Instructor Interview Questions

[Mitchell]

fjpatrum has a good point.

Of course as instructors we should be asking some questions to potential students. Anyone care to create a list of questions to ask students on the first night of orientation. I'm sure we could ask many questions and end up with an empty class.

 

[fjpatrum]

So - if a potential student asks all these questions of a freshly qualified instructor, should that student seek training elsewhere?

Experienced instructors have to, by default, be inexperienced instructors at some point. Does that mean there is no validity to their ability as instructors?

It would be great to look back at ourselves with 5 or 10 or 30 years of hindsight and say we are great instructors because we can answer questions about how many people we have certified or what particular finning techniques we teach or whether our students are kneeling in the sand or hovering in perfect trim mid-water to demonstrate basic skills.

Does the concept that an instructor did not certify a particular student mean that there is something lacking in the instructor or in the student? I have refused to certify students and they looked *relieved* afterwards, because they were learning to dive for somebody else's reasons, not their own. Some did just not belong underwater. I have also extended my recreational courses (with no extra pay) for some students who really, *really* wanted to dive but had problems with some aspect of the skills.

As Diver0001 says - quantity does not imply quality, neither does insisting students have this that or the other equipment before they begin, or continue, a basic diver class.

As always - transfer the questions to another profession:
- how long were you at medical school?
- how long have you been a doctor?
- how many patients have you treated?
- how many times were you unable to diagnose an illness?
- do you believe in alternative medicine?
- how many injections have you administered and in what doses?
- how many of your patients have died?

Has anybody who has posted here asked these questions of their doctor? Of all their doctors or nurses? How about relevant questions to School Teachers? Driving instructors? Piano Teachers? Volleyball/Football/Swim Coaches? Skiiing Instructors? Police? News Readers? Politicians?

If you grilled all the other people in your life from whom you received some form of training or advice or guidance or information (including your own parents) as to whether or not they were competent to deliver that guidance we would be stuck in a never-ending cycle of nobody doing anything except asking questions.

One question is enough: What is your training philosophy?
Answer: I teach people to dive competenly and safely to a standard where I would be comfortable to have them as a dive buddy.

Safe diving folks

C.

With all due respect, Crowley, it's unrealistic to expect anyone to give a satisfactory (or at least 100% satisfactory) answer to the single question "What is your training philosophy" when asked by a prospective student. First, because new and prospective students may not understand what "competently" really means in the context of diving, though the extension of being comfortable diving with them as a buddy really helps. Second, most people aren't going to answer as eloquently as you have. Third, what one person requires in a "competent" buddy isn't necessarily what the next person requires so it leaves large amounts of ambiguity depending upon the asker's own personal philosophies.

As for asking piano instructors, volleyball coaches, and the like similar barrage of questions, it's a bit disingenuous to make that comparison. Most of those types of instruction don't involve situations that can easily kill the instructee.

Regarding newness to SCUBA instruction, my class had 10 students. We had 3 instructors and a DM with us at all times. One of the instructors was clearly in an "intern" type situation where he was learning or a new instructor. I was under the impression this was standard, but it may have just been how that particular shop did things.

I agree with your general sentiment that this list is, as given by the OP, aggressive and antagonistic, but to suggest that they aren't important things to know about a SCUBA instructor is simply not true. Different people have different comfort levels and this list will help sort through those comfort levels with far less confusion than the simple "what's your philosophy" question will.

JoeyP

 

[Jim Lapenta]

In addition to the ones Crowley noted I want to know if my doctor is a liberal or a conservative. I want him to give me the correct treatment, and if he's a lib he's liable to give me cyanide if he asks my opinion on politics!

 

[TSandM]

Personally, as someone who was once a surgeon, I think it's entirely reasonable to ask your surgeon, "How many of these procedures have you done? What is your success rate with this procedure?" When I was doing surgery, I would not have resented these questions at all. For some procedures, it is KNOWN that doing very few leads to a higher complication rate.

On the other hand, I don't think it's necessary to refund the money to someone who cannot pass the class. Even in the short time I've been around classes, I've seen some people who had the shop go WAY beyond what was reasonable to try to certify them . . . one on one sessions in the pool and OW, even with several different instructors. Some people shouldn't dive -- is the shop to be penalized financially, when the time has been invested AND the instructor's judgment has been called into play, because the student wanted to do something they are simply not suited for?

There's an interplay between student and teacher. If someone came in to me and sat down with a checklist with all these questions on it, I would deduce some things about that person as a student, which might or might not make me think we would be a good fit. But it wouldn't make me angry. And I do think that encouraging students to ask SOME questions of their dive instructor, beyond "What will this cost and how quickly can we get it done?", is a very good thing.

 

[merxlin]

I think I would be impressed by a student that walked into a shop, and in the course of conversation asked these types of questions. That certainly tells me that they are motivated, and interested enough to want quality instruction. I would not be as impressed with an interrogation approach. I amy also ask them why they feel these things are important. If the answer is "I want to insure a quality learning experience" then they sound like a great scuba candidate. If the answer is "Because I saw them on Scubaboard", it may take the conversation a different direction.

 

[Thalassamania]

...

One question is enough: What is your training philosophy?
Answer: I teach people to dive competenly and safely to a standard where I would be comfortable to have them as a dive buddy.

Safe diving folks

C.

That's the key difference. I teach people to dive in exactly the way that I would have my wife or children learn to dive.

 

[Rhone Man]

A lot of respondents seem to see this list of questions as an interrogation. The first thing I thought of when I read it was "job interview," which it seems to me to be exactly right. It IS a job interview, and considering the potential consequences of substandard training, it's a very important job.

I suspect on SB a list of questions like that makes a lot of sense because it is filled with people who take diving seriously, and take the teaching diving seriously.

Not to put too fine a point on it: the world outside of SB - not so much.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Here's a question for instructors that a student might ask. I'm setting up for class that will start in an hour. I teach classroom in my home. I live alone. My office is the first thing they see when they walk into the kitchen which is also where my front door is located. Straight ahead are wetsuits hanging, regs on the bench, reels hanging from the rack with the suit and a Jolly Roger. I go thru the former to set up for the question after realizing what I just did. The question they could ask is

"Is scuba a big part of your life?"

Between the stove and sink are an al80, hp80, lp95, and 30 cu ft stage that I just neatly arranged by capacity. On the counter are, where they have been for a week, my wrist compasses, computer, bottom timer, three dive watches and the housing for my camera. Yes Scuba is a very big part of my life. Since my wife passed away it has been a big part of keeping me sane.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

There was an episode of Magnum, P.I. years ago, in which Tom Selleck, as Thomas Magnum, asked a client why she came to him? If I remember correctly, she replied that she started in alphabetical order in the phone book and every private investigator to whom she spoke said that he was better than Thomas Magnum. She figured if everyone claimed to be better, then he must be pretty good.

My favorite question for an instructor is the OP's #10, If I decide not to take classes from you, who would you recommend?

 

[Thalassamania]

Jeff Bozanic