Diver

Divers work underwater at sea, or in rivers, lakes, canals and reservoirs.

Salary range: Variable

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How to become a diver

You can get into this job through:

working towards this role
applying directly
training with a professional body

Work

You may be able to apply for diver training through your employer, for example if you’re in the police or armed forces. Once qualified, you could work with an underwater unit.

Similarly, if you work in oceanography or marine biology, your employer may put you through specialist diver training, so that you can carry out research tasks under the sea.

Direct application

You could apply directly for jobs if you’ve got the relevant diving and safety qualifications.

You’ll also need experience relevant to the industry you’re working in. For example, you’ll need a background in welding to work as an offshore underwater engineer, fixing pipelines.

Other routes

You’ll usually do training with a commercial organisation or professional body to get your diving qualifications.

Training must be approved by the Health and Safety Executive. Examples include courses offered by the:

More information

Career tips

You might find it useful to have experience of recreational scuba diving before training as a commercial diver.

Many diving schools offer tests to help you decide whether you’ll be suited to working underwater.

Further information

You can find out more about commercial and leisure diving careers through the:

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You’ll need:

to be thorough and pay attention to detail
the ability to use, repair and maintain machines and tools
the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
persistence and determination
to be flexible and open to change
patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
knowledge of building and construction
excellent verbal communication skills
to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Restrictions and requirements

You’ll need to:

pass a medical check

What you’ll do

Day-to-day tasks

Depending on the type of diving you do, you could be involved in:

offshore oil and gas – exploring and surveying, or building and maintaining drilling rigs and pipelines
inland/inshore – working on civil engineering projects carrying out underwater repairs, demolition or salvage, or working in fish farming
the media – performing stunts or doing underwater filming
scientific research or underwater archaeology
the police – searching for and recovering missing persons or evidence
leisure – leading recreational SCUBA dives or teaching SCUBA diving skills

Working environment

You could work underwater or in an office.

Your working environment may be cold, dirty and physically and emotionally demanding.

You may need to wear protective clothing.

Career path and progression

You’d normally be self-employed as a commercial diver.

With experience and further training, you could move into roles with extra responsibility and more pay, like life support technician or diving supervisor.

If working in a dive centre you could move into a management role.

You could also set up a business, or work in a related field where diving skills are necessary, like swimming pool engineering or maintenance.