PADI or SSI to go PRO

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Even $300 is better than nothing (will pay for the fuel :) )

Not sure how things are in your selected locations, but I'm guessing your compensation would be more like some "free pizza and beer", and not anything close to $300.

If you're doing this for money, I'd suggest getting a real job and diving for fun.

Terry
 
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It's not an option to get a "real" job while doing an MBA.... but I do believe it is possible to make several hundred bucks a month in diving :)
 
It's not an option to get a "real" job while doing an MBA.... but I do believe it is possible to make several hundred bucks a month in diving :)

Do you know anybody who has done this in a few spare hours while going to school?

Terry
 
You have stated that it is your desire to be a good instructor. Good instructors generally have a lot of experience and dive actively outside of their teaching. I doubt working on an MBA full time will allow for this. You'll make more money working two nights a week stocking shelves at a grocery store and have some time left over to dive for fun.
 
My intention is to get up to a level on which I can teach OWD and AOWD in either of the systems (SSI or PADI). As I understood from the last massage by Tstormdiver, in PADI I can work as a freelancer while in SSI I must work with a club?
In this case, I dont see any reason going with SSI....

The term affiliate in SSI speak doesn't mean you have to work for a dealer to teach. You just have to affiliate. The difference is subtle but I'll try to explain.

Many dealers are dive shops or resorts. These places usually have their own staff. This doesn't mean you won't be able to teach, it just means that you won't be on their staff with a regular job. The dealer I'm affiliated with here in Korea actually moved to Seoul for two years while I stayed in Daegu. I still purchased all my instructor materials and C-cards through him, but I conducted my own classes in Daegu. I was responsible for filling my own classes, organizing equipment, etc. Also, I set my own prices. It was difficult in that I had to find new facilities and equipment rental. This is a rare instance in SSI but it is as close to freelancing as you can get.

When you affiliate, the dealer will let you use their facilities and equipment. You will be responsible for filling your own classes if you're not on their staff and you must work around their schedule. But they will support you. Also, as an instructor you get discounts on your personal equipment purchases. You may be asked to fill in for another instructor when needed or lead dive trips.

SSI instructors can talk directly with the training agency when there are questions about training standards, but must purchase all their products through the dealer they're affiliated with. PADI is for the most part the same except they sell training materials directly to instructors. When you think about it, most PADI instructors are affiliated with a shop somehow. SSI realized this early and made it mandatory for instructors to affiliate with dealers. This way instructors helped dealers and vice versa. This is also known in business schools as vertical integration. To freelance in the true sense of the word requires major cash outlay to purchase equipment, rent facilities, etc.

I hope this helps.
 
Let me explain you why I want to have this "instruction license". Most probably I will be going to either USA (New England area) or EU (Geneva or a place near Paris) to study for my MBA. In all of these places (besides France) there is some diving clubs. I want to have some proffesion that I can use to make a small earning while at the school :) I thought that diving could be just that.

Wish I would have read this one first.

An old horse trainer once told me, "if you want to make a small fortune in the horse business, start with a large one."

The same goes for diving. Sure there are some guys who make a decent living at it for their location, and some people get some really sweet gigs like working on a live aboard. But the other 99.9% of us must be satisfied with coming close to making our diving pay for our diving. I haven't made that much yet.

Teach for the fun of it. But don't sell yourself short. That hurts everybody. If you're trying to make money with it, you won't enjoy it. It's a lot of responsibility which shouldn't be taken lightly. Most of all, take time to dive for yourself. You can get burned out if you don't take a break, even if you're doing it part time.
 
Could someone please make some order for me about SSI's track and PADI's track.

I think that if you wish to be employed as a DM, it's only logical to go with the most popular certification agency in your area. This obviously increases your ability to be employed.

If you want to teach independently, the same restrictions are not necessarily binding. I encourage cross-certification for every instructor, as it broadens the instructor's knowledge of diver training and the industry at-large. Each agency has its own unique training philosophy (which we are discussing on the "philosophy of diver training" thread).

It's important to try to match how you want to teach with an agency that will allow you to do so in the way you want to. There is more to making money, especially if you aren't happy teaching in the manner of your liking (where's the personal integrity?)

Find out about the values and ideals of the organization and make your choice. There are differences.
 
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Let me explain you why I want to have this "instruction license". Most probably I will be going to either USA (New England area) or EU (Geneva or a place near Paris) to study for my MBA. In all of these places (besides France) there is some diving clubs. I want to have some proffesion that I can use to make a small earning while at the school :) I thought that diving could be just that.

Hi

I am a PADI instructor and I chose PADI as it was the 1st certification agency in the world. I know and acknoledge that it is in some places such as Cuba for example difficult to find a PADI shop but you can find a PADI Instructor everywhere in the World.
I do believe that PADI instructor and SSI instructor are pretty much the same besides the fact that with SSI you may have a larger latittude of you pedagogy where with PADI you have to stick with the Standards.
I also do not like the fact that SSI doesn't have freelance instructors.
And as it has been mentionned here, it is way much easier to cross-over from PADI to another dive organisation than the opposite.
Now, if your project is to move to France well there are stuff you should know.
a) There are a LOT of clubs in France but most of them are associative clubs.
b) France has laws for diving and part of these laws state that you have to be a French trained diver or a CMAS diver.
c) In France, you can get officially paid to work in the dive industry unless you held a French Diploma of Sport Studies with the Major in Scuba Diving

Wich means that as a PADI instructor, I can not teach (my PADI instructor rating is not valid). When I will be a CMAS Instructor I will be allow to teach (CMAS and/or PADI) but won't be allowed to get paid for that unless I also study for French Diploma of Sport Studies with the Major in Scuba Diving.

Sorry for the sad news :(

That is why when I want to teach, I take my students to Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy (everywhere except in the country I am living and paying my taxes :shakehead:)
 

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