Technical Diving as a career?

[rddvet]

I work less than 4 hours a week. My paycheck this month paid for an airplane. A job is just a means to pay for the things you're passionate about in life.

what kind of plane? Didn’t know you flew. I’ve had my pilots license for years but have barely flown in the past 5 years because my job takes up too much time. Funny how that works.

 

[Superlyte27]

what kind of plane? Didn’t know you flew. I’ve had my pilots license for years but have barely flown in the past 5 years because my job takes up too much time. Funny how that works.

Cherokee 180.

 

[Celt]

At 27 I had over 10 years diving done and was digging non ferrous cargos and gear out of war wrecks. Half the time you’re terrified and the other high on adrenaline. When you can’t do it your on a building site working for nothing or in the pub drinking. A the blink of an eye your clearing a fouled prop on some trawler in the middle of the night because the skipper doesn’t want to tie up and needs to get back to sea. Now I can pick off the handy jobs but there’s nothing easy working under water.

 

[rddvet]

Cherokee 180.

Very nice. My initial training was in cherokees and warriors. I did my complex in an archer. I’m a big piper fan. My local flight line is pretty much all cessnas now and while they’re nice with the big g1000 screens, I still prefer pipers and other low wings.

 

[Primary]

One thing I have figured out is you have to find some enjoyment out of what you do for a living or you end up hating your life, dreading getting up every day and it takes a big toll in terms of stress etc.

I was on a career path for 20 years that ended up being well compensated but was not a good fit for my personality and i did not find any satisfaction in it. I couldnt transition out of that career without taking a huge financial hit so i toughed it out for a long time but in the end i had to quit for my sanity.

It took a couple of years but I ended up finding a way to turn scuba (my passion) into my second career. I work in a busy shop doing sales and repairs, teach private students occasionally and have a side gig doing shallow inshore commercial work (lots of problem solving).

I have adjusted my lifestyle to fit my income, I now have way more free time (the most valuable commodity) and there's very little stress in my life. I wish i had figured this out 25 years ago.

Best of luck with whatever career you follow.

 

[Edward3c]

Hello, I am sorta new to scuba diving, but I really want to get into technical/commercial and related fun stuff. Does commercial diving make for a good career? Obviously there are risks, but what are the benefits that counter those risks? I have a friend that does commercial diving. He inspects bridges and pipes and machinery, mostly inshore work; but he is hard to reach so I can't get much information out of him... So the question is, how good is commercial diving as a career?

I know your US based, but commercial divers tend to be mobile. One of the big UK commercial schools went to the wall about 18 months ago because of the overcapacity in the industry.