If you read my last blog about the different training agencies, you will remember how I said that in the PADI system you can roll into town and teach your own courses without being linked to a dive school. This is true in all facets of the PADI system with the exception of the PADI Instructor Development Courses. As a PADI Course Director you must be working through a PADI 5 Star IDC training centre to be able to teach PADI IDC programs. Therefore, choosing your Course Director and dive school sort of go hand in hand. 

I am not a big fan of dive schools that offer internships where the candidates work off their tuition over time. Check out this blog that I wrote which explains why.

Your course director will become your mentor, should remember you and be able to assist you long after the PADI IDC is finished. If you have a burning question about some training standard two years after you did your IDC, can’t contact PADI because it’s a weekend and you can’t find the answer, then a quick message to your Course Director should be an option.

Don’t get fooled by guarantees of employment. As PADI Course Directors we have plenty of contacts in the dive community and we should be able to steer you in the right direction. But let’s be honest, can I guarantee you a job after you successfully completed your PADI IDC? The truthful answer to that question is no. 

A: I can’t hire everyone, and 

B: You might not be someone I want to hire.

How big is the class? As Course Directors we have limits as to how many candidates we can have before we have to use assistants such as IDC Staff instructors or PADI Master Instructors. Plain and simply if the classes are too big then some of your training, counselling and evaluations will be conducted not by the Course Director, but by one of the assistants. Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a benefit to a larger class, as students learn of each other, as well as that there is more exposure to different problems and ways of teaching. I believe the perfect size is somewhere between 4 and 6 candidates.

What about a Platinum PADI Course Director? A Platinum course director is someone who has achieved the highest ranking of PADI Course Directors. A PADI Platinum Course Director is someone who has certified lots of professional levels of diver certification in a 12 month period.

This is how PADI explains it:

PADI Frequent Trainers rank amongst the top performing Course Directors in the world, helping to teach new PADI Instructors and transform lives across the globe every year. 

The PADI Frequent Trainer program distinguishes PADI Course Directors by highlighting their experience and gives them the means to promote their Frequent Trainer status to IDC candidates, potential IDC candidates, prospective employers and others. 

To be eligible to join the Frequent Trainer program you must be a renewed PADI Member and have no verified quality assurance complaints for the review or award year. 

To earn: 

Silver Ranking

• Authorise 20-49 total professional level certifications.

• Authorise at least 10 core pro level certifications (includes DM, AI, OWSI or IDCSI).

• Authorise at least 10 Instructor level continuing education certifications therefore have a 50% instructor level continuing education ratio.

Gold Ranking

• Authorise 50-99 total professional level certifications.

• Authorise at least 20 core pro level certifications (includes DM, AI, OWSI or IDCSI)

• Authorise at least 30 Instructor level continuing education certifications therefore have a 60% instructor level continuing education ratio.

Platinum Ranking

• Authorise 100 or more total professional level certifications.

• Authorise at least 30 core pro level certifications (includes DM, AI, OWSI or IDCSI).

• Authorise at least 70 Instructor level continuing education certifications therefore have a 70% instructor level continuing education ratio.

So, what is my advise to choosing your PADI Course Director for your PADI IDC? Make sure you like them, ask them about the IDC program, is anything else included beyond the minimum standards, what do they do for the environment, how many candidates on the course on average, will all of the IDC be taught by the Course Director or by staff instructors and whatever you do… don’t shop on price. You get what you pay for.

For that shameless bit of self promotion here is a little video about choosing your #idcwithkai and what makes my IDC programs different to others.