Becoming an instructor...
Discussion
Hi All,
I have decided to throw in the towel with regards to my current career and do something that I actually enjoy and want to do...
Of course I fully appreciate the differing opinions within the Advanced Driving forum and I am sure there will be many, so please fire away...
The questions are -
Who should I learn to instruct through & why?
Cost is not a concern, but what is the 'norm'?
Should I avoid certain companies? (feel free to PM me if needs be)
Once I have the ADI 'seal of approval' I wish to develop far past the usual Driving Instructor level and have the ability to offer advanced instruction.
Who can I appraoch to teach me the way? (sorry if that sounds to jedi-like
Many thanks,
Jason.
I have decided to throw in the towel with regards to my current career and do something that I actually enjoy and want to do...
Of course I fully appreciate the differing opinions within the Advanced Driving forum and I am sure there will be many, so please fire away...
The questions are -
Who should I learn to instruct through & why?
Cost is not a concern, but what is the 'norm'?
Should I avoid certain companies? (feel free to PM me if needs be)
Once I have the ADI 'seal of approval' I wish to develop far past the usual Driving Instructor level and have the ability to offer advanced instruction.
Who can I appraoch to teach me the way? (sorry if that sounds to jedi-like
Many thanks,
Jason.
Be very cautious. Only a tiny proportion of those who start down the ADI road qualify, and at the best of times it was difficult to make the figures sometimes advertised. These are not the best of times! On other forums I have seen current ADI's talk about considering alternative careers!
waremark said:
Be very cautious. Only a tiny proportion of those who start down the ADI road qualify, and at the best of times it was difficult to make the figures sometimes advertised. These are not the best of times! On other forums I have seen current ADI's talk about considering alternative careers!
Thanks for your comments. Can you point me in the right directions though?I do not need to be employed, but want to do something I enjoy. Hitting "30k plus per annum" (as some advertise) is not what draws me to this occupation.
Cheers,
Jason.
A similar question was asked on the Advanced Driving UK forum. You might find some of the comments helpful, in addition to any replies here. In any event, if you are interested in advanced driving it is a very good forum on that subject. Look at:
http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/bb/viewtopic.php...
http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/bb/viewtopic.php...
I am a long time ADI and in short, I would advise against trying to go into instructing at the moment. The business is heavily over-suscribed and many instructors are only just earning a living, and a lot are throwing in the towel.
If you go to the one of the best forum sites for instructors, you'll see various topics on this subject. This is the trainees forum:
http://www.ukdic.co.uk/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=9
and this is the qualified instructors forum:
http://www.ukdic.co.uk/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=2
If you join, it's free, and you can post any questions you have and experienced ADIs will give you an answer.
(Oh, and just to mention that of those who make it to the Part 3, there is a failure rate of about 80% - i.e. 80 out of 100 people who have paid up to around £3500 for the training, never make the grade).
If you go to the one of the best forum sites for instructors, you'll see various topics on this subject. This is the trainees forum:
http://www.ukdic.co.uk/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=9
and this is the qualified instructors forum:
http://www.ukdic.co.uk/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=2
If you join, it's free, and you can post any questions you have and experienced ADIs will give you an answer.
(Oh, and just to mention that of those who make it to the Part 3, there is a failure rate of about 80% - i.e. 80 out of 100 people who have paid up to around £3500 for the training, never make the grade).
Edited by CivicMan on Tuesday 17th February 21:02
I would suggest avoiding the big national training providers, with the help of the sites already mentioned you should hopefully get a recomendation for a good local ORDIT trainer & go 'pay as you learn'. As for looking beyond the Learner market you can then qualify to be a Fleet Registered Trainer. You can do this by either passing another three part exam with the DSA or by passing an accredited course such as RoSPA Dip. Work is then available on a consultancy basis for training companies who like to have a network of trainers scattered around the country. There is of course no reason why you can't market your own advanced/defensive courses.
As mentioned above. Go for a good local ORDIT trainer. I'm doing the training at the moment and I think it's imperitive that you get a good trainer.
To give you an idea, the partner of one of my racing customers is currently doing the training with one of the national companies. All of the 'classroom' work is done at home just as paperwork. She gets 40 hours with an instructor for her money.
My training entails one on one training in classroom plus the driving / teaching to teach training. I'm training with Robin Butters at Excel Driving school in chichester and I have to say he's very good.
ADI work will only be part time for me - 15 lessons a week max so downturn in work shouldn't be too much of a problem. The figure I've been told is 7% year on year which doesn't sound too bad.
Important things for you to find out include but not limited too:
Cost of training - this will not include test fees
cost of driving school franchise (e.g. £50 per week)
extra costs - e.g. do you have to pay for the graphics that the driving school will require you to have on the car, do they take a percentage of prepaid vouchers, cost of paperwork e.g. starte packs etc
you'll need a suitable car too :-)
ETA: Dont give up your job just yet - it takes 3-6 months to train as an ADI!
To give you an idea, the partner of one of my racing customers is currently doing the training with one of the national companies. All of the 'classroom' work is done at home just as paperwork. She gets 40 hours with an instructor for her money.
My training entails one on one training in classroom plus the driving / teaching to teach training. I'm training with Robin Butters at Excel Driving school in chichester and I have to say he's very good.
ADI work will only be part time for me - 15 lessons a week max so downturn in work shouldn't be too much of a problem. The figure I've been told is 7% year on year which doesn't sound too bad.
Important things for you to find out include but not limited too:
Cost of training - this will not include test fees
cost of driving school franchise (e.g. £50 per week)
extra costs - e.g. do you have to pay for the graphics that the driving school will require you to have on the car, do they take a percentage of prepaid vouchers, cost of paperwork e.g. starte packs etc
you'll need a suitable car too :-)
ETA: Dont give up your job just yet - it takes 3-6 months to train as an ADI!
Edited by BenElliottRacing on Friday 20th February 22:15
Gassing Station | Advanced Driving | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff