Mike - here's a post I put in another thread on this topic a few weeks ago...
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Not a week goes by here on SB where someone doesn't come along and ask "Where should I do a DM internship program?"
Of course this will be met by advocates of two schools of thought:
1.) Tropical DM internships are wonderful
2.) Tropical DM internships are the fourth sign of the apocalypse
So, how is a prospective DM intern to know what they are getting into? Of course no program is going to tell someone "Well, truth be told, we turn out pretty crappy DMs and Instructors at the end of the day."
However, I have recently noticed that a great many internship programs are more than happy to post pictures of their daily activities on social media. So it would seem that a prospective DM candidate might get a pretty good, unfiltered, take on the quality of DMs that a program turns out by checking out a program's FaceBook page, Twitter feed, Instagram account, etc. Take a look at what you see and ask yourself "Is this the type of DM I'm hoping to become?" and "Would I hire any of the DM's I see in the photos?"
One such facility likes to send multiple Twitter updates out each day. Here we see DMC practicing skills earlier this week. Including skills that have been discontinued more than a year ago. In the photos with multiple people, you'll have to decide for yourself who the non-divers, DMC's and instructors are... as it will not be obvious from observing them.
Here's a different program, though it seems to be run by instructors who were graduates of the program shown above...
At least he was able to spring into action when
both of his DMC's had a bit of a hiccup during the alternate air source skill...
As a DM Candidate, you'll want to pay attention to social media post, such as the one from this central american program - that will help you determine whether you'll get the individual 1-on-1 attention that you expect...
You can also tell a lot about a tropical internship program by seeing what skills they emphasize in their social media posts. Take this program in Mexico, for example...
The facilities are important as well. Social media posts will allow prospective candidates to assess important parameters such as whether the program's Beer Pong table is regulation height...
Many facilities offer not just DM internships, but the chance to move on to their IDC internship as well. If you complete that, the facility will surely post a "graduation photo" of your class, showing all the new instructor candidates who are now ready to take their IE, like this Thailand-based program...
Once you're an instructor, you might want to get instructor ratings for a few specialty courses while you're at the tropical internship facility. Here's one conducting what I can only assume is a "Search & Destroy" distinctive specialty, although the caption on the FB page of this Caribbean program said it was new instructors doing their Search & Recovery training...
This ironic series - from a popular zero-to-hero program in SE Asia - appears to show OW-to-DM candidates patiently waiting their turn to complete the skills circuit for their PPB class... completing the circuit... and then settling back down to the bottom as their instructor looks on, proudly.
And, if you really want to go all the way in your tropical training, many programs even offer the opportunity to bang out a bunch of certs in a week or two and then become a Master Scuba Diver Trainer and even move on to IDC Staff Instructor training. Here's one picture posted by a facility with a caption indicating that these are Staff Instructor Candidates practicing skills. Again, you'll need to determine for yourself which divers are MSDT's, IDC Staff Instructors, and Course Directors...
All joking aside, there is no joking in the photos above. They were all pulled from recent social media posts put up by multiple DM/Instructor internship programs... depicting their DMC's, DMs, Instructors, MSDTs, IDC Staff candidates, and Course Directors in action. Though it should be noted that several programs had no pictures of divers in action on their FB or Twitter feeds... unless you count hundreds of photos of blonde bikini and boardshort clad interns doing shots, playing frisbee, and riding mopeds around town to be "action shots" of prospective dive pros.
So, again, if you are interested in pursuing a DM/IDC internship (especially one that goes from OW-Instructor) I would encourage you to take a look at the social media properties of any program you are considering. Take a look at what you see there and ask yourself "Is this the level of dive skill I aspire to?" and "Is this the type of DM/Instructor I'm hoping to become?" and "Would I hire any of the DMs/Instructors I see in the photos?" Be sure you are comfortable with your answer to those questions before you decide to move forward.
The Occupational Safety and Worker's Rights in OZ are pretty well of a first world standard. Getting "working holiday" visas here for Brits don't seem to be too difficult from what I have heard.
