DM Expectations...

[daniel f aleman]

Divemaster is a rating and a job. An instructor can work as a Divemaster. You hear the question, "Captain, are your Divemasters instructors?" Answer, "Sure, we only hire instructors to work as Divemasters on my boat."

 

[diverdowndh]

There is a bottom line here... I'm in for a ride, as it appears anyone that has been thru DM obviously can attest to <grin>. My plus is that I love/dream about being in the water diving, love to play with the equipment, talk about it, post things on scubaboard, etc. I would hope that whatever internship I'm in for will give me experience that I can leverage from, and welcome it. Ok, back to my ResQ books, got to get past that one first, ha!

 

[Bubble Junky]

Bubble Junky

Just to clarify a few points.....
As a DM Trainee, you are not a 'certified assistant' and should not be demonstrating to students - certainly not before the instructor has demonstrated the skill first. Once you are certified as a DM, you may then demonstrate and work with students only after a qualified instructor has introduced the skills first. As a DM you can lead the u/w tours of dives 2-4 of the OW course independant of an instructor, but this is not limited to pairs of students.


Instructors should be more than capable and comfortable teaching without DMs. In the areas of the world I have taught in, I've very rarely had/needed this luxury.


I think you'd earn more than '$1000' in England over a couple of seasons, as I believe it is law that there are assistants on courses here. I may be wrong on that one though.

I believe you are actually wrong on all three of those statements, although some of them may be somewhat valid somewhere in your own neighborhood. I think you would be surprised how much D/M candidates demonstrate and work with students.

No, just the last one of the three. If you read them they include the word 'should' - these statements were not intended to attack your previous post, but to inform the OP of what should happen during a DM course.

You could more accurately state that "the XXXX standards prescribe that ... " but you should also recall that instructors have a lot of leeway.

Please elaborate on the 'leeway'.

And local vis would determine if you needed a D/M (or A/I or T/A or D/C) to watch your students while you performed CESAs one by one. You must have crystal clear vis for you to be ble to conscience leaving your students alone on the surface while you are below?

There are more than one way to skin a cat. I don't leave students alone on the surface - I work with one at a time, completeing all dive flexible skills with one at the end/start of a dive whilst the rest are on the boat. I realise that this might not be possible in all locales, but to say that instructors 'would be hard pressed to teach a class without at least one D/M' was a bit of a sweeping statement.

I listed them all together, as D/M & A/I, including T/A, precisely to avoid any attempts at picky-ness, my dear chap.

I wasn't being picky, I was just interested in the differences, and thought the OP might be too. Oh, and 'dear chap' is a derisory/condescending term too.

 

[diverdowndh]

I never ceased to be amazed at the responses from this board. Thanks to all and be easy on each other!

 

[boulderjohn]

You got a lot of replies from a lot of different locations, and that is one key to the differences in opinion. I live just up the road from you in Colorado, and I assure you that being a DM in Colorado is different from being a DM in any location where people can routinely go out and do their OW dives nearby. In Colorado, if your shop is conducting OW dives in one of the few local sites available, you may well find yourself setting up materials ahead of time (such as a dive platform, if you use one) and watching for diver problems in low visibility. In the CW classes, you will find yourself mostly watching to make sure everyone is OK during the instruction. That is an excellent time to watch a skilled instructor at work and prepare for your future.

You may also get a chance to teach discover scuba and scuba review classes. These are great opportunities to hone your instructional skills.

Now that I have narrowed it down to the state, it will also vary from LDS to LDS. I just described how it was when I started as a DM, but it is different in that shop now. We do not use DMs to assist CW classes anymore. There are so many professionals available that we only use AI's for that. I had to get my AI in order to continue assisting classes, and I wisely chose not to get my full instructor at the time because we already had too many instructors, and I would only be allowed to work as an AI anyway.

Working for a time as an AI gave me more valuable time watching skilled instructors at work. When I finally started instructing myself, I had picked up a lot of good tips and had a good sense of how to get students through the full instructional sequence.

As for your situation, the owner of the shop is always dealing with some level of staffing insecurity. People come and go. When I was working on my DM, the shop was fully staffed and didn't need anyone. I got my DM and began to look around for work, and at that moment the shop decided that they needed another DM after all, and they offered me the position. It is now years later and all three people in my DM class, none of whom had any indication that they had a DM position in the offing when they took the class, are now working as instructors for the shop.

I would guess that when you take the class, you will be watched carefully for your potential. If the shop has true instructional integrity (and I believe every CO shop I know does have this quality), it will only want to hire people who will preserve or improve its reputation. You will not be expected to be perfect. You will, however, be expected to demonstrate a willingness to learn and (especially) the ability to work patiently and effectively with the most troubled students.

 

[fisheyeview]

Except for the years I was away at college I DM'd for the LDS where I got my DM training for 16 years. I finally left after the one of the owners and I had a parting of the ways.

In those 16 years I worked on and off in their stores for commission, got dive gear at Key Man prices, I got paid to crew on their boats, worked more classes than I would care to remember, and dove for free when ever I wanted to.

I saw a lot of instructors come and go over the years. I built up a good enough relationship with the owners that any new instructor they hired had to use me for a couple of classes, and I would evaluate them for the owners. It's not that I was better than the instructors (well, not all of them), it was just a matter of trust.

 

[diverdowndh]

That is cool that you DM'ed for years and did not embark on the Instructor. It seems like if you do go for DM there is somewhat of an expectation to head that direction - and for a while I do not intend to go for Instructor... for now anyway. I like the idea of being able to accompany the LDS on trips or take smaller groups on trips, free of charge. I also like the idea of upgrading my equipment easily, and just staying around the diving industry, etc - all of which my LDS and I discussed. I live in Colorado, so this should be a great way to get more experience. The last thing I want is to be a very limited experience Instructor.

 

[ClayJar]

That is cool that you DM'ed for years and did not embark on the Instructor. It seems like if you do go for DM there is somewhat of an expectation to head that direction

In my first class, we had a new instructor (the first class he ever taught solo). We also had a seasoned old DM. The guy was a DM because he just liked helping people. He didn't need to become an instructor, and I'm pretty sure he isn't making a killing on being a DM. He's just doing something he enjoys.

Although I certainly plan to become an instructor, I'd like to keep myself open for working like an AI or DM for other instructors. I like helping people too much to think I have to be the instructor of record in order to help out in a class when I've got "free" time. It'd be a great way of "paying forward" what I myself was given by those who brought me along. (I'm just amazed sometimes that I don't have to *pay* to help people -- don't tell them I said that, of course, as I really like occasionally being treated to dinner. :biggrin

 

[diverdowndh]

I'm totally with you! It was made clear that I won't make much money, and I didn't really expect to. I want experience and just to be around the whole diving scene. Paying back is another aspect, didn't think about that. Also, my LDS said something like you can make X dollars an hour, or you can get 1.5X equipment dollars for time worked.... heck, that was an incredible offer in itself.
Instructor is something I just want to think about and work towards at my own pace!

 

[boulderjohn]

I like the idea of being able to accompany the LDS on trips or take smaller groups on trips, free of charge. I also like the idea of upgrading my equipment easily, and just staying around the diving industry, etc - all of which my LDS and I discussed. I live in Colorado, so this should be a great way to get more experience. QUOTE]

Your LDS takes DM's on trips free of charge and lead trips? That's a pretty good deal, then. Just make sure you understood correctly. My Colorado LDS does not take DM's on trips unless they book on as guests. (Of course, they are then treated as guests, not employees.) In order to lead a major trip, you have to be a MSDT. You can lead the small trips (like Key Largo) as a OWSI.