Cross Organization Instructor Certifications

[RobPNW]

In the near future, I will likely be done with my PADI instructor certification. I may be moving to a city where the only dive shop is an SSI shop. As a PADI instructor, would I be able to teach classes in an SSI shop? Thanks in advance.

 

[rick00001967]

as a padi instructor you can teach independently, so yes, you can teach padi courses even if you work for an ssi shop. many shops allow their instructors to teach with multiple agencies.

 

[tursiops]

...but you can't teach SSI classes, only PADI. If you cross-over to SSI, you keep your PADI instructorship, so you become more valuable to the shop.

 

[boulderjohn]

The only thing preventing you from teaching as a PADI instructor in an SSI shop is the shop owner. He or she may or may not want to have both agencies being taught there, and he or she may or may not choose to hire you at all. You should first find out about the chances of employment, and then ask the person (hopefully) hiring you what your best choice would be. You may have to get certified by SSI to work there.

If you are not going to get hired in any event (it may surprise you how likely that might be), as a PADI pro you can work independently. For a new instructor, that might be very difficult. It depends very much on where you live. I live in Colorado for most of the year, and if I had to make it as an independent OW instructor here, I would quit. The local infrastructure is not set up for it. In contrast, I live in Florida for a few months each year, and I could do pretty well as an independent instructor there. I wouldn't need a big equipment inventory because local shops want me to use them, and they will rent all the gear to my students and give them tank fills at a good discount. (Local Colorado shops will not rent gear or fill tanks for someone else's students.) Dive boats want me to use them, so they will give my students discounts on rides and let me go for free. (In Colorado, for half the year there is little to no local diving, so I can't complete their certifications at all.) I make it as an independent in Colorado only because I specialize in technical diving. I have almost no competition, my students have their own gear, and local shops will work with me because they don't offer tech, so I am not competing with them.

 

[RobPNW]

I already have a full time job. This would be doing classes after hours and dives over the weekend, probably 1-2 times a months. This shop is not a PADI shop anymore. They are SSI now and offer SSI classes only.

If I remember correctly, I believe that 2 staff typically went on dives with students. Maybe I could be the 2nd staff and not the guy that actually signs there certification.

My motivation is this... I will likely be retiring in a few years. When I do, my plan is to move somewhere warm and dive regularly. I was thinking it would be cool if I got a part time job with a local dive shop, wherever I end up. That way, I can meet people, stay busy, and hopefully be able to fill my own tanks etc to keep the cost of my hobby down.

If I go ahead and get my instructor cert now, I assume that I have to stay active to some extent as an instructor to keep my cert official. That's why I was hoping to do a few classes a year locally. Then I found out the shop is SSI only now. Hopefully, that clarifies where I'm coming from.

Worst case scenario, I just dive for fun and do my instructor cert in a few years, just prior to retiring.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[boulderjohn]

If you are going to have to switch to SSI (which is not free) to do a tiny bit of instruction at that shop and then move somewhere else, I would not suggest it. If your profile is accurate, I think you should do as much diving as possible, the more advanced the better, over the next two years. Work hard on your skills. When you are ready to move to your new location, you can check that area out and make a more timely decision.

 

[RobPNW]

If you are going to have to switch to SSI (which is not free) to do a tiny bit of instruction at that shop and then move somewhere else, I would not suggest it. If your profile is accurate, I think you should do as much diving as possible, the more advanced the better, over the next two years. Work hard on your skills. When you are ready to move to your new location, you can check that area out and make a more timely decision.

Thanks John, that makes sense. BTW, I am thinking longer term, like 8-10 years from now. Just planning ahead a bit.

 

[rick00001967]

i had reason to contact ssi once about this issue. the answer i was given was this.....an instructor from another agency cannot assist with, or teach an ssi course. you would think this is obvious right ? but there are many shops who do it anyway.

that said, ssi does allow what they call "experience" dives to count toward certs in some circumstances. so as a padi pro, you could lead a dive that may qualify to be counted towards one of the dives required for an ssi specialty for example.

i would normally tell someone to complete the padi instructor course and then simply cross over to ssi if you need to, but in your case i am not sure that is the best course of action. i say this because of the number of years you are talking about. i think you would be better to work with your local ssi shop to complete the ssi instructor training instead.

 

[kmarks]

If you've already paid for the PADI instructor training, it'll be a lot cheaper to crossover to SSI than to abandon it and try to start over again with SSI. It's about $1,000, depending on the shop, to do either crossover from PADI or SSI Diveguide/Divemaster. If you are already an instructor with PADI, that saves you the additional ~$3k to get to full OW instructor with SSI.

 

[DiveProKoko]

In the near future, I will likely be done with my PADI instructor certification.....would I be able to teach classes in an SSI shop?

Have you looked into the SSI Crossover program? SSI is heavily recruiting instructors from other agencies. Their website has details. No idea what the cost is or how the program works because it doesn't apply to me. I just know you can take an SSI Crossover course if you are already a PADI instructor and get your SSI OWI cert to teach SSI courses.....and retain your PADI cert.