I am about to complete my DM training and am curious to see what others think would be the most sought after additional certifications for employment in the dive industry aside from obtaining Instructor rating. Primarily to work for a dive shop. I have heard VIP and Gas Blender are highly recommended. Any additional input and recommendatios would be appreciated.
Most employable certifications for DM
- Thread starter Dolphan73
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Funnilly enough I was talking about exactly this at my LDS.
By a country mile what makes a DM the most employable is being a positive influence around the shop.Being the kind of person its good to be around and shows real competence when given a task.
Thing is the other stuff can be taught and a good LDS will see a positive employee and develop their career to suit the dive shops need. A soppy dishcloth no matter how well qualified isn't gonna keep a job long.
By a country mile what makes a DM the most employable is being a positive influence around the shop.Being the kind of person its good to be around and shows real competence when given a task.
Thing is the other stuff can be taught and a good LDS will see a positive employee and develop their career to suit the dive shops need. A soppy dishcloth no matter how well qualified isn't gonna keep a job long.
Agree with Frosty. Attitude is king.
But besides interacting well with the public and other staff members, such things as regulator maintenance and compressor maintenance can come in handy.
But besides interacting well with the public and other staff members, such things as regulator maintenance and compressor maintenance can come in handy.
+1 on attitude. a good DM needs to be a people person AND know the arcane info about those local dive sites. Even better if the DM knows arcane info about not so local sites. Here on the coast of central and south florida (Treasure Coast) we put DMs in the water on nearly all dives due to it being drift dives. My expectation for a DM is perfect skills (especially if I taught them; otherwise near-perfect will do 
). The DM has to be able to assist divers with equipment and have a good handle on equipment issues. We expect DMs to tote the ball/flag on dives and so must have good management and guiding skills. This includes shooting a DSMB.
Having a Rescue cert is a must (of course) but I like DMs to be beyond that. In my real life I teach first responders so my DMs get a little more "real life" training perspective. A DM should also have their own well stocked first aid kit and professional level dive gear.
new divers, infrequent divers will look to a DM and model behavior. I remember after doing a couple of trips as DM for a group, they showed up all with the same exact fins I use. Kind of funny as we never spoke about fins!
So certs are good.....but mad skills are better!
). The DM has to be able to assist divers with equipment and have a good handle on equipment issues. We expect DMs to tote the ball/flag on dives and so must have good management and guiding skills. This includes shooting a DSMB.Having a Rescue cert is a must (of course) but I like DMs to be beyond that. In my real life I teach first responders so my DMs get a little more "real life" training perspective. A DM should also have their own well stocked first aid kit and professional level dive gear.
new divers, infrequent divers will look to a DM and model behavior. I remember after doing a couple of trips as DM for a group, they showed up all with the same exact fins I use. Kind of funny as we never spoke about fins!
So certs are good.....but mad skills are better!
tech_diver
Contributor
Good advice from everybody...
If you look at the working DMs at the destinations, you see that so much of what makes them valuable to the op are things that are not part of the dive industry. Skills like computer fluency, multiple languages, mechanical aptitude and of course a positive people oriented personality make a DM valuable and keeps them employed. In some cases if you have all the other outside-of-dive-industry skills, a dive op may even pay for some cert in gas handling or agency cross over fees. It's easier to certify a DM in gas blending that it is to teach him how to rebuild a compressor.
As for as diving skills, you need to have a level of experience and comfort such that not only are your skills not an issue but they are so polished that they can overcome skills lacking in your tour guests and still look good in photographs and Youtube videos.
Good Luck in your pursuit.
If you look at the working DMs at the destinations, you see that so much of what makes them valuable to the op are things that are not part of the dive industry. Skills like computer fluency, multiple languages, mechanical aptitude and of course a positive people oriented personality make a DM valuable and keeps them employed. In some cases if you have all the other outside-of-dive-industry skills, a dive op may even pay for some cert in gas handling or agency cross over fees. It's easier to certify a DM in gas blending that it is to teach him how to rebuild a compressor.
As for as diving skills, you need to have a level of experience and comfort such that not only are your skills not an issue but they are so polished that they can overcome skills lacking in your tour guests and still look good in photographs and Youtube videos.
Good Luck in your pursuit.
Compressor service, diesel mechanic, and scuba instructor come to mind.
KevinNM
Contributor
In Hawaii even the bench techs were highly experienced scuba instructors. It can be pretty darn hard competitive for the jobs where you get paid a decent wage in the scuba industry inside the US.
When I hire store help I look at overall experience and personality, I like to see travel both domesticly and internationaly along with varied scuba experience. Looking at the OP profile what I would reccomend is a tech lite course like Cavern or anvanced nitrox/deco procedures to help round out some gear and basic technique.
Randy Smith
Randy Smith
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