Where do the schools get the $40k/yr figure?

[Chris Hipp]

Considering a possible career change next year, I requested recruitment materials from just about every diving school I could find online. One thing they all seem to claim is that commercial divers starting pay is $40k a year.

In due diligence, I started looking online and read some of the Offshorediver.com threads and saw all kinds of posts from people saying they started at $12/hr or less and most are out of work.

Now, I can also imagine that it is mostly the unemployed/underemployed divers that have time to post stuff online...so what is one to believe and what are they basing that $40k/yr figure off of?

 

[northpacific]

There are several facets of commercial diving Hippy. Mostly it is piece work (paid per job) and the entry level rates are very low. You are best to check around and look for what kind of work there is. Do you want off shore international? What training to they want their employees to have, HSE (health and Safety Executive UK) or US training?

My advise I would give to anyone looking at commercial diving is; Pick a topside job you want, like medic, welder/fabricator, life support tech and then get the diving. The diving side is like work boots, it's a tool to get to the job site, once on the job site what can you offer. Can you run a bell, fabricate some tool that could be useful for the job you are on or save someone with a shattered leg? The more you know the more employable you are.

Good luck diver!

 

[Wookie]

Commercial divers do start at $40k per year. Trouble is, you won't be diving for a large or small number of years, depending on the economy. You will tend, do all the crap jobs, and do about everything in the world except dive.

 

[Chris Hipp]

Makes sense. So when people say most graduates are out of the business within 2 years, does that mean most don't even get wet?

Here's my situation, I am working in real estate right now. It is fine and all, but if it doesn't pick up by the end of the year I will likely make a career change. I'd really like to do something in diving, and I am the type of person that can fix pretty much anything, so that is why commercial diving appeals to me. But then again, I would be happy working in the back room of a dive shop fixing regulators or working on a dive boat.

 

[Doubler]

A co-workers son works in the commercial dive industry. Note I said "works in". He graduated # 2 in his class and works for one of the big dive ops in the Gulf of Mexico. Before he left his mom asked me for advice I told her to tell him leave his Ipod, TV, radio, laptop at home. Bring a change of clothes and a hard working attitude. He did these things, listens to the Master Diver and busts his ass. He is out on boats working all time because he has made a good rep for himself and has worked himself up to a lead tender and has about 10 commercial dives. I believe you need 50 to get your Commercial Ticket punched so he has about 3 to 4 years to go possibly. This is hard work where you have to prove yourself. Don't think you are going to go to school, graduate and then begin living your dream because you will be sadly disappointed. This is a job you got to really really want in order to make it.

 

[Wookie]

Chris, to me, diving is a lifestyle job rather than a bring home the bacon type. You are out on a boat for 6 months a year, being fed and housed. You aren't making a killing, you are learning your job. As you become more valuable, your pay goes up. If you have a family, a house payment, and a car payment, and owe on all those credit cards from when real estate was slow, diving may not be for you. It is very much a young persons career, much like the military. The military gets away with paying crap because you can live in a tent and eat rations. You only start to make real money in the military when you've done it for 6 or so years.

 

[DCBC]

NorthPacific gave you good advice when he told you to get a job as a welder and get a couple of years in construction before you get into commercial diving. No one pays you to dive; they pay you to get the job done. Too many divers are graduating out of commercial dive school without the ability to do the job. Some are even a hazard on the job site. No wonder that many of them that do find themselves employed as tenders are doing this as long as they do. Don't get me wrong, I tendered for Cal Dive for a about a week, then it was to work. No one puts a good worker in a tending job unless they are recovering from an injury, or are the most inexperienced on the team.

For those that get into commercial diving that are employable, they can eventually find a job with a company and make a good living. With a few breaks they can do very well. Although a good chunk of divers are self-employed and work by the day/dive, many are full-time employees. Companies invest in good staff. It has served me extremely well.

 

[Hawkwood]

My son recently graduated from a commercial dive school here in Canada. He was fully employed upon graduation. Full time, with benefits. In his case, there will be no problem reaching your quoted annual income.

His choice was to get his experience "inland". He also brought a couple of important skill sets - he is a Journeyman Heavy Duty Mechanic who worked during his apprenticeship for a crane company and also had rigging experience.

He was told when he was hired that when he was not diving he would be working on equipment, including pumps as well as the trucks and trailers. He works for Canadian Dewatering (Northern Underwater Services). He was advised by all to be enthusiastic and do what ever was offered. He expected to be tendering for quite a while, but this week finds him underwater diving in an effluent pond at a pulp mill and that particular project is expected to last a couple of weeks.

 

[DCBC]

He also brought a couple of important skill sets - he is a Journeyman Heavy Duty Mechanic who worked during his apprenticeship for a crane company and also had rigging experience.

Bingo.

He was told when he was hired that when he was not diving he would be working on equipment, including pumps as well as the trucks and trailers. He works for Canadian Dewatering (Northern Underwater Services). He was advised by all to be enthusiastic and do what ever was offered. He expected to be tendering for quite a while, but this week finds him underwater diving in an effluent pond at a pulp mill and that particular project is expected to last a couple of weeks.

NUS is a good company for him to get started with. He will also have an opportunity to be much closer to home than he would if he had gotten involved in the offshore. My congratulations to him; that's great!

 

[Hawkwood]

We were very pleased. Their southern office is based out of Airdrie, just 30 minutes from Calgary and the house. Who'da thunk it in land-locked Alberta.