Ruminations on Surviving as an Instructor

This is a short post I made to the paraglidingforum.com in response to a relatively new pilot's request for information on turning paragliding into a career. Despite being a bit of a disjointed brain-dump it received a good response so I thought I'd archive it here for anyone who is interested.

In my experience there are 3 ways to survive. Run your own school, with a base, a safe and consistent place to fly and be a dealer for 2 or more brands. You work your back end off but you do it because you like being outside all day with cool people.

You can get hooked up with a tandem operation in one of the "hot spots" like Sun Valley, Aspen, Queenstown, British Columbia, or almost anywhere in Europe. You have to have the Tandem gig down to a science. If you've blown a bunch of solo launches in the last 12 months, don't even think about it. It's good work but tougher to form those bonds with students/passengers that are so rewarding.

Finally, the route I've taken. I've been roaming the country working for lots of different schools which has been extremely educational. If it's consistent/year-round, with someone who treats you well, it can be a lot of fun and pay the bills. Unfortunately the seasons change and Winters are slow so you'll often find yourself in conservation mode. What you make in the good season, pays for thumb-twiddling or traveling in the off season. Some instructors will head south of the equator for the Winter and get year-round work that way.

A couple tips: Don't do it halfway. Immerse yourself in it, research everything, and find the best possible information. Don't settle for being a mediocre instructor. Work for the best possible schools, especially early in your career. You'll learn more from them in a season than you will at any 3 day clinic. Don't compromise your ethics or principles, even if it costs you some work. If a school owner or "more experienced" instructor asks (or tells you!) to do something that you know is wrong, don't do it! The best piece of advice I've ever been given was at Doug and Denise's up in Eastern Washington (Aerial Paragliding): "If I have to write an accident report about this am I going to look stupid?" Don't bother working for people who won't treat you well or are going to put a black mark on your safety record. It's not worth the stress, money, or your reputation. It's not an easy lifestyle so the people you work with should be fun, treat you well, and make it worthwhile. It's not necessary, but makes it much more fun when you have new information/skills to offer the school, and vise versa. Obviously the school should place an appropriate value on the information/skils you bring to the program, and if they don't you're being used. You're not just getting paid in cash, you're getting paid in experience and information. It's a little less interesting when they don't have any experience relevant to your teaching career left to offer. The more places you've taught, and the more you know about tandems, PPG, towing, XC, mountain flying, flatland flying, different equipment, etc etc, the more valuable and desirable you are as an instructor.

If it's going well, treat your employer well, have fun, and soak up as much info as possible. There will be times where you botch something up, do something differently than the way your employer does it, etc and you take a blow to the ego. It's not personal. If what they're saying makes sense (it doesn't always but be open minded), do it!

If it's not going well, get out! I lost a good bit of money getting to an operation south of the equator, where I worked for 9 days before realizing that carnage was imminent and I didn't want to watch it happen. It was an expensive waste of time but had I stayed it would have cost a lot more. My suspicions were confirmed when I later met another instructor who worked for the same operation and stuck it out for the Winter.

Write a syllabus! It's something you can hand to your students, and a way to show schools you'd like to work for that you know what you're doing. Start it as a sort of notebook of tips, tricks, techniques etc. Then write your syllabus based on that. If an instructor that has one gives you permission you can adapt yours from theirs. Keep it up to date with the latest info! It'll also help you after the Winter season to refresh on how, what, and in what order you want to teach a course. It's invaluable during ground schools because every student gets the same information in the same way, every time.

Get comfortable leading students through ground school and know the information! I was one of those shy kids in school and the thought of standing up in front of a group and taking control of a classroom gave me dry-mouth and sweaty palms. When it came to teaching ground school it took me a long time to really feel comfortable but practice makes perfect and having confidence that the information you have is 100% spot-on will make a huge difference. I find that most instructors who are uncomfortable teaching ground school either don't know the information inside and out, or aren't sure why the information they have is correct and are worried that they're going to be asked a question that they can't answer.

As for expectations; eat cheap, work hard, have fun! You're not going to get rich, but it's worth it! The perks are good and many schools will include you as an instructor on their trips so you get to travel, usually with some of the same students you've been teaching during the past year.