Some info about Sabah job opportunities

[Lapinfou]

Hi,

I'm looking for some info about job opportunities in Sabah. My friend and me we are both OWSI with practice.
We think about Sabah for work like instructor.
Do we need some work permit?
It's possible to arrive there and just give CV around and work like freelance or we have to find a job before arriving in this place?
And the salary, enough for a simple life there?

Thank you everybody for yours futures answer, every tips is usefull!
Take care

Lapinfou

 

[Dreamdivegirl]

Hi Lapinfou,

We run a Dive Business in Sabah so my advice is based up on our local knowledge and experience at recruiting 'expat' Dive Instructors.

As with most other countries, as a business we are expected to (and we aim to) recruit our team locally. Where the skills / experience / knowledge we are looking for in a role are not available locally (either because the people with them do not want to change companies or the skills are not available locally) then it is acceptable to recruit from outside Sabah.

For all jobs where we recruit outside Sabah we have to apply for a work permit from a committee chaired by Sabah Tourism. We need a letter of endorsement from this Committee to then (with all the relevant papers for the individual we are recruiting) submit an application to immigration for the permit. Once you have a letter of approval from the Work Permit Committee the process is pretty smooth.

We have recruited Offshore Skippers / Instructors from outside Sabah as the skipper qualification we needed for our offshore diving trips is currently not available locally.

There are lots of good PADI Divemasters and Instructors in Sabah. To put yourself in the best position for getting a Dive Instructor job in Sabah you need to have something different to offer that is not available here (could be languages, technical diving skills, skipper license etc.). I'd also recommend you contact Dive Operators based in Kota Kinabalu, Semporna and the Resorts near Sipadan in advance of visiting here. You can get a good list from padi.com

I hope this helps. Good luck with finding a job and with your diving career

DG

 

[DevonDiver]

When I was working in Sabah (Semporna), the dive company that employed me posted an advert onto padi.com/pros seeking a new instructor. There were over 6000 applications from qualified instructors.

As DG says... you'd need a very strong instructor resume to be competitive.