Diving Gear Company Jobs

What do Sherwood, Zeagle, Oceanic, Cressi, Tusa, Akona, Pinnacle, O’Neill, Mares, Apollo, Deep Outdoors, Uwatec, Suunto, and Scubapro all have in common? If you guessed scuba dive gear companies you’re right.

Every diver needs scuba gear. It’s a fact.

You can’t go under the water unless you have all the appropriate equipment. Masks, snorkels, regulators, BCDs, wetsuits, knives, gauges, computers, boots, fins, travel bags, and flashlights are all essential dive gear. Next time you’re in a dive shop, on a dive boat, or shopping for dive gear online take a look at all the different types of dive equipment available. More importantly take a look at how many companies produce all this gear.

Every single company in the world needs people. All this dive gear can’t get out to the public without researchers, marketers, and divers. To be a successful dive company, they need to employ people who love diving. Someone has to test regulators on cold water dives in Michigan, at high altitude in Colorado, or tropical beaches in the Virgin Islands. Someone has to improve scuba specific travel bags to see if they will protect your gear when a baggage handler in the Bahamas drops it on the asphalt. They are tough jobs, but someone has to do them – someone who works for a dive gear company.

If you love diving and want to work in this industry, dive gear companies are a huge, often overlooked, job market. Working for a proper company means a steady job with benefits, unlike that of a dive instructor whose livelihood depends on walk-in customers. You may not get to live on a white sand beach in Tanzania, but you will be working with the sport you love and usually in a pretty cool location like California or Italy.

Getting hired by a dive gear company is not easy. Like any job, you will need the necessary skills for the position. And here’s the kicker, there has to be openings available. As you can imagine, there isn’t that much turnover for cool jobs like these.

Are you wondering how you could get a job with a company like Oceanic or Mares? The first thing is to check the websites of dive gear companies. Send off emails. Talk to your local dive shop. They might know someone or have some crazy connection. As with everything in life, it’s often about who you know.

Another way to get into the industry and meet people is through DEMA. DEMA is the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association. DEMA works with businesses in the Scuba Diving and Action Water Sports Industry and puts on a trade show once a year to promote new gear and companies. DEMA is a membership, non-profit organization that works with businesses, retailers, and professionals to help market the diving industry.

They even have a job board on their website. It’s a good place to start looking.

There are other yearly dive trade shows like the Texas Dive Show, Our World-Underwater, The Scuba Show, or the Florida Dive Show. While these are more consumer based, they still are a good way to introduce yourself to dive companies or dive shops and stay up to date on the latest industry info.

Working for a dive gear company is a great way to make a solid income and stay involved in the dive industry. It may not be as glorious as a divemaster job in Aruba, but it’s a job where you get to work with dive gear. Check out dive trade shows, websites, and Google searches for jobs in this industry.