Are you fresh our of your PADI IDC and looking for a dive job? Here are some tips that can help you land the perfect dive job!
Write a good CV and cover letter
The first step in most job searching is crafting a good CV. Put forward all your diving experience, even before you were a pro, experience diving in certain conditions will help you get work in a place with similar conditions. Highlight language skills and admin/marketing skills as they are often in demand. If applying for an advertised position, read the description carefully and see how you fit in and if it's a match. Do not waste your own and the dive centre's time applying for jobs that do not fit. Craft your CV and cover letter so that this is clear to the person reading it. For instance, a dive centre with a strong environmental aspect will be happy to hire someone with experience and/or certifications in that field; or one catering to Germanophones will expect you to speak German...
Make sure you tailor what you send to follow the job description so that it is obvious to the person reading that you are a great fit!
Use your non-diving skills and experience
If you only have a little experience as a pro, don't be put off. Dive centres are often happy to hire relatively novice instructors so that they can train them to teach in the 'Dive centre style'. They may also be looking for other skills, as mentioned above, so be sure to highlight marketing, social media, photography, video editing, multiple languages, driving a boat, mechanical skills, typing and admin skills etc. in your application. These skills may amply make up for your lack of experience and be a key element in your being hired.
Go and meet the people
The easiest way to get a job in diving is to be where you want to work and go around the dive centres to say hi. People often respond better to meeting someone in person so they can see what you are like, your human contact and communication skills, and how you behave. It is also an opportunity for the dive centre to perhaps see you dive or even assist or teach a course, that way they have a better idea of how you work and interact with the rest of the team. It's a great way to get through a trial period and land a good permanent job.
Use your network
Like in any industry, a lot of people get hired by word of mouth: « so and so sent me/ I am a friend of so and so, they mentioned you are looking for new diving staff... ».
Use your previous contacts in the dive world even if you knew them before you were a pro. Send a message or an email or make a call to places where you enjoyed diving, past instructors, dive buddies etc. mentioning you are now a pro and looking for work. The diving world is pretty small and the network works so you might be surprised to find people have contacts in other parts of the world who just happen to be looking for diving instructor staff...
Make friends
Finally, remember when dive centres hire instructors, they are hiring a dive pro with all their skills/ experience but even more than that they are hiring a new member of their team and someone who will represent them to their divers, so they are just as much hiring a person as an instructor. By getting on with people and making friends with the rest of the team( the management, the staff (even non-diving, do not underestimate the power of the cleaners/ tank fillers)) and, of course, the guests, you have a high chance that those people will want to work with you( as long as you also do your job right). Make sure to stay professional though and not get too cosy with any one person...
Good luck with the job hunting! And happy bubbles!