There are a lot of different jobs in diving that could be considered 'commercial diving'. Are you interested in becoming a scuba instructor at a resort, leading divers, or running a charter boat? (These are sometimes considered 'professional diving' jobs vs. 'commercial').
Or, are you interested in working as a surface-supplied underwater welder, working in the oil industry, doing underwater construction, or deep saturation diving?
One of my early instructors once told me that a company will never pay you for diving; you get paid for the work you do while underwater, and diving is just the vehicle that takes you to the jobsite. With that in mind, you'll need to learn a range of other skills, such as welding, non-destructive testing, ROV piloting, etc. to go along with your diving skills. This is what many commercial dive training programs will teach you to prepare you for working in the industry, in addition to the dive skills you'll need.
A former student and good friend of mine went the commercial diving route, and moved to the South U.S. coast to work. His first year he spent working at barely a living wage as a dive tender, which is where most all offshore commercial divers begin. He was newly married, and spent weeks offshore at a time, away from his wife and family, in a dirty, loud, rough environment (at sea). He ultimately bailed on it and went on to another career.
That being said, experienced, skilled divers who stick with it can make some good bucks, but the lifestyle of that career is definitely worth taking into consideration. I would suggest taking the time to interview people who are doing the kind of work you are interested in doing, visiting them on the job if possible, and seeing if you would like to be in that same position. Maybe you would - and if so, go for it!
Most schools offer financing and placement into jobs at companies, so look into that as well.
I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts.
- Chris
