How old is too old to start a career in diving?

[Divin'Papaw]

Old thread, is the OP even still around?

Like most people who are gung-ho to start a "career" in diving she's probably already burned out, dropped out, and is now working at McDonald's and making far more money.

 

[cerich]

Depends on your definition of "career" and "success". If you define the former as any job at all and the latter as not physically starving, then just about never.



If you had started many years ago, you'd most likely be in the exact same place as where you started, which also happens to be the correct answer to "where do you see yourself in 10 years" in this industry.

oh bull, left the Canadian Military at 28, 5 years in Cayman as an instructor. Another 20 years in the States in the dive industry. I think it is fair to say that I have enjoyed a career in the dive industry and i am not the only one.

The problem is not that you can't make a career in the dive industry, the problem is that too many don't want a career, they want a paid vacation with a card that says they are a "Professional" when a dive instructor card is to the dive industry what a High School diploma is to every other industry..and they don't call them "pro's".

If someone wants the divemaster lifestyle diving everyday then the odds are low they will make much, because they aren't worth much in pay for a variety of reasons. There are ways to make great money doing it however but it will actually take more skills than being a dive instructor/master to positioning their selves to make more. Very few figure that out.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

oh bull, left the Canadian Military at 28, 5 years in Cayman as an instructor. Another 20 years in the States in the dive industry. I think it is fair to say that I have enjoyed a career in the dive industry and i am not the only one.

The problem is not that you can't make a career in the dive industry, the problem is that too many don't want a career, they want a paid vacation with a card that says they are a "Professional" when a dive instructor card is to the dive industry what a High School diploma is to every other industry..and they don't call them "pro's".

If someone wants the divemaster lifestyle diving everyday then the odds are low they will make much, because they aren't worth much in pay for a variety of reasons. There are ways to make great money doing it however but it will actually take more skills than being a dive instructor/master to positioning their selves to make more. Very few figure that out.

Well said. Indeed, there are a few who figure this out. They are the bedrock of the industry and I am so very thankful that they have built the businesses that they have. Unfortunately the vast majority have no clue how to make it work and end up burned out and off onto something else.

 

[tridacna]

I retired as a C-level exec of a Fortune 500 after 30 years and began my second career working for $11/hr in a LDS. Far less than any employee in my old company. The hours, benefits and perks were a tad better in corporate life - SCUBA is a fun avocation but as a career? Tough row to hoe. No instructor in our store is full-time. This is a strictly sideline activity.

 

[NothingClever]

I retired as a C-level exec of a Fortune 500 after 30 years and began my second career working for $11/hr in a LDS. Far less than any employee in my old company. The hours, benefits and perks were a tad better in corporate life - SCUBA is a fun avocation but as a career? Tough row to hoe. No instructor in our store is full-time. This is a strictly sideline activity.

That’s hero status right there.

I’m still on the front end of a retirement transition (1.5 years out) hoping I can smoothly adjust my definition(s) of success. Mentally I’ve accepted an inevitable decrease in pay and responsibility but I’m not sure I’ve emotionally accepted it yet.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I retired as a C-level exec of a Fortune 500 after 30 years and began my second career working for $11/hr in a LDS. Far less than any employee in my old company. The hours, benefits and perks were a tad better in corporate life - SCUBA is a fun avocation but as a career? Tough row to hoe. No instructor in our store is full-time. This is a strictly sideline activity.

Sounds very similar to my previous career and subsequent progression / regression into diving for a living. The big plus for me is going home physically tired and happy rather than mentally tired and miserable.

 

[Blasto]

I retired as a C-level exec of a Fortune 500 after 30 years and began my second career working for $11/hr in a LDS.

That's how you become a millionaire dive pro!

oh bull, left the Canadian Military at 28, 5 years in Cayman as an instructor. Another 20 years in the States in the dive industry.

Building dive gear or managing a piece of PADI?

Usually people looking for a "diving career" are looking for one where their job is actual diving, and that, sadly, starts to decline right at the DM->OWSI level.

 

[cerich]

Building dive gear or managing a piece of PADI?

Usually people looking for a "diving career" are looking for one where their job is actual diving, and that, sadly, starts to decline right at the DM->OWSI level.

A wide mix https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-e-richardson-75561345/

People that are looking for a "diving career" where they hang on a boat in the tropics and dive every day are generally not in fact in any way looking for a "career". They may think they are, they are mostly not understanding what the dive industry is, nor what a career is.

 

[TMHeimer]

A wide mix https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-e-richardson-75561345/

People that are looking for a "diving career" where they hang on a boat in the tropics and dive every day are generally not in fact in any way looking for a "career". They may think they are, they are mostly not understanding what the dive industry is, nor what a career is.

Yeah that's it. Yes, some instructors make a fairly good living-- even some that just teach and do nothing else such as retail, etc. There are also a handful of musicians in the top symphonies.

 

[Blasto]

People that are looking for a "diving career" where they hang on a boat in the tropics and dive every day are generally not in fact in any way looking for a "career". They may think they are, they are mostly not understanding what the dive industry is, nor what a career is.

It is of course their own mistake... but you can't deny that certain dive agencies and zero-to-hero programs are selling exactly that as a dream.

Where they stop short is telling their customers that the career is selling that dream.