Hey there. Where do I start. First things first. What school are you looking into? Second Thing are you married? And last but not least how much to you THINK or WANT to make.
Let me start with #1 - There are not a lot of schools at which you would get your moneys worth. Except two schools. But on the other hand those schools are also expensive. DIT in Seattle WA, is among the most top notch school you are going to find, in addition you are also going to pay for the prestige from graduating from a prestigious dive school. And by pay I mean litterly. When I went it was well over $16,000.00. Was it a smart choice, who knows. Did I learn a lot yes I did. Would I do it again Definitely.
#2 - I ask if you are married because there is a little joke that floats around. It says
"Do you know what comes after Diving in the phone Book? Divorce attorneys." Which is true look it up. Commercial diving is very very hard on a family, Especially if there is kids. You are gone a lot if you are off shore. I am not saying that it always like that but from my experience and others. It causes more head ache then is worth it. I do know people that dive 150 days out of the year and take the rest off. Inland diving you are on the road a lot. and that is all there is to say about that. Drive and Dive is our motto.
#3 - Now pay, Offshore depends on the company. But I will say this. You work 12 hours on 12 hours off, 7 days a week. With the company I worked. OT was after 40 hours. I.E. Rate $13.00 X 40 hours = $529. Rate for OT $19.50 per hour x 51 Hours of OT = $994.50 Total Combined is $1523.50 a week. Yeah that seems like a lot of money. But also take into consideration that if you work only 6 months a year then you need to use that extra money to make it another 6 months. Now this is just an example of what could be made. In addition your pay depends on if you are a tender or diver. Most people don't get depth pay shallower then 60 feet I believe. Inland diving, now the pay is calculated by two things. Seniority and a %. You get different percentages depending on your seniority. Nice thing is if something ever happened in the family and you had to get home quick at least you would be close to and Airport. Now these are all my opinions. I am still involved in the Commercial Diving industry. But as a free lance diver. Some one needs a diver on a job they call me. I either take it or I don't. Do not forget if you want to buy a dive hat (depending on where you work) add another $3500-$5000 in the first two years.
So in conclusion it all boils down to can you make money yes, if you are dedicated and work hard. Will you get rich NO is the answer to that. If you were single maybe. Let me know if you have any questions about anything.
