Recently, I’ve talked about the Rescue and Divemaster courses. If you’re already a Divemaster and are looking to continue on, or you’re checking out the rest of the career development path, now we’re going to talk about PADI Instructor-level training.

Like every industry, scuba diver education has it’s own set of acronyms. Let’s define a few:

• AI Assistant Instructor
• OWSI Open Water Scuba Instructor
• IDC Instructor Development Course
• IE Instructor Exam

Let’s take a look at what you can do at the two instructor levels and how you get there.

AI’s can do a limited amount of independent teaching, with more available if an Instructor is directing the AI or supervising the course directly. Specifically, AI’s can do everything a Divemaster can plus teach the Project AWARE, AWARE-Coral Reef Conservation and Peak Performance Buoyancy courses. Peak Performance Buoyancy requires that an instructor be available for consultation during the program. An AI can also evaluate some surface skills in the Open Water Diver course. When a PADI Instructor is supervising a course, the AI can also teach skills and classroom sessions for many courses.

OWSI is the entry-level instructor rating. At this level, you can teach PADI Scuba Diver, PADI Open Water Diver, Adventure Diver, Advanced Open Water, Rescue, and Divemaster plus everything a Divemaster and AI can teach. Also, an OWSI can conduct Discover Scuba Diving experiences in an open water setting.

How do you get to these two ratings? Not surprising, but there is an AI course and an OWSI course. There are a couple of ways to put this together:

Option 1:

As a PADI Divemaster, you can enroll in a PADI Assistant Instructor course directly. An AI course can be taught by an IDC Staff instructor (an assistant for instructor-level training) or by a PADI Course Director (an instructor-trainer). AI Programs can be taught at PADI 5-Star Dive Centers or Resorts or higher. For the PADI OWSI program, it needs to be conducted by a PADI Course Director and must be conducted at a PADI 5-Star Instructor Development Center, 5-Star Instructor Development Resort or a PADI Career Development center. To enroll in an OWSI program, you need to be a PADI Assistant Instructor or an Instructor with another training agency.

Option 2:

As a PADI Divemaster you can enroll in a PADI Instructor Development Course, IDC. The PADI IDC is a composite of the AI and OWSI programs run as a single program.

As with other programs, there are some online options to complete some of the training. I highly suggest that all Instructor candidates use the eLearning program for a couple of reasons: it’s exceptionally well done (they deliver some of the material better than I would) and it gives you, the Instructor Candidate, a good feel for how eLearning can be useful to you when you’re teaching. These modules can be taught live for reasons such as the material isn’t available in a language you understand or you lack Internet connectivity and ability to use the eLearning system. The downside of the live presentation is that it takes about two full days. The online program typically takes less than a day.

Here are the topics covered in the eLearning portion of PADI Instructor Development:

• Learning, Instruction and the PADI System
• General Standards & Procedures Part I
• Risk Management
• Marketing Diving
• Start Diving
• Teaching PADI Specialty courses
• Business of Diving
• Keep Diving
• How to teach the Recreational Dive Planner (RDP)

These topics are required for Instructor candidates and for candidates just completing an OWSI Program. Only a few are required for the AI course, but if you’re paying for the eLearning program, you should complete them all.

After the eLearning, there are several live presentations, discussions and workshops, including:

• Course Orientation*
• Developing Knowledge Development Presentations*
• Teaching in Confined Water*
• Conducting Open Water Training Dives*
• General Standards and Procedures Part II
• Open Water Diver
• Adventures in Diving
• Rescue Diver
• Divemaster
• Risk Management

The starred courses are required for the AI program. One thing that should stand out is that the full IDC or an OWSI program introduces you to the four core certification programs as well as furthering your knowledge of General Standards and Procedures and Risk Management.

That’s the academics. You have to practice teaching in all three venues: classroom, pool and open water. You’ll also demonstrate your knowledge and skills with written exams and a skill circuit in the pool. To get through all of this, you’ll need a lot of materials. A list of required materials is available here in my IDC Stuff page.

How long does it take? Here are the minimum number of days:

AI (with eLearning): 2 days

OWSI (with eLearning): 3 days

IDC (with eLearning): 5 days

Without eLearning, add two days to each of those.

Here’s a typical IDC schedule:

idc-jan2013a

Following your AI course, if you’ve met all of the course requirements, your IDC Staff Instructor or Course Director will help you complete your application to become an Assistant Instructor. After completing your OWSI or IDC, you’ll need to attend a 2-day IE, Instructor Exam. This is an objective evaluation of your knowledge and skills conducted by an examiner from PADI. The awesome part of this is that you can take an IE almost anywhere in the world; the standards and requirements are the same everywhere. To simplify logistics, most Course Directors arrange their OWSI and IDC programs to match the calendar of IE’s closest to them. For example, I often conduct PADI Instructor Development Courses the week before an IE to simplify things.

Change your life! Become a scuba instructor and start a career with adventure!

Now, while it is possible for you to be prepared with the bare minimum of presentations and training, I prefer to add some workshops to my PADI IDC programs. These include:

• Project AWARE workshop: we spend time looking at the Project AWARE and Coral Reef Conservation curricula and also spend time looking at how to process student certifications and the required paperwork and record keeping.
• Kids program workshop: If you want to teach kids, this is the way to go. We take a look at the Bubblemaker and Seal Team programs and complete one or more Seal Team aquamissions in the pool so you’re familiar with the programs.
• Emergency Oxygen Provider Instructor training: This is a PADI Specialty Instructor training course to teach you how to offer the Emergency Oxygen Provider specialty. This course integrates with the Rescue Diver program, allowing you to add value to your Rescue courses. It also gets your students on the track towards Master Scuba Diver.
• Business of Diving workshop: What does it cost to teach a class? How much should I charge? How do I market the programs? What are my career goals? We take a look at all of these questions to make sure you are earning what you should and not selling yourself short.

Of course, there are a ton of details I can’t fit into this blog post. Feel free to contact me with questions and to check out my other pages on PADI Instructor Development.

Last week we looked at escaping the 9-5 grind and some possible options for how that might look. This time, we’ll take a look at some specific opportunities and how you can improve your skills and knowledge to land that dream job as a PADI Professional.

Imagine this as your office as a PADI Professional

A benefit of PADI membership is the online classifieds and employment listings. In the first eight days of 2014, there were over 70 job postings from around the world for PADI Professionals. The jobs range from Divemaster up to and including Course Director. The locations ranged from Ohio to the Red Sea. And those eight days aren’t unique. There are opportunities all the time. Some require that you have some minimum level of experience and/or certifications. Others are looking for PADI Professionals that can speak multiple languages. Here are a few examples:

We are looking for multilingual instructors for one of our diving centers in Maldives to start as soon as possible.

We offer:

A long term contract (1 year, renewable)

Paid flight ticket (return ticket paid after completion of contract) and work permit

Basic Salary plus personal commission in US$

Monthly Bar allowance and mineral water for free

Unlimited laundry service for free

One month paid holiday after completion of contract

We expect:

Motivated instructors possibly with working experience in remote locations

PADI OWSI or higher in teaching status

Renewed professional diving insurance

Well groomed appearance and good manners should go without saying

Team work ability

Ability to teach fluently in English and either German or French

Additional languages are an advantage

Instructor for Miami, Florida, USA

We have a full time position for a PADI instructor starting immediately. We are seeking a highly motivated instructor, with excellent social skills and a genuine passion for teaching diving. Must be able to legally work in the U.S. We are a smoke/drug free environment.

Duties include but are not limited to: work in the sales floor, fill tanks, tank inspections and teach different levels of PADI courses.

This is a unique opportunity to become part of a small company & make influential decisions.

And there are many, many more.

So, what do you need to do to stand out from the crowd?

• Multiple languages
• Retail experience
• Fill-station operator experience/training
• Trained as a cylinder inspector
• Boat captain’s license
• Experience with small engine repair
• Computer experience
• Ability to teach many courses.

Let’s focus on the last item: ability to teach many courses. As a new PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor you can teach a lot: Scuba Diver, Open Water Diver, Adventure Diver, Advanced Open Water, Rescue, Divemaster, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Project AWARE, Discover Scuba, etc. But there is more out there in the realm of diving specialties. Here are a few examples:

• Sidemount Diver
• Night Diver
• Altitude Diver
• Boat Diver
• Underwater Navigator
• Underwater Naturalist
• Underwater Videographer
• Enriched Air(EANx)/Nitrox
• Wreck Diver
• Search & Recovery Diver
• Digital Underwater Photographer
• Emergency Oxygen Provider

There are many more specialties. One of the advantages of being able to teach specialties for you, the instructor, is that you get to teach what you really love to do. For example, I’m pretty concerned about diving safety, so I like to teach the Oxygen Provider course. I also love to teach Digital Underwater Photography. I may not be the best photographer, but I’m enthusiastic and my students know it. That enthusiasm really helps make your courses more fun and flow better. You also diversify what you teach, which can keep you from getting bored with teaching the same classes over and over.

Looking at other skills to help you land your dream job, boat captain and engine mechanic are excellent skills to have. Diving often happens from a boat. If you can sail and take care of the engine, you’re in a great position.

PSI has some excellent training on fill station operations and cylinder inspections. Contact me if you want to learn more about these programs.

Also, remember when you’re applying for these jobs to research the diving operation your applying to. Customize your resume and cover letter to fit that operation’s needs, don’t just write up one resume and blast it out to every dive shop you can find. The extra effort pays off.

Can’t find the ideal opportunity on the PADI Pros site? There is also a job seeker board where you can post your resume and describe the job you’re looking for.

Your first step as a diving professional is as a PADI Divemaster. “Divemaster” The title itself seems pretty awesome, doesn’t it? What does it mean? What do you have to do to become a Divemaster? Let’s take a look at the program requirements and what you’ll do to become a PADI Divemaster.

First, there are some prerequisites.

• PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or equivalent)
• Rescue Diver (or equivalent)
• Forty (40) logged dives (these can be training dives)
• At least 18 years of age
• Have current CPR & First Aid training (within 24 months)
• Be medically cleared to dive by a physician

To certify as a divemaster, you’ll need to:

• complete the Knowledge Development sessions
• create an Emergency Assistance Plan
• complete the waterskills exercises
• complete a rescue assessment
• complete a diving skills assessment
• complete a set of divemaster-conducted programs workshops
• complete a set of practical assessments
• complete a set of practical application skills

Divers using a lift bag as part of the PADI Search and Recovery Specialty

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? It is! There is a lot to do and this isn’t something you just knock out in a weekend. Now for the details.

Knowledge development includes a good amount of reading, watching videos and instructor-led discussions. Here are some of the topics:

• Role & Characteristics of a Divemaster
• Supervising certified divers
• Assisting with students in training
• Dive Theory (Physics, Physiology, Equipment, RDP, General Dive Skills & the environment)
• Divemaster-conducted programs
• Risk management
• Business of Diving
• Your Diving Career

As a diving professional, you’re a key part of the diving industry. You need to understand more than just how to schlep tanks and set up gear.

Beyond the academics, there is a lot of practical work to be done in the PADI Divemaster course:

• Starting with water skills, you need to show that you are physically ready for the job by demonstrating that you can swim, both with and without fins, tread water, tow an unresponsive diver and solve problems.
• You’ll review and practice rescue skills from your PADI Rescue Diver course. Remember, if you’re in a position where you’re responsible for other divers, you need to be ready to help them out.
• You’ll demonstrate them demonstration-quality. Slow and deliberate, showing all of the details so you could demonstrate the skills to new divers. This is also important because as a PADI Divemaster you’ll be able to conduct SCUBA Tune-ups, review sessions for certified divers. Occasionally, certified divers forget how to do things after a period of not diving. You need to be able to show them how to do the skills in a clear, controlled manner.

You’ll work on several practical skills, things that you can definitely use as a certified PADI Divemaster:

• Mapping a dive site
• Setting up a dive site
• Dive briefing
• Search & Recovery scenario (it’s amazing how often things go missing)
• Deep Diving scenario

PADI Divemasters Supervising on a boat

If you’ve completed the Deep Diver and/or Search & Recovery Specialties, they can count towards the requirements.

There are some workshops, so you can practice skills you’ll need for the programs you’ll be authorized to teach:

• Skin Diving workshop
• Scuba Review workshop
• Discover Scuba workshop
• Discover Local Diving workshop

Then there are some practical assessments, where you will (optimally) work with actual divers:

• Open Water students in confined water
• Open Water students in open water
• Continuing education students in open water
• Certified divers in open water

Throughout all of the program, your professionalism will also be evaluated. How you behave. How you behave towards students and certified divers. Your behavior towards the instructional staff. This is an essential part to becoming a divemaster, since you don’t want to alienate your future customers.

All-in-all, the PADI Divemaster program is pretty intense and requires a lot of work, but it definitely prepares you to enter the world of being a PADI Professional.

Born to Dive, Forced to work?   What if work could be diving?   You can go from non-diver to PADI Professional (dive master or instructor) within six months.    You can go from working in a dreary cubicle to leading divers and students over coral reefs around the world.   If you’re already a certified diver, it can take a lot less time than six months.

Before we dive in to the diving lifestyle, there is one caveat.   Being a PADI Pro doesn’t mean that you’re just going to be lounging on the beach.   There is work to be done, but even a bad day diving is a helluva lot better than sitting in a cubicle staring at a computer screen.

Here are the steps to become a PADI Pro:

* Complete the PADI Open Water Diver course (in as few as four days, but some more time is probably better)

* Complete the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course (a bit of self study and five dives over two days and you’re there)

* Complete the PADI Rescue Diver Course  (Probably plan on five to seven days here.   Most divers that take it say it’s the toughest, funnest diving course they’ve ever taken.)

* Log at least 29 other dives than the ones you’ve done in Open Water, Advanced and Rescue.   [You need forty to start Divemaster.]  These could be in Specialties.   More on that in a bit.

* Complete the PADI Divemaster Course (this will take a month or so, once you work in all of the practical sessions and internship requirements, but it is essential experience to have before becoming an instructor.)

* You’ll need to have at least sixty logged dives to wrap up Divemaster and enroll in a PADI Instructor Development Course.   You also need to be a certified diver for at least six months.

* Take the PADI Instructor Development Course, IDC, and then take/pass your PADI Instructor Examination, IE.

Those are the steps but what do they really mean?

In Open Water, you learn the basics for diving safely with a buddy.   In Advanced, you advance your skills and learn more about navigation and make a deep dive and three other dives in specialty areas like fish identification, diver propulsion vehicles, search & recovery, altitude, boat diving, underwater videography, etc.   In Rescue, you learn how to prevent and respond to problems (read more about that in my last blog post).   Divemaster develops your leadership and supervision skills (watch for my next post on Divemaster).   The PADI IDC teaches you how to teach and gives you opportunity to practice your skills before demonstrating to an examiner from PADI that you’re up to the challenge.   You can take your IE almost anywhere in the world.   The same standards apply world-wide.

Now, you need to have a minimum number of dives to start and end Divemaster and a minimum number to become an Instructor.   These dives can be logged during training and they can just be fun dives (highly recommended).   One option for racking up more dives are PADI Specialty Diver courses.   These can be a great investment in your future, since they’ll expose you to a variety of specialized diving activities.   They build on the material you learn in Advanced and take it further, with guidance and supervision from an Instructor.

Now you’re a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor, OWSI.   Remember all of the courses you just took?   You can now teach most of them.   A new PADI OWSI can teach Open Water Diver, Advanced, Rescue, Divemaster and a few specialties (Peak Performance Buoyancy, Project AWARE and AWARE – Coral Reef Conservation).   You can also conduct diver experiences like Discover Scuba, Bubblemaker and SealTeam.   You can teach most of the Adventure dives in the Adventures in Diving (Advanced/Adventure Diver) program, but not all of them.   For example, you need training and experience and certification to conduct certain diving activities like Enriched Air(EANx)/Nitrox and side mount Diving.

What can a typical day look like for a PADI Pro?

Get up, shower, shave, put on your swim suit and head to the dock.  Make sure the dive boat is ready to go, scuba kit is on board for your divers and that the scuba cylinders are full.   Check the weather and make sure you’ve picked out a good site for the divers in your care.   Meet with your divers and get them aboard the dive boat.   Now, motor out to the reef and give your divers a thorough briefing about the dive they’re about to make.   Once everyone is kitted up, get them in the water and lead them on a descent to the reef.   Watch the group carefully to make sure everyone is safe and having a good time.   Point out the cool things to see on the reef, especially the subtle things that divers might otherwise miss.   Once you’ve hit your planned dive time, deploy your DSMB (delayed surface marker buoy) so the boat knows where you are.   Then lead the group to the surface after a safety stop at fifteen feet.   Make sure everyone boards the boat safely, do a last minute check and then motor on to the second dive site of the day.

At the end of the day, make sure equipment is cleaned and tanks are filled, then go relax with your divers at the restaurant or bar.   Diving is a social activity.

OR….

Arrive at the dive shop fifteen minutes before opening.   Check that everything is clean and ready for customers.   Fill a few tanks, check the rental stock and make sure the classrooms are clean.   Flip on the display lights and the OPEN sign.   Then phone starts to ring.   Divers looking for an upcoming trip.   Get them signed up and have them bring in their gear for a quick check or annual maintenance before they go on the trip.   You hang up and someone walks into the shop looking for new fins.   You spend some time showing various fin features.   Then you invite the customer to try them out in the pool.    Luckily, they brought their swimsuit.   Get them in the pool while you fill a few more tanks.   The customer hops out of the pool and wants to buy the fins, so you get them taken care of.   The phone rings again, a customer with questions about classes.   You take down some information and get them signed up for Open Water Diver.  Later in the day, your coworker that watches the shop in the afternoon comes in.  You tell them about the morning and you go get ready to teach your afternoon/evening class.   Around five, your students start walking into the shop.   You greet them and direct them towards a classroom where you’ll go over their homework and tell them about what they’ll be doing in the pool tonight.

OR…

Maybe you’ve got a good day job and just want to make scuba more than just a hobby, maybe a part-time job.   You meet your students at the dive shop in the evening for their final class and pool session before the open water dives.   After reviewing their homework, you all head out to the pool.   You planned something different for tonight.   Beyond some of the normal skills, you’ve a few games set up in the pool to practice buoyancy control and just have fun.   One of your dive masters is waiting for you with their camera to capture the fun for your student divers.

OR…

Maybe you’re a backpack traveler and want to spend a few months in the Caribbean, then a few months in the Mediterranean, then some time in Fiji before coming home for a couple months of skiing before doing it again.

OR…

Get the idea?   There is an endless way you can escape from your 9-5 job and do what you love for a living.    So what are you waiting for?   Dive in and live the adventure!

In my last article, I talked about generic Dive Safety and planning. This time we’re going to take a closer look at the PADI Rescue Diver Course and how that training will benefit you.

Rescue Diver practice: responding to a scuba emergency on the surface.

I like to think of the PADI Rescue Diver course as providing a tool kit for rescue divers. There is a lot of knowledge and a plethora of skills that we develop, but not all of it applies in every situation. You might have a toolbox with a set of sockets. When you need to tighten a bolt, you don’t use the 6mm, 8mm, 12mm and 14mm for every nut. You use the right tool for the job. Rescue Diver develops that critical thinking in addition to the skills.

Let’s take a look at the knowledge and skills that we work on and then look at a scenario.

Knowledge development can take place in a variety of ways. It can be entirely instructor led, or you can do some independent learning with a book and dvd or completely independently with the PADI eLearning Rescue program. You’ll learn about the psychology of rescue, equipment you might need for rescue situations such as oxygen, first aid supplies, etc. and accident management.

There are several skills you’ll practice. This starts with a self-rescue review from your Open Water Diver training: cramp release, establishing buoyancy and using an alternate air source. Then you’ll proceed through:

• Tired Diver assistance
• Panicked Diver assistance
• Response from a shore, boat or dock (e.g., throwing a line)
• Distressed Diver underwater
• Missing Diver
• Surfacing an unresponsive diver
• Responsive diver at the surface—in-water ventillations
• Exiting the unresponsive diver
• Emergency Oxygen administration
• Response from shore/boat/dock to unresponsive diver at the surface

The good news is that you’ll rarely use any of these skills. Probably, most of what you do is see something amiss on the dive boat. You’ll ask a short question or give a bit of advice and avoid problems altogether. The plan with the Rescue Diver training is that you’ll be prepared to handle many situations. If you’ve not already completed it, you’ll also complete CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and first aid training, probably through the Emergency First Response (EFR) program. These skills are useful anywhere you go. Much like what you learn in the Rescue Course, though, it’ll be the simple first-aid skills you use most often (e.g., simple bandaging and patient assessment), not the life-saving ones.

The down-side of learning these skills and not using them, is that you might forget how to do things. If it’s been more than a year since you took the Rescue course, get with your instructor and arrange a review session. At a minimum, you should refresh your CPR & First Aid skills every 24 months.

The Rescue course culminates in two exercises that flow together: Unresponsive diver underwater and unresponsive diver at the surface. Here, you put all of your knowledge and skills together. Will you be stressed? Probably. That’s not a bad thing. If your instructor has planned well, the scenarios will be realistic and you’ll get to put everything together. Upon completion, you’ll probably feel somewhat exhausted but also exhilarated at having achieved this goal. I’ve been through advanced medical training and I always feel better after a major scenario practice. I know that I can handle a situation, and after completing the PADI Rescue Diver course you’ll know you’re ready to handle many situations that might arise while diving.