My situation and dillema

[DimSumDiver]

I've read through the forums and the one major aspect of getting into scuba diving is for the fun and pleasure of it, ie sport and hobby aspect of it.

I, on the other hand, decided to gain certification to enhance my chances of an engineering maintenance position here in HK. As you all probably know, Disney will be operational here in Hong Kong this coming September and one of the positions listed the requirement, quote " possess internationally recognised scuba certification" unquote.

Now, I did ask, via my brother in law who already works there, whether they were looking for an experienced/professional diver or just an engineer with a C-card. However, he did not get a definitive answer. Anyway, i went ahead and enrolled with my NAUI class.*Passed my written exam and going to my first OW dive tomorrow*

Just now, my brother in law called up and told me he had chatted with one of the engineering guys. It seems the engineering boss is looking for an experienced/proffesional diver rather than somebody like me.

Now, I'm not dissapointed in knowing that. I've had a feeling it would turnout that way because if it were me doing the hiring, I would be hiring a professional rather than a novice.

Here's my question to all of you, since there isn't a forum here for professionals, how do I get experience related to the job I'm interested in? I'm certain there isn't a dive trip to gain related engineering work experience?!?

How do I continue from here on? Anybody here has gone through what I'm refering to? I need advice and guidance on this matter pretty badly. :frown:

:help_2: :help_2: :help_2: :help_2: :help_2:

 

[Kim]

I know that there are places where you can train as a commercial diver. If you search the net for that it throws up a lot of them. How long it takes, or what it costs, I don't really know. We have a few commercial and ex-commercial divers on SB, maybe one of them can give better advice.

 

[verybaddiver]

to be honest you don't know anything about the job by the looks of it :>. I would research what kind of diving they actually expect you to be doing before training further for it. obviously if the diving is going to be fixing tanks at a dolphin attraction its going to (im believing) involve less skills than fixing a pipe at 50 msw. and if indeed it is tech diving them i would think you should consider how much training/time/money you would have to invest to do this job. IE alot of all three

 

[DimSumDiver]

Here are the exact words of the job ad,

"Holder of International recognized Diving Certificate an advantage"

All the other information listed had to do with specific engineering maintenance related skills and requirement which I have experience in.

They do not list what specific diving skills or knowledge are required. Surely, you can't fault me on that.

 

[DimSumDiver]

I know that there are places where you can train as a commercial diver. If you search the net for that it throws up a lot of them. How long it takes, or what it costs, I don't really know. We have a few commercial and ex-commercial divers on SB, maybe one of them can give better advice.

Kim, I would appreciate it if you would steer them to this thread. Any advice, positive or negative, would be deeply appreciated. Thanks.

 

[KidK9]

You should have done more research. Dont get bent out of shape.

 

[DimSumDiver]

That's what I'm doing here right now. Seeking advice from professionals.

BTW, it mostly deals with the water and underwater theme attractions. Do I need to go for commercial diving training for it?

 

[Kim]

I, for one, am not faulting you at all!

I think though that you do need to consider one thing. Whether it's an experienced amateur diver, or a commercial diver they are looking for - the key is probably 'experience'. In scuba - or other diving (like surface supplied) - this is only something that you get through doing a LOT of dives. Whichever way you look at it I would guess you need to be thinking at least 100+ dives - and maybe a lot more. You can't get experience in a few weeks - it takes time. I'm not sure how much time you have, but it doesn't sound like a lot. That said - hey, learn to dive! It's great fun and who knows - it might help you!
If you have your licence then one way to build dives quickly is to go on liveaboard trips. I just did 22 dives in 6 days in Thailand - like that you COULD log around 100 dives in about one month!

 

[KidK9]

If this is something you really want to do in your life, then pursue it. However, I recommend contacting a commercial diving training agency and ask them if you can spend a day with them to observe training procedures. Also, contact a commercial diving individual and ask them tons of questions. Undergoing this lifestyle is very intense and is a completely different world than looking at reef fish.

 

[Kim]

If this is something you really want to do in your life, then pursue it. However, I recommend contacting a commercial diving training agency and ask them if you can spend a day with them to observe training procedures. Also, contact a commercial diving individual and ask them tons of questions. Undergoing this lifestyle is very intense and is a completely different world than looking at reef fish.

If the original job description only listed a licence as an 'advantage', who knows - maybe they are prepared to do training if it's commercial - or maybe the boss just wants a buddy to go diving with!!! Hard to tell.

I know that in Japan for example, the ability to play a reasonable round of golf can make quite a difference to which job you can get!!