Skydiving careers

[logandzwon 0]

Hey all, I was wondering if there was a resource where I could find out about skydiving careers, like what positions there are in the field and what kinda compensation range they bring. Thanks!

[PhreeZone 15]

Compensation ranges from enough to buy a Big Mac to the ability to SuperSize it! Seriously, most full time instructors usually make 7000-12000 in a year before taxes. Part timers make half that or more. There are no benifits like insurance and if it rains you don't make any money. Living in a travel trailer is the usual method of housing since with rare exceptions you don't make enough to get a house.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Revillusion 0]

Fill out your profile and drop me a message, I'll tell ya everything ya wanna know and the stuff ya probably wish ya didn't. And, PhreeZone summed it up pretty well. But, when ya live in it full time for going on 4 years, I passionately refer to my travel trailer as my "get away" vehicle. Never, ever, get blocked in at a dropzone!

VIRTUS JUNXIT MORS NON SEPARABIT

[johnny1488 1]

I think that number is way low. If you hustle you can make a lot more money than that.

Last year I cleared about 25k packing and rigging. And that was half a year (no winter work).

It's not an easy job, but there is a decent amount of money to be made if you want it.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[PhreeZone 15]

Packers are some of the best paid people on the DZ.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[MikeForsythe 0]

It depends if you are talking about working at the DZ or for a manufacturer. Most of the larger manufactures have pretty good benefit packages and the general range of pay can be between $10-$25 per hour depending on the position.

Hope this helps, stay safe,
Mike

Time and pressure will always show you who a person really is!

[MotherGoose 0]

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Packers are some of the best paid people on the DZ.

Amen to that . . . only one problem . . . we wanna jump too !!! But to make the coin, you need to live on the mat!!!

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[LawnDart21 0]

Numbers way too low. As a part time TI, I was constently making 8-10k a 1/2 year season, working weekends only, most of which was earned at the peak 3 months of the season. We had a full time instructor, and he only did AFF and Video, and he made 24k-25k during that same half a season.

If you are disciplined & motivated you can make a decent amount of money, and I know more than a rare exception of skydivers that bought houses with skydiving money.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[Elisha 1]

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...and I know more than a rare exception of skydivers that bought houses in very low COL areas with skydiving money.

IFYQ

[LawnDart21 0]

I don't really consider the northeast US (NJ, NY, MA, NH) very low COL, but I will agree, none of them live in mansions.

The only point I was trying to make was/is that it is very possible to make (and save) a decent amount of money in our sport, enough so, even to buy a house, even in say, an avergae COL area, but like any other career, it's not going to be handed to anyone. If you want it, you have to go out and bust your ass for it.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[Inthebuff 0]

When I've paid for my house in a year or two I'm gonna quit my 9 - 5 job and get my AFF & Tandem rating.Then I can work for peanuts in Spain,but I'll be paid to jump instead of the other way round.
Ok so i'm 41, but to me this would be a good way to live,after all, if things didn't work out ( and I've no illusions that they will ) I will always have my house which I paid for with my 9 - 5 job.

Whatever happens,it's all good.

***********************************
Fly Like Zie Eagle, Not Like Zie Chicken !
Good advice from an instructor I know.

[skyfreek 1]

tandems arew the way to go if you want to make $$$. i made extra by packing reserves and packing tandems, if you find the right dz, there is a lot of $$$ to be made. i made more in 6 months skydiving than i made at my old job as a carpenter.i am un employed right now and loving it! skydive season in canada is over..:(

[AggieDave 6]

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tandems arew the way to go if you want to make $$$. i made extra by packing reserves and packing tandems, if you find the right dz, there is a lot of $$$ to be made.

That's the trick. Be able to do every job on the DZ and do it well. If you have all your ratings and a rigger's ticket, then you can do anything regardless of what kind of students are out there then still be able to make money rigging when the weather is bad.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[tonyhays 86]

Not only rigging, but be willing to do other things as well...mowing, weed eating, basic dz maintenance. There's always cleaning that needs to be done at a DZ! Plus, it helps pass the time when it's cloudy.

“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”