Thinking of going commercial.

[stevegd]

Hello
So I was thinking of a career change and as a dive instructor still want to work in the water. After talking to a few commercial divers from the US and Canada I think this would be right up my alley. Offshore would be a great dream but Im sure inland is a great way to get some experience first so either way seems good to me. Just wondering on schools: Overseas is what I am after, long hours dont matter I usually end up working from 5 am to 11 pm with the dive op I'm with now. I am a US citizen but after looking at schools in the US I am not all that impressed. Most seem to charge a fortune like DA in NJ. I love travel so am thinking about moving overseas and getting my ADAS and IMCA Cert/recognition. Australia looks like a good set up for school with the Underwater Centre in either Tasmania of Ft. Willam.
Then again lots of friends in the UK who could spot me a couch or floor so that might be a good option also. So Im looking for opinions on schools around the globe.
Second question is, as a US citizen is it likely for me to go to these schools, pay loads of cash, then after extensive work at just finding a job, actually work overseas after graduating from these schools. I know its hard sometimes for US citizens to get jobs in many countries around Europe and other parts of the world for liability reasons and sometimes its just because we are "Americans". Yet I have a feeling the Commercial scene isnt all that picky when it comes to country of origin, as long as you have the cert cards and are willing to put in the time and effort to learn and work at your career. So any thoughts are most appreciated, just come right out and say it.

 

[descent]

I see the same advice over and over: increase your flexibility and chances of success by learning another skill that sets you apart from the pack.

Some of the choices that stuck in my mind were ROV Operator, service technician for exotic hardware that usually wants to be repaired by the manufacturer (onshore, of course), as well as various medical specialties.

Rich Keller, Akimbo and the other real commercial divers no doubt are familiar with an entire yellow pages of other skills.

Best of luck to you. Keep us updated!

 

[stevegd]

I see the same advice over and over: increase your flexibility and chances of success by learning another skill that sets you apart from the pack.

Some of the choices that stuck in my mind were ROV Operator, service technician for exotic hardware that usually wants to be repaired by the manufacturer (onshore, of course), as well as various medical specialties.

Rich Keller, Akimbo and the other real commercial divers no doubt are familiar with an entire yellow pages of other skills.

Best of luck to you. Keep us updated!

Thanks for the input.

 

[Akimbo]

The industry is in a slow-down due to the price of oil. It is a very cyclic industry. Have you investigated Santa Barbara City College's Marine Technology Program? It is one of the better schools in the US.

As you can tell from reading other threads in the Commercial Forum, your recreational instructor background will be of very little value on your résumé, maybe even detrimental. Commercial diving is all about performing work that happens to be underwater. How are your mechanical and seamanship skills? A background in construction, welding, fabrication, rigging, and diesel mechanics will be much more valued.

---------- Post added June 1st, 2015 at 03:31 PM ----------

I just received a private E-mail from a friend asking why recreational instructor certs might be detrimental.

… As you can tell from reading other threads in the Commercial Forum, your recreational instructor background will be of very little value on your résumé, maybe even detrimental...

The simple answer is personality type. Personality traits that make a good dive instructor are not especially useful to a working diver. “Most” people who are attracted to teaching and hospitality industries tend not to be the kind of person attracted to the life of a commercial diver. Sort of like this:

[video=youtube;XfmVBmDKLZI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfmVBmDKLZI[/video]

Can a commercial diver become a good recreational instructor? Sometimes, but they are probably not going to be the patient hand-holder kind of instructor. The same can be said of any other type of high risk heavy construction worker.

 

[Heliumthief]

Plenty of US citizens do their training in IMCA schools, in order to make it easier to work 'overseas'. The main schools people go to are The Underwater Centre in Fort William, Scotland, the PDA in Dunoon, Scotland, NYD in Norway, INPP in Marseille, France, TUC in Tasmania and PDC in Durban, SA. Getting an IMCA ticket means you should be employable in most diving regions of the world, ie. Middle East, Far East, West Africa, Europe/North sea etc. Australia is an incredibly closed-shop for divers- especially offshore, where you have to be in the union, but you can only join if you're a citizen, etc. etc. in reality, it's not worth going down ADAS route. Also, have a look at the prices....the only 'cheap' school is NYD in Norway, who run a brilliant course, but only a few times a year.

Even when you have the IMCA ticket, you might have problems getting work permits for some of the more colourful countries as a US citizen but it's not as big a deal as made out. The massage shortage of diving work coupled with the massive oversupply of divers, some from the 3rd world who can live on 1/100th of the pay you would need to survive.

Its worth thinking about the couple of schools in the US/Canada who can give you an IMCA 'equivalence' whilst giving you the option of working in the states. Divers Academy, maybe? Can't remember. If you just want to work GoM, then Young Memorial seems to be the go-to: cheap, and gets it done so you can go to work....

but of course, there's no work just now. ROV is a decent industry with a future, hard to get into too, but a booming industry, but don't think that being an x-box king is the most important skill- trainee's don't get to drive $million ROV's- they launch, recover, clean and fix them. Background and understanding of Hydraulics and or electronics is more important than high scores (there's a new discipline called 'mecha-tronics' that covers these well), but worth looking at.

Another boom market is Rope Access (or Industrial Climber) which quite a few Divers in Europe do as a back-up: it's 'Dry Diving' ie. the same work above the surface that divers do below. Also only a means to get to work, coupled with rigging, welding, inspection, electrician etc. it is a booming market, and the courses are cheap too. See The worlds' BUSIEST Rope Access website. International listings of Rope Access jobs, Rope Access training and Rope Access companies all in one place. to get a better idea.

 

[tech_diver]

"The simple answer is personality type. Personality traits that make a good dive instructor are not especially useful to a working diver. “Most” people who are attracted to teaching and hospitality industries tend not to be the kind of person attracted to the life of a commercial diver."


Wow, this comment captured me to a 'T'.

I started diving local lakes and rivers as a kid and sometime in the 1980s I decided I wanted to one day work underwater for a living. The options were 'sport scuba instructor' and 'commercial diver'. Back then there was all the mythology floating around about petro commercial divers making hundreds of dollars an hour and hundreds of dollars more for each foot of depth.

I had a brochures and papers from commercial diving schools as well as brochures and papers from sport agencies on becoming a sport diving instructor. The commercial divers made good money but the sport industry brochures had beautiful beaches and hot babes.

Years later, I would become involved professionally in sport diving. Given my decision making criteria, I wouldn't have made a good commercial diver.


Now, I build gear for commercial guys and I know what they do. I have worked closely with some of them. They have my utter admiration and respect but in the end, I'm still a beach and margarita kind of guy.

Looking back on those brochures, I kind of wonder where all that big commercial money and those hot sporty beach babes are.

 

[Heliumthief]

The biggest mistake made is to get into commercial diving because you love scuba diving. They are not similar- I don't know any scuba divers that talk with fondness of being insulted, before diving in zero viz with the current ripping, and the water freezing, before climbing out and being worked like a dog on deck for the rest of the day..!

Alternatively, I don't know many commercial divers that get to swim about in warm, gin-clear water doing whatever takes their fancy until they feel like coming out...

If you want to stay in love with diving, get a well-paid job that gives you enough time off to go diving for fun. If you feel a bit of excitement about doing work that few others can or will do, and being part of a bigger team that relies on you to succeed, notwithstanding the irregular work pattern, variable pay and conditions, and travel to countries where the locals hate you, then go for it...