money for open water instructors
- Thread starter chironomidkraut
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Sas
Contributor
Where are you in AUS? I have heard some people get paid in kind or very low rates, to instruct. Well below min wage anyway.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait to tell that one to all my buddies who just did their ITC!
But on the bummer side...a DM makes even less...reality check:depressed:
hrrrm your reality check is worth more than my paycheque as an instructor... funny that
in the Caribbean I was getting less than $10 per hour... including tips....
hrrrm your reality check is worth more than my paycheque as an instructor... funny that
in the Caribbean I was getting less than $10 per hour... including tips....
Really? At least it was in the Carribean. The last resort I worked at...after room and board I made around five and half bucks an hour based on a forty hour week...and it only went down from there because I maybe had one or two forty hour weeks...you know the saying "A DMs work is from dawn till done". AND I had to sign a contract saying I would NOT accept tips from the customers....AAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
If instructors have a "life-style", DMs have indentured servitude.
I need my NICOTINE!!!!!!
How very odd...helpful and true yet so very odd. I worked with a few instructors who explained the exact same thing you are describing...I guess a buck-fifty pack of cigs can take you farther than a buck-fifty worth of chow?:blinking:
more like if you are 'kinda hungry' you light a smoke and the desire to find food gets put aside for a while. I skipped many a meal that way. Most effective was in the bar.. when I would get to the bottom of a 2$ beer, have a smoke instead of another beer... you cut your alcohol requirement in half that way and it costs you about one beer by the end of the night. works great!!
wizard1325
Contributor
it sounds like you guys are all saying its not even worth being a divemaster nor instructor
[/bitterness]
sorry guys... long night and I let my bitterness get the best of me.
Its not quite as dire as I made it out to be. most of what I said was tongue in cheek comic.
But the fact remains that a number of instructors choose to take positions at very low rates of pay in order to go on 6 month or so extended vacations. They work half the year at construction or some other higher paying jobs and dive in the winters. Others just do it for a couple years and then go back to 'the real world'. You will never save up enough to live a long or comfortable retirement as an employed Scuba pro. What you will do however is see great places, meet tons of people, and enjoy yourself more than most office workers could fathom.
There will be days you question yourself, but what job is free of that?? If you are remarkable in your skills as an instructor, you may find yourself in more lucrative positions...or better yet owning your own shop/boats.
For the majority, instructors in warm climate, touristy, tropical places, tend to be nomadic, moving around regularly from place to place; tenure is measured often in months rather than years with many of these operators. Often the reason for this is lies with the instructor's goals and reason for being in the industry. Much of the allure is travel and discovery of the world. after working one shop for 6 months, the topography can become quite routine since you work 10 or so usual sites day in/day out. you find yourself looking towards the next island and towards new scenery. Yeah the fish and creatures are different every dive, but routine still seeps in. if you are constantly the "new guy" you can never expect to be paid top dollar. Conversely, if there are 20 resumes a week being sent unsolicited to the shop you work at, asking for too many raises can make the hungry 'new guy' more appealing to your management.
it is rare to make much as an instructor so there tends to be high turnover in the industry in general. People may decide to move on because they realize that in their current location, there is very little room for advancement since most shops are small. I know guys who pull wire as electicians making 140K a year with 5 years experience. I also know dive instructors with 20 years experience who were making 125$ a day with no benefits, no retirement, nothing... so when you realize that you aren't going to be young forever your perspective can change.
anyways, for me, working at recreational diving boiled down as such:
can you get rich?? maybe but not likely. Play the lotto too!
can you have a REASONABLE life?? sure just don't expect a HIGH standard
can you enjoy yourself?? HELL YEAH
can you do it forever?? not if you want to raise a family and get old comfortably.
sorry guys... long night and I let my bitterness get the best of me.
Its not quite as dire as I made it out to be. most of what I said was tongue in cheek comic.
But the fact remains that a number of instructors choose to take positions at very low rates of pay in order to go on 6 month or so extended vacations. They work half the year at construction or some other higher paying jobs and dive in the winters. Others just do it for a couple years and then go back to 'the real world'. You will never save up enough to live a long or comfortable retirement as an employed Scuba pro. What you will do however is see great places, meet tons of people, and enjoy yourself more than most office workers could fathom.
There will be days you question yourself, but what job is free of that?? If you are remarkable in your skills as an instructor, you may find yourself in more lucrative positions...or better yet owning your own shop/boats.
For the majority, instructors in warm climate, touristy, tropical places, tend to be nomadic, moving around regularly from place to place; tenure is measured often in months rather than years with many of these operators. Often the reason for this is lies with the instructor's goals and reason for being in the industry. Much of the allure is travel and discovery of the world. after working one shop for 6 months, the topography can become quite routine since you work 10 or so usual sites day in/day out. you find yourself looking towards the next island and towards new scenery. Yeah the fish and creatures are different every dive, but routine still seeps in. if you are constantly the "new guy" you can never expect to be paid top dollar. Conversely, if there are 20 resumes a week being sent unsolicited to the shop you work at, asking for too many raises can make the hungry 'new guy' more appealing to your management.
it is rare to make much as an instructor so there tends to be high turnover in the industry in general. People may decide to move on because they realize that in their current location, there is very little room for advancement since most shops are small. I know guys who pull wire as electicians making 140K a year with 5 years experience. I also know dive instructors with 20 years experience who were making 125$ a day with no benefits, no retirement, nothing... so when you realize that you aren't going to be young forever your perspective can change.
anyways, for me, working at recreational diving boiled down as such:
can you get rich?? maybe but not likely. Play the lotto too!
can you have a REASONABLE life?? sure just don't expect a HIGH standard
can you enjoy yourself?? HELL YEAH
can you do it forever?? not if you want to raise a family and get old comfortably.
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