considering a career in commercial diving

[DrueDive]

Hi im 20 from the uk and have been looking into becoming a commercial diver. i have done a fam Dive and feel its definatly for me but I am stuggling to find where to find out about jobs or finding the number to the right contractors etc. Does anyone have suggestions on the best places to look or the right way to go about it.
I have 4 years experience in welding and fabrications would this be a big help, or insignificant due to me having no actually commercial diving experience?
Thankyou for any help offered!

Drue

 

[muddiver]

Hi im 20 from the uk and have been looking into becoming a commercial diver. i have done a fam Dive and feel its definatly for me but I am stuggling to find where to find out about jobs or finding the number to the right contractors etc. Does anyone have suggestions on the best places to look or the right way to go about it.
I have 4 years experience in welding and fabrications would this be a big help, or insignificant due to me having no actually commercial diving experience?
Thankyou for any help offered!

Drue

The Commercial Diving Directory

Commercial Diver & ROV Pilot Training | The Underwater Centre, Fort William | Training Divers and ROV Pilots

 

[muddiver]

Here's a spot where you can do a little more reading up on commercial dive schools:
Commercial Dive Information

Young Memorial is a US school that gives just about the bast bang for the buck when spending your dive school dollars.

Another handy place to look at "prevailing wage rates" is the Davis Bacon wage rate page (organized by state): Davis-Bacon by State
Divers usually come under "carpeneters; piledrivers".

Davis-Bacon only applies to government funded jobs, and those don't come up very often. The rest of the commercial diving world makes wages at about half those listed.

 

[DCBC]

This seems to be a recurring question. Quite a bit has been written on this in the other "commercial threads," so check it out. I believe that the industry is strong and will get stronger over the next few years. It's still difficult to get employment if your just starting out (like many other occupations), but it largely depends upon your background. Don't necessarily depend on the ticket you get at a commercial school to get you the job. There's a quite a bit more to it than that. Get a background first in the construction industry as a welder, rigger, etc. before you go to a commercial school. No one will hire you (or continue to do so) if you can't do the job.

 

[chrisski]

Pablo,
I would totally continue keep on keeping on in the carribean if I were you. Like all other things, this too will pass and you can go back to diving in warm water with half dressed women and earning a bit extra in tips. Alternatively you can have your dic* int he dirt in freezing cold zero vis., wishing the f**king monkey heater didnt crap out. Just sayin....

 

[Tommygunn1600]

Hey all I have a question:

I want to join the navy to become a navy diver and get my commerical dive training that way. Does anyone know how hard it is to complete the course?

 

[DGordon]

You are absolutely right, and 20k cheaper than any other school in the US.

Missed one, at least. SBCC marine diving technology, but...if you look at the cost of living in Santa Barbara for the 9 months it takes...you're pretty close...but then again...it's Santa Barbara.

 

[muddiver]

Hey all I have a question:

I want to join the navy to become a navy diver and get my commerical dive training that way. Does anyone know how hard it is to complete the course?

It is very challanging. You should be able to run 3 miles with out getting tire, swim 400 m without stopping and be expected to learn the U.S. Navy Diving Manual, front to back.

The U.S. Army has a diver program that is run throughthe same school pacilities as the Navy that is geared toward the type of work a commercial diver does. I would reccommend that before the Navy. The Navy is too well known and there are more applicants than the Army. Also, there are two Army National Guard units with divers that you might think about going through. One is in Corpus Cristy, TX which is a good place to live near if you want to be a Gulf of Mexico oil patch deep sea super diver. The other is some where up in the northeast United States.

The physical requirements for the Navy diver program are listed on the a number of Navy Diver web site. You can see the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One web site here: Welcome to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit ONE