Finding PADI Instructor jobs
I always tell PADI Instructors that the best way to land a job is just to go to the location where you want to work and have a chat with the local dive centers. Of course that is not always possible. If you are sitting on your couch and browsing dive instructor job ads it’s not possible to jump on a plane to Mexico, Thailand, and Spain.
Not all jobs are online
At this time, a year past the pandemic, there is still a huge shortage of PADI diving instructors so it is not difficult to find a diving job. Remember that many dive centers have a good list of contacts. Dive centers that offer good benefits and employment conditions are ‘popular’ centers to work for. They may never need to put a vacancy online.
Websites for Scuba Instructor jobs
There are plenty of websites where you can find job vacancies for PADI dive instructors. Here is a list of the most popular sites to find diving instructor jobs:
The PADI job board should of course be on the top of this list. You can search for job types and locations and search for jobs on a map. (tip: if you don’t see many jobs in your preferred location it may be the wrong time. Most dive centers post vacancies only at the start of the season.)
PADI members can also see job details and post their resume. Your resume can only be viewed by PADI dive centers.
https://divejobs.padi.com/
Although SSI is a much smaller organisation than PADI they still have a large list of recent job vacancies on their website. In some diving destinations, SSI is very popular. Even if you are a PADI instructor you can have a serious look at these job offerings. Almost all SSI shops also offer a complete range of PADI courses. There are simply fewer SSI Instructors around so some dive centers offer a free ‘cross-over’.
https://www.divessi.com/en/join-ssi/jobs-worldwide/jobs
Scuba jobs worldwide has a decent collection of recent job postings. There is no location filter or map so you have to use the search function or scroll through the list of jobs.
https://scuba-jobs-worldwide.com/v2/jobs/
On Divejobs,net you can search by job position or location. There is also a section for volunteer projects. Many posts are actually ads for Divemaster courses. The number of (recent) vacancies is not nearly as large as on the PADI job board but you may consider writing to dive centers that posted a job a while back. Most need new staff every season.
http://www.divejobs.net/
Facebook groups
There are plenty of Facebook groups where you can find Dive Instructor or Divemaster jobs. Some popular ones are:
Scuba jobs worldwide
Real scuba jobs worldwide
#PADI #SSI – GO PRO #Instructor + Divemaster & Internship JOBS Worldwide
The quality of the job posting is not really monitored and dive centers tend to get bombarded with ‘nonsense’ responses. So, if you apply make sure that you write a serious application, including your (short!) resume, availability, and current location.
Be very aware of dive centers offering all kinds of ‘internships’. An internship is not a job and it is not a course. It is a way for dive centers to get free staff. You’re likely to end up with poor training and a very disappointing start of your diving career.
The regional PADI offices (in my case Asia Pacific) also have Facebook pages and sometimes post jobs. Although the number of jobs posted is not very high, these jobs and dive centers come with the recommendation of your local PADI team so it is highly recommended to keep an eye on these pages.
PADI Pros – South East Asia