View Full Version : commie jobs????
hey gang
im gonna be going for my commie ticket, prob in the next few months up at the fort as my folks are gonna help me with the funding ( thanks mum and dad. lol).
anyway i know there are a few commies on here and i was wondering what the job situation and pay is in scotland? as id like to stay local till i get a bit of experiance before going to work abroad.
thanks guys
kyle.
Yogi Diver
20-02-09, 20:19
I'm sure Stew can point you in the general direction of a sewer pipe.:D
Kyle,
save your folks a few grand by going to PDA in Dunoon rather than Fort Bill would be my first advice.
next advice would probably be save your cash altogether as there are many commie divers with no work at the moment, even more so at this time of year when the weather can be bad & in this economic climate, who knows whats going to happen.
the oil industries are cutting back which also means less diving work so they guys might need to then work inshore.
if you do decide to commit financial suicide, you would be better working civils to cut your teeth.
there are not that many civil companies in scotland as you might think and there are plenty of scottish divers out there.
working local is not an option, you must travel to where the work is, do the job, then go home, if that means going abroad, then do it.
you will live in b&b's, hotels, boats, live out of a bag, spend loads on petrol, start early, work late & freeze your nuts off on a regular basis.
as for pay, its often negotiable and im not disclosing my wages on a public forum, the tax man might be reading this... if he is then..:p
but i will tell you that wages range from £80 - £431 a day for basic air diving & you get £0.00 for every day you have off.
no-one will pay you for blowing bubbles, so what do you have to offer from your former life? engineering, construction, welding, mechanical backgrounds are probably best & might get you that first job ahead of the other 30 newbie divers scotland has just produced in that month.
& then there is the glamorous side to commie diving, loads of pay, sitting watching movies all day, women throwing themselves at you in bars and buying you drinks while you spurn out the stories about the time you escaped the shark infested waters...:rolleyes:
not all of the above info is true, but im happy to give you any help you might need to get a foot into the industry.
i would also recomend you join longstreath (http://longstreath.com/) forum, but be warned!! you take your chances should you decide to post anything. they are not as friendly a bunch like you find here.
Yogi Diver
20-02-09, 20:34
Kyle,
save your folks a few grand by going to PDA in Dunoon rather than Fort Bill would be my first advice.
next advice would probably be save your cash altogether as there are many commie divers with no work at the moment, even more so at this time of year when the weather can be bad & in this economic climate, who knows whats going to happen.
the oil industries are cutting back which also means less diving work so they guys might need to then work inshore.
if you do decide to commit financial suicide, you would be better working civils to cut your teeth.
there are not that many civil companies in scotland as you might think and there are plenty of scottish divers out there.
working local is not an option, you must travel to where the work is, do the job, then go home, if that means going abroad, then do it.
you will live in b&b's, hotels, boats, live out of a bag, spend loads on petrol, start early, work late & freeze your nuts off on a regular basis.
as for pay, its often negotiable and im not disclosing my wages on a public forum, the tax man might be reading this... if he is then..:p
but i will tell you that wages range from £80 - £431 a day for basic air diving & you get £0.00 for every day you have off.
.
Ahh!! Now we know why you do it.:rolleyes:
stafforddiver
20-02-09, 20:35
Kyle,
Why don't you get a recreational instructors ticket (PADI) , then head off round the world for a year, go and see if you can get a job out there for a while, a friend of mine did it and had the time of his life.
Cheers,
Gareth.
I'm sure Stew can point you in the general direction of a sewer pipe.:D
think i covered that in the 'glamourous' side of commercial diving.
did you know:rolleyes:... i jetwashed edinburgh city councils outfalls (jobbie pipes), it took 2 weeks to unblock and the seagulls got a good feed!
its just glam all the time...:D
Sounds like a shite job :D
Yogi Diver
20-02-09, 20:58
Kyle,
Why don't you get a recreational instructors ticket (PADI) , then head off round the world for a year, go and see if you can get a job out there for a while, a friend of mine did it and had the time of his life.
Cheers,
Gareth.
Probably the best advice you are going to get on this subject. Don't know your personal circumastances but, if you are still single wi nae kids, go for it.
I know if I was still a bairn, I'd be heading for warmer climes as a PADI Instructor. (I've got it on good authority that the women can't get enough of them.;))
I had planned to take that route as an option towards early, semi-retirement till I got bent and thought about it properly. The dive profiles and hours worked are not exactly in keeping with Buhlmann's recommendations so best left to the younger generation.
Me, I'm a grumpy old git now and the thought of earning a living taking numpties on 8 - 10 metre dives has lost it's appeal.:o
Now I'm a PADI divemaster with no intention of taking it further but, if/when I bugger off to Cyprus, I will offer my occasional services to the Dive Centres as a guide if they get too busy for their existing instructors to cope. Should be worth a few free trips diving the Zenobia?
:(
Kyle,
Why don't you get a recreational instructors ticket (PADI) , then head off round the world for a year, go and see if you can get a job out there for a while, a friend of mine did it and had the time of his life.
Cheers,
Gareth.
this is what i was thinking of doing as i was made redundant but i have a fair bit to do only being at padi adv. level of cards :(
As Stew said, you need to take whatever work when & where it is offered to you, even the shitty jobs that last two or three days. That way you eventually get known in the industry while gaining experience. If you can hack being up to your knees in mud, working in zero vis, hanging around in the cold then you might be OK. I don't dive commercially these days, but still have some contacts that I have passed on to Stew and some others. However, as far as I hear, work is scarce for commie divers just now, (it gets like this sometimes), so I would think newbies with no experience have less chance of gaining work.
Commie diving can be a good life, but expect to spend money on further training, like NDT, coded welding, medic and so on.
Good luck
:(
this is what i was thinking of doing as i was made redundant but i have a fair bit to do only being at padi adv. level of cards :(
Do it mate speaking frm experience you will have the best time of your life if you get a decent dive center and a lively night life, :D:D
donnyscuba
21-02-09, 14:50
Def reccomend going down the padi professional route, but, and this is a big but, there are thousands of us out there trying for that dream job. anything has to be better than flushing edinburghs tomato seeds away though.
what i have noticed is the need for multi lingual instructors. German seems to be a fav. If you have a second, or third ( i know one owsi with 9 ) languages, that should open doors. some instructor development centers offer a job placement scheme, makes the whole course more expensive, but you cant put a price on experience. hope it works out,
one more thing, as columbo says,
dont believe the hype about wummin throwing themselves at you, but that might just be my ugly mug.
Donny.
:(
this is what i was thinking of doing as i was made redundant but i have a fair bit to do only being at padi adv. level of cards :(
This is my credit crunch plan also:)
I only want dive master as I just want free diving rather than income for the year.
I'm adv also but you can find a few places that will take for free through the courses. Here's an example:
http://www.narimadiving.com/divemaster-internship.html
I'm going to pay for mine at another place in Thailand but even for:
EFR
Rescue
DAN Oxygen Administration
DM
and spread over a 3 month internship, with as much free diving as I want, its only £800 approx. Internship seems best way to go and I'm in no rush.
ok i just picked myself up off the floor!!:rolleyes:
let me explain 2 differencies here on this post that have somewhat been confused.
commie diving isnt prancing around teaching people to dive in blue water, its real work!
its welding, its broco burning, its crane operations, its concrete work, it raising pipelines, its welding anodes, its bolting flanges on pipelines, its salvage, its, its, its,...and a whole lot more.
Kyle has suggested he is going to Fort William which suggests he isnt intending on being a dive instructor.
dive instructor basic jobs pay basic wages and accomodation for some.
they pay per week what a commie can make per day and are more associated to a lifestyle job in the sunshine then a real job.
there are exceptions where technical instructors may make a decent wage from instruction but to get to that level takes a lot of time, effort & dedication.
rant over...:)
kyle, send me a pm with your email address if your serious about becoming a commie diver.
ok i just picked myself up off the floor!!:rolleyes:
let me explain 2 differencies here on this post that have somewhat been confused.
commie diving isnt prancing around teaching people to dive in blue water, its real work!
its welding, its broco burning, its crane operations, its concrete work, it raising pipelines, its welding anodes, its bolting flanges on pipelines, its salvage, its, its, its,...and a whole lot more.
Kyle has suggested he is going to Fort William which suggests he isnt intending on being a dive instructor.
dive instructor basic jobs pay basic wages and accomodation for some.
they pay per week what a commie can make per day and are more associated to a lifestyle job in the sunshine then a real job.
there are exceptions where technical instructors may make a decent wage from instruction but to get to that level takes a lot of time, effort & dedication.
rant over...:)
kyle, send me a pm with your email address if your serious about becoming a commie diver.
Commercial job as defined by HSE is any job you are being paid for.
But as Stew say Theres a BIG difference between Instructing and doing Underwater construction.
Commercial job as defined by HSE is any job you are being paid for.
But as Stew say Theres a BIG difference between Instructing and doing Underwater construction.
I've met some PADI instructors who take delight in calling themselves 'Professionals' they would be NRB'd in the real commie world.
hey folks
wow i think ive started a war. lol
instructors vs commies
a deathmatch special. :D:D
thanks for the feedback folks. there will be a bit of crossover if i do go down the commie route which is likely, as id prob instruct in the downtime - funny enough i just got back from oz and when i was there i was offered a job as an instructor at a busy dive school in perth once i get my ticket - sounded great but i doubt the money would be enough to live on as its 8 bucks a pint over there at the moment :eek:. i know that life as a commie diver is a tough one but the money does look good once you get experience and you get to travel. :D.
i was staying with a freind over in oz who is a non diving welder on the rigs over there an he was telling me what life is like. he also told me about the fights between surface crews and the divers. it least it wont get too boring. lol
its somthing im gonna have a good think about. if i do go throught it at the fort im prob gonna go through the dive medics course while im up there it cant hurt eh.
thanks again folks
kyle
I've met some PADI instructors who take delight in calling themselves 'Professionals' they would be NRB'd in the real commie world.
Aye and Ive met commie divers who couldnt tell you boyles law
:D I'm sure you have!. Anyway, your reply has just one me a £10 bet
personally I wouldn't take the pay cut
but good luck in whatever you do.
Kyle, while doing a mooring job today I was telling my mate about this thread. He suggested that you could send letters, email or telephone companies, informing them of your intentions to train as a commercial diver and asking them if they would offer you work when you qualify. Obviously mention your current diving experience and any skills you have that could be employed in the diving industry.
Bubble Blower
28-12-09, 21:10
I've had a look at commie diving but not for me as I don't have any other skills to bring to it, i.e welding, mechanic etc.
While looking into the courses I've seen courses to become an ROV pilot or Assistant Life Support technician.
Does anyone on here work in these areas already? If considering the ROV course do i need any other skills, like those mentioned above or electrician?
Anyone got any ideas how easy/hard it is to find work after finishing the course?
Mr Flibble
29-12-09, 10:47
Previous experience of electrical/electronic engineering would be a big advantage for a would be ROV tech. Fort William do a 7 week full course where no previous is required but it's around £10k :eek:. I've considered doing the ROV tech course also but would need to chuck the current job to do the course.
Maybe...................... :rolleyes:
NT will tell you he's had New ROV pilots working on his ship for Zero Pay because you need to get experiance after training before anyone will let you fly there Highly Expensive ROV. Why not join the Navy and get the training for Free?
think i covered that in the 'glamourous' side of commercial diving.
did you know:rolleyes:... i jetwashed edinburgh city councils outfalls (jobbie pipes), it took 2 weeks to unblock and the seagulls got a good feed!
its just glam all the time...:D
Well done mate.
you didn't happen to find that gold bracelet my wife accidently flushed down the loo by any chance ??
NorthernTechnical
30-12-09, 00:03
I work in the ROV industry, these great bits of kit are killing commie divers. Save your money and don't do the course. One of my mates still doesnt have a job even after 6 months:(
The ROV course would be a better option, but jobs are still thin on the ground. I had a guy working for nothing just to get his hours up to get a start with an oil company. Lean times:(
NorthernTechnical
30-12-09, 00:05
NT will tell you he's had New ROV pilots working on his ship for Zero Pay because you need to get experiance after training before anyone will let you fly there Highly Expensive ROV. Why not join the Navy and get the training for Free?
OOPs just read this post, ever so true.
I work in the ROV industry, these great bits of kit are killing commie divers. (
aye, your not wrong there, thats the 3rd one i have dragged along the seabed (pics available on request) after its broke down and im sure my back will never be the same again! :p
fairs fair they do have their place in the industry but they will never take over from divers until the develop the sense of feeling a diver has in his hand.
BB
ALST or even LST...its a hard industry to do that as a main job unless you have the right relatives in the industry;).
most sat divers are also ALST as are quite a few air divers, its more of a 'bolt-on' job & all commie divers operate chambers as part of basic training.
on a brighter note, you shouldnt find any ROV's blowing down the chambers. ;)