How common is this?

[Hockeynut]

Jobs that are really enjoyable are rarely paid well.

True, I should have been a rockstar. :14:

 

[scubadobadoo]

True, I should have been a rockstar. :14:

LOL. That's not a job, that's hitting the lottery.

To clarify what I was saying to the op....I make a living as an actor. You may have seen me on tv before in a commercial or something and didn't realize it. Am I famous? Heck no. Do I make a living doing it? Yes. Do I love it? Sometimes, but it's not the same as it was when I was younger and did it because I chose to. It took me 10 years to get an agent!!! 10 years in NYC!!!!!!!!!!! 10 years of barely making a living and scraping by to do what I once loved above all. The "need to make money doing it" aspect ruins it. I now have to do it because it chose me and by default it pays the bills. I don't get to choose the roles. All I can do is audition and hope I get cast in anything that pays a union wage. Am I complaining? No. Do I make a ton of money? HECK NO. 98% of actors don't make a dime, 1.9% make a living, and the other .01% are Brad Pitt and won the lottery. Same with scuba instructors.

The real question is...do I love diving? YES! Will I make the same mistake with diving that I made with acting? NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NEVER!!!!!!!!! I will just be a diver and choose to dive where, when, and with whom I CHOOSE. Because I want to. That's a luxury people rarely get when they have "cool" jobs like acting or dive instructor.

I was shooting a low budget film this week playing a teacher and a 15 year old kid who was playing an extra sat in his chair and watched as they filmed me doing the same three lines over and over again from five dif. angles over the period of four hours. I asked him if he was having fun and he said, "This sucks. Watching movies is a lot more fun."

Now, sometimes you get those awesome gigs and that's called winning the lottery.

Dive and be happy!

 

[Ironman]

Jobs that are really enjoyable are rarely paid well. I am sure the people who hire instructors are well aware that most people get into it for the love of diving and would work for scraps! Simple supply and demand issue here really.

Very good point. The same is true in commercial aviation - people do it because they want to fly, not for the money, as you can tell when you talk to regional airline first officers, even left-seaters. As long as there are plenty of people who can afford to do it for fun, and are comfortable living a 'simple' life, the situation will remain the same, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[dkktsunami]

I read your bio information and you have an educational background in economics. You should know that capitalism allows you the freedom to make career choices. Noting that you are already dissatisfied with the economic outlook afforded by a diving career consider some other means of making a living and dive for the joy of it all.

 

[vladimir]

Understandable, although I suppose I simply don't have the lack of ethics and morality required to do that sort of business. For instance, me and my best friend are talking about opening an ambulance company once I get my medic (he already has his), but we've both agreed that as the company makes more money, the employees will get paid more. It's never crossed our minds to keep the pay ridiculously low even if we're raking in a lot of profit.

Sure, people will work in fields such as EMS, diving, etc. for scraps because they love it, but doesn't mean someone needs to take advantage of that....it just means that there's the possibility to do so; regardless of whether it's the correct thing to do or not.

You are to be lauded for this attitude. I admire an employer who is willing to take money out of his own pocket to give extra to his employees. Well, I will admire him, if I ever meet him. I have broad discretion over the bonuses of the traders who work for me and I'll tell you what I pay them: as much as it takes to keep them from leaving and no more than it would cost to replace them. That is what scuba instructors get paid too. If that is immoral or unethical, then so is capitalism. Which is certainly open for discussion, comrade.

 

[seaducer]

If that is immoral or unethical, then so is capitalism. Which is certainly open for discussion, comrade.

Capitalism is just fine as long as everyone remembers there are people involved. In the US we have taken capitalism too far, and the country is showing signs of it.

When a company lays off employees at Christmas just to get under budget so the stock holders don't bail, and the CEO takes a 20 million dollar bonus, we have a problem.

We need more government regualtion of business practices, but first we need politicians with scruples.

Crap, thats not going to happen either. See what happens when I have been out of the water too long?

EMTTIM- forget working as an instructor full time. Get job with a great pension, then in 20 years or so retire and then persue it, when you don't need the money and can pick and choose where you work. On top of that you will have alot of experience you can bring to the table for your students.

 

[scubadobadoo]

I'm seeing that...I think I'm going to settle for opening an ambulance company in an area where no travel is required to dive...

Now this may be a very good idea! I wish you much luck! It also doesn't sound like settling to me. It sounds inspiring! I dive with an emt and he is a really great guy! Cool as can be. Nothing phases this guy.

One thing that I found helped to increase my dive numbers was to marry a girl who loved diving and wants to take diving trips as much as I do. Both my wife and I wanted to be marine biologists but we chose other things. Now, we get to pretend to be marine biologists when we dive. Hopefully my daughter, who is due in 3 months, will want to be a marine biologist too. Whatever she wants, as long as she goes diving, lol.

 

[robint]

ditto, most dive instructors are contractors by dive shops. They don't do it full-time. They have regular jobs that pay the bills, teaching scuba is a sideline/hobby. My husband is one of those. He has a full-time (50-60 hour per week job) and teaches scuba on weekends, one class about every other month. That just barely pays for his liability insurance, professional membership, instructional materials, and replacement of some gear as needed. He loves to teach, he loves working with the students and they love him. So as long as he breaks even by the end of the year, we feel it is successful. If he was losing money, he would quit.

The only person I know who makes a decent living as a "scuba instructor" is manager of a dive shop and also a Course Director for PADI. He teaches alot in addition to working full-time at the dive shop. He is not rich, but he can support himself. I am sure some people make an ok living in tropical environments but they can't have the cars and big houses, etc. Nowhere does it pay big money.

 

[freediver]

I teach independently and couldn't imagine working through a dive store. I do rather well independently but I am concerned this month as to whether I'll be able to put new tires on the Land Rover AND the Lexus! Times are tough!

 

[UrMyBoyBlue]

Hey Diva, I'm going to cut you off on that one. While you do get "tipped", it's usually enough to buy a case of beer. If you're crew on a dive boat, the tips can be substantial,when you figure that there's 15-40 people on that boat tipping whatever. However when you're instructing 2-4 students, the amount of time invested (you remember:classes, pool, open water), and the $20 tip you might get at the end is hardly comparable. There is no money in scuba. Not for the manufacturers, the dive shop owner, the boat operators, or the instructors. It's all done for the love.