Looking to get into the profession

[warm_waters19]

Hey there everyone, My name is Kyle and I'm planning to move down the south Florida area this summer and I would love to get into a good dive shop. Down the road I plan to get my divemaster and instructor certs, but we all got to start somewhere. Does anyone have any suggestions or know of any openings? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[boulderjohn]

I am a little confused about your question. You appear to be a new diver thinking of going into the professional ranks some day in the future.

Fine.

At the same time you are asking about current openings.

Current openings would be for current professionals.

I suggest you scroll down the page a ways to the Regional Travel and Clubs section and post your question in the one dedicated to Florida, the Florida Conch Divers. Then ask about local diving and perhaps a good local path to being a professional. Florida has a ton of divers, and it also has operators who specialize in taking divers from relatively new status to the professional level. The divers who regularly visit the Florida site will be able to give you the best answers.

 

[Quero]

The way I read it, Kyle, you're a young guy who has been certified a couple of years, who's maybe sick of the diving weather up in Washington, and who wants a change to a warm-water environment. At this point you probably just want a part-time job at a scuba shop as a clerk or a tank jockey or something to start out with, hoping to get training discounts/waivers as an employee. Is that close? (I can see this--my equestrian daughter used to muck out horse stalls at the stables to pay for riding lessons while she was working on her master's degree.)

Kyle, my advice would be to figure out what city/town you want to live in, find all the scuba shops in the town/nearby towns, and contact them directly to ask about openings/opportunities. John's suggestion to use the resources of the Florida forum is excellent.

 

[Louma]

Just to let you know, there are lots of posts on going pro so do some research using the search function. On top of that, if you really turn pro down the road, dive shops usually want more than just the instructor certification. Your ability to become employed in this profession increases with the amount of specialties you can teach, can you captain a boat, guide a group, VIP and or fill tanks, can you bring some customers into the shop, how many years have you been teaching, can you do equipment repair, are you good at selling equipment and trips, can you do decent U/W video, etc. The more you got (besides desire) the more opportunities there are.

 

[dhuskins]

I like your planning. Yes, there are certainly plenty of dive shops in the South Florida area, and I would not doubt that many of them need staffing, particularly during the summer months.

Dive shops have all kinds of job openings: instructors, tour guides, store keepers, boat captains, service technicians, and more.

Nearly all of the positions require some knowledge or training. Tour guides and instructors need to be PADI professionals (or similar professionals from other organizations). Boat captains need their captain's license and service technicians need to be certified from the manufacturer.

That leaves store keepers. Most stores want to hire people who have some extensive knowledge of the equipment and some sales experience. If you have that, then you may be able to find a job there. I recommend limiting your search to those shops which have a course director available. This way you can work towards your professional rating while helping out in the store.

 

[Garrobo]

Keep your day job.

 

[warm_waters19]

Quero has it right on, I grew up in a dive shop in Hawaii where both of my parents were instructors and I've had a reg in my mouth since I was 8, its in my blood. I have tons of sales experience and can work the floor. I know I'm not going to walk into a shop and start teaching, but I want to get in early and work my way up and use the shop to build up my certifications.

 

[beautybelow]

Keep your day job.

I think maybe he is looking for one...and there are plenty in the dive industry. They are just like any other job though, other than maybe working at McDonalds or Seven Eleven. You have to search them out just like the OP is doing and figure out the steps it takes to be qualified to land the job, and so on.
warm_waters19, if you search on here for answers to your questions my advice is to filter out the "there are no real jobs in the dive industry" image that you may see in a lot in threads like this.
Good luck and go for it.

 

[austin.takahashi]

There are so few things you can find in my country about what you just said. (Or Am I not just looking hard enough) So I kinda go with the first one i find. Except if a friend suggests one to me...