Skydiving/Dropzone related jobs

[binaryfinary 0]

hello all,

I would like some tips on how I can find a job at a dropzone or skydiving related?

I want to leave my corporate life and spend the foreseeable future dedicated to furthering my passion for skydiving. I have a strong corporate skill set but nothing related to skydiving. I'm sure I could very comfortably take on general management/admin/marketing/finance/accounting/customer service type roles effectively.

Anyone can share some advice on how I could go about pursuing this? Thanks!

[Deisel 35]

The only white collar type positions on a DZ would be DZO or manager. And that's using the term quite losely. Most places are too small to need or afford admin staff unless youre a cute manifest type.

The entry level position with the lowest barrier to entry is a packer. The best way is to start packing for free, develop a reuptation for being fast and good. Once you're in demand doors will open. Just my 2 cents worth.

D

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[chuckakers 370]

binaryfinary

hello all,

I would like some tips on how I can find a job at a dropzone or skydiving related?

I want to leave my corporate life and spend the foreseeable future dedicated to furthering my passion for skydiving. I have a strong corporate skill set but nothing related to skydiving. I'm sure I could very comfortably take on general management/admin/marketing/finance/accounting/customer service type roles effectively.

Anyone can share some advice on how I could go about pursuing this? Thanks!

Finance and accounting maybe, but the skydiving business is one that requires a pretty deep knowledge of the sport itself to manage well. Many DZO's have discovered the expensive way that management skills without a thorough understanding of how the gears turn don't usually work out.

Beyond that, only the very largest drop zones have layers of management. The vast majority are owner operated.

Of course if by DZ "management" you mean sweeping floors and scrubbing toilets I can teach you everything you need to know from my time in the biz.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[Opie 0]

Any interest in wind tunnels? Seems like new ones are being built at a pretty high rate. That might be another option if you are open to it.

[grimmie 173]

Buy your own DZ. I know a great one you could have. Bring cash.

On a serious note. Don't give up your day job unless you become a rigger, TI, AFF-I and pilot.

[diablopilot 2]

grimmie

Don't give up your day job unless you become a rigger, TI, AFF-I and pilot.

Yeah, about that.

Shoulda kept my day job.

:-)

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[Remster 24]

Quote

The only white collar type positions on a DZ would be DZO or manager

True for smaller DZ's, but larger DZ often have marketing managers, office managers, operations managers, and the likes.

Remster

[binaryfinary 0]

thanks for the replies guys!

[binaryfinary 0]

thanks! i guess i will try contacting the dropzones to see if anyone has anything available.

[airtwardo 6]

binaryfinary

hello all,

I would like some tips on how I can find a job at a dropzone or skydiving related?

I want to leave my corporate life and spend the foreseeable future dedicated to furthering my passion for skydiving. I have a strong corporate skill set but nothing related to skydiving. I'm sure I could very comfortably take on general management/admin/marketing/finance/accounting/customer service type roles effectively.

Anyone can share some advice on how I could go about pursuing this? Thanks!

~ It's called 'Living The Dream'...and like most dreams, in the light of day, with eyes wide open - it's not nearly what you thought it was.

That said - It CAN be done, only takes passion, patience & persistence.

Now...in ALL seriousness & not trying to be overly sarcastic or condescending - REread that line I wrote above!

It takes a measure of those qualities many people 'think' they possess, but the actual realities don't often prove that true.

I have a buddy that posted to this thread, whom I have the highest respect for - he holds every instructional rating there is as well as PRO for demo jumping and he's a top notch pilot as well.

When he was at my home DZ - I'd watch with amazement at how HARD he worked - day in / day out, sun up to sun down.

This is a guy with the smarts, personality & professionalism to be making easily 3 times the income, working half as hard @ a corporate 9 to 5...but skydiving is the true PASSION.

There are a lot of those people in the industry, are YOU one - who knows. . .


You're a corporate guy...you get the whole 'goal achievability' with regard to asset & liability consideration.

Seems from your post you have a pretty 'general' goal of chucking the business suit for a jumpsuit...you're going to have to realistically be a lot more specific.

As has been noted above, management positions are EXTREMELY hard to 'walk' into.

It's a catch 22, you really need a lot of experience and background with the inner workings of a viable operation - not going to get that without considerable time in the barrel at lower level positions.

Your 'assets' currently are your Skydiving experience, skill and ratings.

If your skydiving resume is comparable and competitive with entry level positions in regard to the instructional end of the business/sport - you have at least a marketable skill with which to approach current management and get a foot in the door.

If not however...you're JUST another 'CUSTOMER' who's looking for one of the toilet scrubbing, grass cutting, trash hauling jobs...

BTW, they not only don't come with retirement & medical bennies - but there are usually a dozen OTHER people waiting for one to open up too.

...yeah, it's THAT way at many - if not most busy DZ's.

You 'may' be able to get yourself into a remedial office/clerical type job...that may eventually get some insight how things work, but the pay is not what you're use to & you will be inside, under florescent lights - not outside under nylon.

For most people 'Living The Dream' ~ it's more cost/time efficient to earn as many useful, marketable ratings and get as much time in the saddle as possible PRIOR to chucking the 9 to 5 gig.

So...what exactly ARE your assets in that regard currently?

What exactly do you currently see as your goals in the business/sport?

Without a clear concept - concrete definitions, of where you are & where you want to be...the 'dream' quickly becomes a nightmare!


~ Just to give you some food for thought...

I started skydiving right out of High School, it 'stuck' and quickly became my passion.

Back then, you earned your Instructional Ratings more as rite of passage than as means to pay bills.

Even to a young & dumb small town farm boy - it was pretty clear that to jump as much as I wanted to, I had to make decent living. Converse to your situation, I went to college and got a corporate job, so I could skydive a lot!

Deeply immersed in the sport because I could afford to be...I held all the ratings, flew jump ships & rigged parachutes. When it came time for ME to think about Livin' The Dream - I tried to mesh together ALL the assets.

Looked for a possible niche with some like minded skydiving friends - take demo jumping up a few rungs in the ladder. Used organizational, marketing, advertising, design & fabrication skills gained in school & in the corporate environment ~ Parlayed them with my passion & offered a product to the public seldom seen on that level prior.

THAT particular avenue is tough now, the niche has become filled to the point of over saturation. But there are probably MANY more that could be looked into and addressed.

I'd urge you to think outside of the box...

Guys like Booth, Bachman, Snyder & Strong did... THEY turned their passion into businesses that are both lucrative & promote the sport.

Germain made a fantastic niche utilizing HIS education & skydiving passion...

...So it CAN be done!

* some ways require living in a tent & eating Ramen noodles -

- other ways don't!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Deisel 35]

As usual - great post!

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[Tink1717 2]

First you have to be a skydiver. One with decades of experience and most, if not all, of the ratings. Then you have to accept the limitations of dealing with a very large cottage industry. Most everyone in the industry is not an employee, but an independent contractor and are highly fluid. Then you have to deal with the vagaries of the weather, season, aircraft and political issues that affect the industry on a regular basis as well as a regulatory system that is hostile to your very existence and at times will combine with various political forces to make your life, as well as your income, a living, breathing hell. Then you have to deal with the notion that there is almost nothing in the industry that can be commodified. You are to first timers, a ride, to old timers, a ride and nothing else.

So, if you want to make a small fortune in jumping, start with a large one.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[grimmie 173]

diablopilot

***Don't give up your day job unless you become a rigger, TI, AFF-I and pilot.

Yeah, about that.

Shoulda kept my day job.

:-)

We've all been saying THAT for years:):)