Hiring a PADI Course Director

You own or manage a dive centre and you want to offer the widest possible experiences for your divers. Since you want to offer the full spectrum of courses, that means running at least a couple of instructor development courses per year. So you have a decision to make and you decide to go out and hire a contract course director, do you hire a contract only basis or recruit a full time course director on staff?

Contract course directors can be unreliable, discourteous and may not work in the best interests of the business - that is contracting their services to provide customer value. So, you make a decision to hire a course director on salary as a valued staff member. As they are usually the most experienced instructor and highest ranking instructor on the team, they normally take the role of training manager to coordinate dive training activities.

The first attribute of a course director you will encounter will be one of arrogance; they don't want to conduct open water courses, fill tanks or wash and assemble equipment. Well I have shock for staff course directors; if you are not conducting instructor development courses then you are an open water instructor and you are expected to work in a manner consistent of an open water instructor.

Likewise, the course director is paid accordingly; consistent with their greater experience and knowledge - I expect exceptional equipment knowledge and sales. Continuing education sales is a skill all course directors should process and their potential to drive continuing education sales must begin with entry-level divers, that means conducting open water courses. 

Now, many course directors see entry-level courses as beneath them, but this is exactly where you need your most experienced instructors. Less experienced instructors can be tasked with advanced and rescue courses, these are already your customers and an advanced course, despite the name, it is less skill intensive.

I believe you pay a course director a similar base rate as an open water instructor: however, you offer sales performance incentives for equipment and continuing education. That doesn't mean the exact same rate as a new instructor they have just taught, it can be a sliding scale based on experience and skills but a similar rate. When they run an instructor development course, the course director is paid the course fee, that is their incentive rewarding their commitment to progressing their skills and qualifications. 

The provision is the candidates purchase all their course materials through the shop, this is the shop's cut. Costs such as airfills, pool fees or boat hire are a cost that come out of the course fee and reduce the course director's profit; these are general fixed and variable costs. I don't believe in charging the course director a facility fee for classrooms, although that is a legitimate fee; you do expect to make this up on equipment sales, naturally, the course director receives their commission on these sales too.  

You need to be clear, they are only a course director when conducting instructor development courses - any other times, they are an open water instructor and are paid accordingly. I would never hire a full-time course director again, I would only hire via contract to conduct two instructor development courses per year and keep a trusted instructor on staff lacking the course director attitude.