Calling all commercial divers, newbi needs help.

[jrvyota]

Hi, I am new to this board, but thought it would be a great place to get some questions answerd. I am just about to enroll in a commercial diving school, and was hoping to get some input from commercial divers as to what i should look for in a good school. What classes would be better to take, or what would be more in demand once i get into the feild. What do companies look for in a diver. Or maybe anything you thought would be helpfull when you enrolled or graduated. My diving history is pretty simple PADI, with a few inland and costal dives. If these questions have allready been answerd, sorry and if thist post is better suted for another forum, please mods move it.
Thanks.l

 

[The Chad]

Hey there I'm not a commercial diver but looked into it. The Ocean Corp in Houston is supposed to be good, also looked at the one in Jacksonville and wasen't really impressed. I fell a little on the old side 37 as of today. They said most guys were just out of HS or the Navy. My wifes Mom knows some ppl down in Corpus Cristi so went down there and talked to them a bit. They said mostly in their Gulf it was kinda shallow and bad viz. Hopefully you haven't spent too much money on PADI classes yet. Some have job placement and I think you have to be a tender for awhile. Based on what I heard it seemed better to be on a rig well off shore and somewhere else as far as pay went. The impression I got from the Gulf area kinda seemed like it was "hillbilly" diving and you were better off to have an in somewhere. Expensive when I checked something like 14k and 6 months. Good luck in yor endevers

 

[jrvyota]

Thanks for your input. I am 21, I mainly did the PADI cert as somthing to do with family and friends. Your guess on price seems to be pretty close to what i was guessing. I have been to the schools in new jersy, charlston South Carolina, and jacksonville. between those i was leaning more to charlston. I have not heard anything about the ocean corp school, i'll have to check it out. One of the things i really like about the school in charlston is the offerd a course to becom NAUI cert. instructor. I see you are in colorado, where are you instructing at?

 

[plot]

I'm not a commercial diver, but from what I've heard, if you have an engineering degree or know how to weld or have some other usefull trait to add to scuba diving, you'll probably be alot better off.

Good luck.

 

[jrvyota]

Thanks, Right now I work as a welder and have most of the certs. to go along with it. So I will plan on taking an uderwater burning and welding course.

 

[The Chad]

Anytime, the NAUI (or any other angency for that matter) cert probally won't get you too far...that is if your looking for good money. Most instructors have to to do something else as a primary job to make ends meet. No matter what anyone tells you, teaching just dosn't pay the bills, might get you by and thats it. Ocean corp. look them up online they will send you a free info packet and dvd, i believe they also have job placement. For what I understand they will teach you welding, non-destructive testing and other things, I've heard having some medical tech stuff they teach is more desirable as well. I would stay away from saturation diving as if done for a long time will have adverse affects on your health, being bone structure. Good Luck

Right now I'm working with Abyss, co teaching some high school classes. Before that I did some inturn stuff for A-1

 

[covediver]

This question has been subject on a few threads I have been involved with recently.

For many programs, having a cert prepares you for the basic diving course which is the ground level course at a lot of schools.

Two types of schools.

Commercial dive schools of the type you are checking into. Advantage, focused vocational training in what can be a well paying field. No course work not related to your objective. Relatively short period of time. Disadvantage. Quality varies and expense.

Community college programs (like Santa Barbara City College Marine Tech program) Advantage. Vocational training plus an associate of arts degree. Costs can be more reasonable. Disadvantage. Takes longer.

This is an oversimplification but a useful one. It all depends on your goals (vocational training, vocational + college, funds available, where you want to train). You are good to get comments from graduates and other sources.

I can relate that remote and autonomous underwater vehicle technology is being used and will be used to a greater extent in the offshore industry. A good grounding in emerging technology may be useful for long term employment outlook. By the same token, with increases in offshore infrastructure from LNG terminals to offshore windfarms and alternative energy projects, offshore construction looks like it will continue to grow. Hyperbaric chamber operations have also gone commercial beyond diving.

Good luck on whatever choice you make.

 

[jrvyota]

Thankyou again for your responses, Has anyone attended any of the commercial schools around and, if so what was you likes/dislikes about them. I have heard that becoming an EMT can get you in good with a lot of companies as well as provide you with an alternate job, but i am having trouble determaning if the extra time and cost would be worth it. ROV's are sounding like somthing I should consider nessasary in my training?

 

[jrvyota]

Can anyone guide me to any more commercial oriented web sites/forums

 

[covediver]

Sent you a private message with someone you can contact who will give you good advice.