Looking to gain entry into commercial diving

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jwllorens

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I am a 26 year old male that has recently taken up an interest in diving. While I am inexperienced, I am advanced open-water certified and I would like to gain more experience and potentially pursue commercial diving as a career. While I am no athlete, I am in good physical health, a strong swimmer, and I have with no preexisting conditions that would preclude a career in diving. I am technically inclined and love working on and with complex equipment, and I would prefer working as part of a team as opposed to as an individual. I have almost completed my bachelor's degree in Biosystems Engineering, and if possible, I would like to apply the skills that I have learned in obtaining this degree to a career in commercial diving. As Biosystems is not a structural or civil engineering degree, I do not know if this is possible, though I do hope that this engineering degree and an EIT or PE certification will allow me to gain entry into the more technical fields of commercial diving.

From what I have learned thus far, I believe that I would most enjoy non-destructive testing, engineer diving, or saturation diving. I understand that other forms of commercial diving are likely in my future if I pursue any of the above, as I will have to start from the bottom and gain experience. I also understand that commercial diving is demanding both physically and mentally, is potentially dangerous, and will require me to travel or be away from home often.

I have several questions regarding a career in commercial diving.

-Would a Biosystems Engineering degree be of much use to any form of Commercial Diving?
-If I apply to a commercial diving school, which certifications should I be seeking so as to allow me to work both domestically and internationally?
-This may sound like an odd question, but what types of people to commercial divers find themselves working with and what types of personalities does commercial diving often attract?
-What is the best way to find information or resources about commercial diving careers and the best methods for pursuing them?

Any suggestions, words of warning, or other information is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.
 
Here is a simple answer in form of a question.

Did YOU get a college degree too work hard and dirty hands (manual labor) on construction sites? OR did YOU get that degree to stay white collar?

What types of personallities does this? skilled tradesmen pick a flavor

As for White Collar commercial divers. Most if not all are found within "mom and pop" engineering firms. PE also does the field work cause he/she is bad ass. ya sarcasm gee sh lol.

...hard hat diving is a skill, getting the work done is an art.

good luck on your path
 
You'll probably make a lot more money as an Engineer on the surface and diving for fun rather than doing both underwater.

I have never been a commercial diver so take this for what you think it's worth but commercial divers don't do much work in really nice conditions and most of the time they are in really nasty conditions such visibility and toxicity levels. I would also imagine than when some jobs come up that involve really nice conditions, the senior divers would go on those jobs.

I thought the same way you do a few years back, but after checking into things, I realized that commercial diving sounds more glamorous than it actually is.
 
Thank you for your replies. Just to clarify some things:

When I ask about personality types, I am not asking about blue collar vs white collar. For example, doctors tend to have very different personalities compared to lawyers, in my experience.

Also, I did not pursue an engineering degree to avoid blue collar work. In fact, I somewhat hoped that sometimes I would get my hands dirty once in a while with an engineering degree. I was always the first to volunteer to crawl into some frozen muddy sludge pit to fix a broken pipe when working at my last labor job. Who knows, maybe I wasted my time with a degree and maybe I don't know what I am talking about and should stay away from anything that isn't a 100% desk job. I have to say, if I had to choose between sitting behind a desk and never getting my hands dirty and never getting to sit behind a desk and keep my hands clean, I would choose the latter, but something in between seems ideal to me.

Another thing to mention is that the idea of diving in murky, cold, or inhospitable conditions does not "scare me off" from the idea of commercial diving. I have, however, very little experience with such dives but the few dives in nasty, cold water that I did do were some of my favorite. I plan on making a few more dives in cold muddy water over the next few months as part of additional open water training. The dive instructors have said that the dives will be "absolutely disgusting" and encouraged us to choose some of the more "tropical" options to obtain the additional certifications. I may be crazy, but I actually look forward to these dives, but of course if I hate them then that would limit my interest in commercial diving considerably, so I will watch out for that.

I am hoping that an engineering degree will afford me with options, not protect me from dirty work, which is why I ask about engineer diving. Paychecks are of course very influential, and I may choose a career based on that rather than doing something that I would enjoy more. I may certainly not end up wanting to be a commercial diver or I may simply not be cut out for it, but that is exactly what I am attempting to find out.

Thanks again!
 
I would also imagine than when some jobs come up that involve really nice conditions, the senior divers would go on those jobs.

Those don't exist. That's a myth.

---------- Post added January 22nd, 2015 at 07:19 PM ----------

Okay, so here we go....
I've had many jobs in my life time. This is what I know.... Commercial diving is the coldest you'll ever be in life. Commercial diving is the hottest you will ever be in life. Commercial diving will be the dirtiest job you will ever have in life. Commercial diving will be the hardest job you'll likely ever find. It ran a close tie to being a roofer in Miami in summer.

Your livelihood depends on several things. First, it depends on the economy and politics. For example, right now, there's not a whole lot of drilling going on, so Gulf of Mexico divers are hungry. Secondly, it depends on your ability to work hard. If you are even remotely lazy, you won't last a year. I went to Comm Dive School with 32 people. 6 months later, me and my best friend from school were the only ones still working in the industry. 1 Year later, I was the only one out of 32 people still working as a diver. Because of my background, I'm asked a lot about this subject. I've counselled dozens of people over the past 10 years, some even as recent as last year, of all the people I've talked to, NONE of them are still commercial divers. It's a hard, dirty, cold, hot, temporary, good paying, bad paying, never know what to expect, and oh yah, really fuggin dangerous job. There's a reason there is only 2000 or less active divers in the US. What are the chances you'll be one of the .0009 % that make it in the industry? And I don't know the answer to that, only you do. But there are certainly easier ways to make money.

Now, to answer your question of what type of person is a commercial diver: Every commercial diver I ever met that was successful thought they were the King of the Universe. Everyone of them was Type A -Driven. The timid/weak don't make it. Be drug free, be alcohol free. If you're planning on being in the Nuke Plant industry, you better have a good clean record.

I don't know that I've stumbled across too many college degree commercial divers, except maybe later in management. I can't for the life of me try to figure out how I would give up a degree worth a steady and safe 100k+ to be a commercial diver.
 
My son went through the program (DCBC, supplied air) and worked for a year doing inland work - dams, ponds, etc. He was diving, not just working as a tender.

He was a Journeyman Heavy Duty Mechanic before he went in. After the year decided on his own that it was not worth the $23/hr. He quit and went back to working as a mechanic - twice the wage. Still works long, hard hours, but at least his mother doesn't worry...to the same extent anyway.
 
Hello again,

Blue collar, white collar, copper collar, tupperware collar.

...point is this. You will find that the marine construction/service/etc. industries are some of few that still hold white and blue collar to different standards. The separation is relevant on this path you may choose.
As for the personalities, again, pick your flavor from work hard play hard, sex drugs rock and roll to the other end of the spectrum. Divers tend to be on the rough side (just ask any break out ). The reason for this is simple. Those who succeed in this arena do so because they thrive on the work enviroment. A good person type would be type A mixed with type Z. Most divers when on the job have an uncanny calm (Till they hit the beach then all bets are off).

A good way of putting is like this. Commercial diving is a lifestyle when you retire then if becomes a career.

I say jump..er.. walk down the ladder and go for it. The only way to know is just DO IT.





LOL Field crews have a love/hate relationship with engineers...we HATE seeing them show up and we LOVE seeing them leave. LOL could not imagine one in the rotation. JK maybe, sorta na jk or am i? LOL
 
I am a Seneca grad, been in the industry for 10 years as a diver/supervisor. I highly recommend you get the course. Become a commercial diver. It has taught me some valuable life lessons. A couple
of the most important ones I have learned is how to deal with the most egotistical people you are likely to encounter in your life. And also that in this industry, if you stick with it long enough, you will realize that physically, you will be capable of anything. Too cold, too hot, no viz, thick gloves, too much current, sewage, crazy hours etc. If you are looking for the biggest challenge of your life, you found it. Diving is the vehicle you take to work, mechanically inclined, common sense guys with great attitudes will make it further than any education will ever get you. From the bits and pieces that I've read of your post, you sound like a smart guy. Your career as a diver is largely dependant on your ability to get along with people in a team environment. As I said earlier, you will deal with some of the biggest egos in your lifetime, but if you stick around long enough, the layers peel off and the rowdy seadogs will take you under their fins! Take the plunge my friend!
 
A bridge engineer from New York told me that bridge inspection divers must have a structural engineering degree. You may want to change your major, as there are obviously very few divers with these credentials and they can set their own price. Food for thought.
 
Funny way of doing things, if that's how it is. Many years ago (and long before I did any inspection tickets) I did a few bridge inspections (and pier, and mooring...etc.). The deal was, depending on how serious the inspection was, you would either be briefed by the engineer before the job, or the Engineer would be on the job, and you would make a video, and written report if he wasn't there, or point the camera and describe, as directed if he was on the job. The up-side of that was that he could cover a whole day's worth of inspection (if it was deep etc) and also you could have a good engineer, and a good diver, and together they did a good inspection. Otherwise, you need a good engineer who is also a good diver to make the report. If that makes sense(!)

as as for general diving advice, well, if you are prepared to cope with abject failure, spending dollars and time to do a diving course that may never get you a single days paid work, then definitely go for it. If you can endure hardship and hard work, and are mechanically minded, then go for it. If you want to have a secure, well paying job from the get-go, then don't do it!
I have been a diver most of my adult life (since I was 21, although I wasn't an adult then, and I'm not sure about now) and never had a backup plan, but I got lucky, and have a career that has let me do and see things that many people couldn't dream of- if I could promise you the working life I've had so far then I'd say definitely go for it...just be aware and prepared for the worst case scenario. Then you will always be pleasantly surprised!
 
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