How do you become a Commercial Diver?

How do you become a commercial diver, is there a course you have to take, how much does it cost and where can i take it. I’m talking about diving on rigs and offshore work. Also boat maintanace that type of thing.
south africa

Mmmm, don’t know too much about S.Africa. For what it’s worth ideally you’ll be looking for somewhere like this;

http://www.theunderwatercentre.co.uk/index.asp

You won’t ever walk straight into a rig job. For a start you need roughly a year ‘on the job’ doing other commercial work before being accepted onto a saturation diving(closed bell) course. The other reason is rig diving jobs are few and far between. Most hirings are done through recommendations from other divers and/or just knowing the right people. The rig jobs are invariably gained by recieving a quiet “Are you wanting a job with us?” phone call.

Another word of warning is remember these training companies are commercial organisations. They will always tell you there’s tons of work, even if there isn’t. They, after all, just want your money.

If you do go for it remember……networking, networking, networking! Get yourself known(for all the right reasons), send CVs away to everyone you can imagine and at the start take on any sh!tty job that you’re offered. At least then you begin to build up experience and face and name start to get recognised.

Good luck!

Offshore diving

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