

[tursiops]

That is a perception of the mind and one that PADI has a firm grip on.

?? I have no idea what this means. "That" is a pronoun; to what does it refer?

 

[boulderjohn]

That is a perception of the mind and one that PADI has a firm grip on.

?? I have no idea what this means. "That" is a pronoun; to what does it refer?

The first that does indeed act as a pronoun, with a very uncertain antecedent. The second that is used as a subordinating conjunction introducing an adjectival clause modifying one, which acts as a pronoun replacing perception. (Yes, I used to teach that crap.)

So what does that sentence mean? It is a tough read, but it seems to me that whatever the first that refers to is a perception that PADI somehow controls. I have searched back through the last couple of pages and do not have a clue what perception PADI controls in this case.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

I have searched back through the last couple of pages and do not have a clue what perception PADI controls in this case.

The mind becomes static over time. PADI is a brand name people can relate to.

 

[Island23]

Don't forget about NAUI, lots of universities are affiliated, with NAUI & have OW college courses, mine is one of em ran, by a doctor. In terms of value, which one costs less for me - ha?