Instructor training
- Thread starter shooternick
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Sorry to put the Dampener on this, but you won't be getting a job in the Maldives, unless you open a dive shop. You put your location down as England, so that probably means you only speak 1 language, you will never get to teach in the Maldives with only English. I have a colleague who managed to get there with only English & French, but they normally ask for 3 or more languages. Maybe if you spoke Japanese or Russian you might have a chance.
Same with Thailand. Doubtful you will get a work permit, which is expensive. That leaves being stuck on places like Koh Phi Phi, where you literally have to talk to every single person that walks past the shop in order to get customers, otherwise no pay. You can probably get by with only 1 language there.
Best bet would be to head to the Perhantians (Malaysia) around about March next year, that would be a good time to start walking around the dive shops on those islands, as they will not be fully staffed up.
It may sound a bit negative, but, been there, done that, got a few t-shirts, eventually had to learn to teach in another language in order to get jobs.
I'm English and can only teach in English. I have spent the last ten years working as an instructor and have never found it difficult to find a job. I have worked in Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, Palau, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and in various locations in Thailand (and never 'got stuck on places like Koh Phi Phi, where you literally have to talk to every single person that walks past the shop in order to get customers, otherwise no pay')... I also have a few English friends who have worked in the Maldives, including one who managed a shop there...
Being English is not a disadvantage in the dive industry. Yeah, I can only teach in one language, but I can communicate very effectively with a huge range of nationalities - better than instructors who have English as a second language (no matter how good their English is). When job-hunting focus on the positives of being a native English speaker...
You would be the exception that proves the rule. I've worked in Australia, where they all speak English, so not really hard to get a job! I've worked in Egypt and got less work than my multilingual friends, despite higher qualifications, because I could only speak English. I've worked in Malta, Honduras, Phillipines, Malaysia and Mozambique. Only 2 of those places have I got jobs because I spoke a second language. However, the length of time it took me to get those jobs compared to the multilingual instructors meant I wasn't working for up to 6 weeks at a time. All the time I'm seeing most of the jobs on the PADI pros sites advertising for ,Germans, French, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Swedish et al, with English as a second language. I went on the site this morning, French, Chinese, Indonesian, German all in the first few ads.
Now there are benefits to being actually there. I worked in Roatan simply by being in the right hostel at the right time, and didn't have to hike my CV around every dive centre. But there is still spade work to be done, especially if you only speak on language. I'm preparing the OP for the fact that getting your OWSI does not equal a job. Especially when you have some Internship centres (UDC springs to mind) who are turning out instructors by the dozen.
I'd have to disagree... I've always had English colleagues, and they've never struggled to find work either. I've never earned less than multi-lingual colleagues either. In fact in some cases I've earned more them them, whilst working less. Often the multi-lingual intructors have been tied up with one person courses in their native language, whislt I've had four or more students, all of different nationalities... I've found that a lot of people would actually rather learn in English when it's not their first language...
I also don't tend to use the PADI Employment Board. I've always just picked a destination then e-mailed all the dive centres in that area, and tried to coincide the job-hunt to just before high season in that destination.
Honestly your basing this only on your experience. I too have mates who have gone straight to the Caymans, or found work on Komodo as English only speakers, but the PADI pro site tells a completely different story. As does the fact that it is getting harder and harder to work in Thailand due to the work visa requirements. It's getting harder to work in Egypt again due to the work visa. Add to this the simple hundreds/ thousands of GAP year students certifying as OWSI's nowadays the market is flooded. While you may have continued success working, I don't think that this will apply to the OP. He'll be trying to find work straight out of the I.E; maybe with the MSDT prep tacked on. I qualified in the UK and then went back to Oz to work for my old dive centre. That way I got experience as an instructor before trying to work other places. The reality is I was lucky. I could have been a fresh-faced OWSI trying to make my way in the dive industry; I had a job lined up.
Maybe the OP could do a season in Greece to cut his teeth and get some work experience, but it will be 4+ months of DSD hell, with a fairly decent wage (usually around 1000 euros a month, accom and some meals included). Or maybe he could try some random places, maybe go to cambodia, or East Timor, even Komodo could be a possibility. There is work there. But it is not a case of passing the I.E and instantly getting work.
I agree with some of what you're saying. But there's better ways of finding a job than the PADI Boards... My method always worked for me. I've seen poeple get work by completing MSDT Prep courses and proving their worth and staying on working. Some of my English speaking IDC candidates go straight into work too - some via my contacts, some thanks to MSDT Prep courses, some due to other skills and some due to luck... These GAP year students are always dropping out of the industry too creating more job openings...
Perhaps it's not as easy as I make it sound, but perhaps it's not as difficult as you have found either...
Perhaps it's not as easy as I make it sound, but perhaps it's not as difficult as you have found either...
divingtpapa
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Take your time. I agree with everyone who said to get experience in various environments, and work with multiple instructors. Do not rush through your training. I dove with a guy out of Key Largo who was a Divemaster. I thought, that is great! Well, he was one of those Open divers who progressed to Divemaster in a few months and learned nothing in the process. He was the worst dive buddy ever.
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