The industry needs a proper shake up from OW to instructor.
Hi Centrals,
I am not trying to jack the thread. I think my feelings regarding my experience may be another arrow in your quiver, so to speak.
I did not get respect from dive ops by flashing a cert card until I got my Tech 40 cert. My point is that most of these certs are incremental stepping stones on a longer journey. I assumed early on that my OW, than my AOW, and on and on, would buy me some leeway in how I was treated on the first dive of an organized trip. I was treated no better than the lowest common denominator, or like an idiot. To the point that DMs were trying to re-rig my kit.
My experience with instructors and DMs in terms of their expertise is mixed. Some are good and some are SHEET!
How do we fix that? I don't know. This would be a hard ship to turn. Lots of deadweight.
I have had several careers. One thing I have learned from those experiences is that there is a definite dichotomy between training and actually doing the job.
You will never be a tug skipper until you are the tug's skipper. You will never become a blue water navigator (or green water pilot) until you have done it as the Captain.
You won't become a General Contractor until you have actually used that license for real. You will never become an entitlement Project Manager until you have stood before a planning commission, or a city council, or a board of supervisors and been laughed at by your opponents because you made a mistake or your mannerisms indicate that your are nervous.
You can swing a hammer all your life and not be a carpenter, but if you _____ _____ once you are a _____ _____ for life! (fill in the blanks with what ever you wish. There are many iterations of that cliché).
Some people will never be good DM's or Instructors no matter what the licensing structure is.
So the real question for me isn't the qualifications of a DM, but of the diver who feels they NEED a DM (or DG) to follow around like a sheep?
Yep!
cheers,
m