Paying for the privilege of working

[Damselfish]

Internships of this basic nature are common throughout life in general.

My niece recently completed two required internships in order to complete her certification as an occupational therapist. As a result of getting that certification, she is now working in that position.

I was a teacher for many years. In order to get my certification, I had to complete student teaching. It was the primary portion of the second semester of my senior year in college, for which I had to pay many thousands of dollars, even more than 40 years ago. I was not paid for that student teaching.

I then became a school administrator. I had to do an internship for that as well. It was part of the graduate school program for which I had to pay tuition. I could not do my administrative internship while I was being paid to teach--it had to be on my own time. Once again, I was paying to work.

Decades ago some people came up with a novel idea. If infants identified with known genetic problems that would lead to developmental delays were put in educational programs as soon as possible after birth, they may develop and become far more functional than they would otherwise. It was an idea that worked out wonderfully in the long run, but first people had to figure out how to do it. My wife was a young psychologist who was hired to try to figure it out. She researched and experimented and eventually developed one of several protocols for systems of that kind. She trained many people in her system while she did that work herself. Then the state decided that the system was working so well that anyone doing it had to be properly trained and certified. My wife was, of course, not certified. She was therefore required to take a leave of absence from the job she had created so that she could intern in another program and work without pay for a semester in order to complete the certification requirements.

So, how is this scuba internship any different from the examples I cited above?

Teachers pay aside, most of the programs mentioned above with internships lead to somewhat more lucrative jobs than DM. And they're typically part of a program, not the whole program.

I know someone who was involved with developing a certification program. They didn't have to get certified - the people involved were granted the certification as appropriate. But then, the government wasn't involved...

 

[spc751]

That is the way it works here with SSI. You pay a lot of money to become a DiveCon or instructor then you work for free.

 

[fire_diver]

Wait, I can spend 2 months in the Caribbean, lots of diving, new certs, and it only costs $1000?! Have you seen hotel prices? Hell, I may take some time off work and go do that!

 

[drrich2]

Actually, you're paying to learn, not work.

If you did no work, then the cost to hang around, go on all those dives & receive all that instruction and the certification would probably be a lot higher.

So, realistically, I think you pay to learn, and you get paid to work, but what you earn working isn't as much as what you owe for learning and certification, so you have to pay the difference.

Richard.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Actually, you're paying to learn, not work.

If you did no work, then the cost to hang around, go on all those dives & receive all that instruction and the certification would probably be a lot higher.

So, realistically, I think you pay to learn, and you get paid to work, but what you earn working isn't as much as what you owe for learning and certification, so you have to pay the difference.

Richard.[/QUOTE

In all the DM courses I've taught I can't recall "tank schlepping 101" or "Fill tanks time" or whatever else as being part of the curriculum. Why not just do the DM program as inexpensively as possible, then hire on with an operator. You'll learn all the extras soon enough, and get PAID to do it. As you should. If you want to be more employable out of the gate, then preface your DM cert. by working in a dive shop - you'll get PAID to learn all those nifty extras, as opposed to giving away your labor, as you PAY to become a DM.

Pretty sweet deal for the Operator, and apparently, no lack of takers for the honor.

Go figure.

Best,
DSD

 

[TBel]

This is my first post. Rainbow Reef in the FL Keys offers a free dive master internship, but I suspect unless you're the second coming of Jacques Cousteau you're not getting selected. My son is about to do an internship at Barefoot Divers in Roatan. The place appears first class and the price reasonable with safe housing. They include a lot of training that is not required to become a dive master. And depending on how that goes he'll probably want to stay for the IDC/MSDT internship.

The bigger question is then what? There's no shortage of instructors or dive masters so what's the likelihood of having all that training pay off? Teaching, medical and other internships may cost a bunch of money, but unless you're a societal reject you'll get work. I don't get that same sense from the diving industry. And I'm not even talking about making a lot of money. Just enough to cover expenses and maybe save a buck or two. After all scuba diving is about the adventure not the money, right?

Regards,

Ted

 

[1bubbleoff]

A better question....why not call it what it is..."Indoctornation 101".... after all...EVERYONE...can.."Live the dream" right?? Righhhhhhhttttttttt......It's marketing.....pure and simple.
And yes..I'm a "tank monkey"...and a dammmed good one I might add. I made myself a viable asset to the operation..and make a modest living at it. And I REFUSE to pay for the "Priviledge"...of advancing. The shop pays all my associated costs. And I don't abuse that priviledge.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

the remuneration doesn't have to be in dollars per se, but I believe there should be an equivalent value received ( something tangible, like Jonn's Certs. ) commensurate with the value given.

If it wasn't commensurate to the student/consumer, they wouldn't bother. If it's not commensurate in your book, that's really important to absolutely nobody at all.

 

[drbill]

I don't see the problem. Potential divemasters are asked to pay for the course and room and board while they learn how to become divemasters. They aren't dive "professionals" until after they receive the certification. Why pay them to become dive professionals? As a marine biologist, I've always paid for my training and the living expenses while getting it. I think it quite appropriate to ask them to pay for their expenses and training. But then I never wanted to become a dive "professional."

 

[rocket frog divers]

I must say I was a bit disappointed when this conversation began as the individual that singled out Rocket Frog clearly has no understanding of our program and the achievements accomplished by our interns.....
One of our current interns is video blogging and has published 5 video's to date, if you would like to experience a week in the life of a Rocket Frog intern, through the eyes of an intern please visit our webpage:
Scuba Diving in Costa Rica | Rocket Frog Divers Scuba Dive Bat Islands
or click on this link to view my personal favorite...... Costa Rica Week 3 on Vimeo
best wishes to all
RFD