Ride The Wave

Like most of you, I aspire to a remunerative freelance writing practice and read my fellow Vocal authors with interest as they coach us in our craft. But as my practice evolves, I find I must write about that which I know from the world I inhabit.

Unlike the bigger names on the platform, I still have both feet in the brick and mortar job world. So what I’m about to share might seem as modern as a set of encyclopedias. But sometimes, to solve the problems of the present, you have to reach back to the past.

There is a sector in the traditional job world where the supply and demand dynamics strongly favour the worker. In fact, there are noted worker shortages in many markets that have forced operational closures. Working in this sector can also provide a gateway to a variety of occupations that you may aspire to as career destinations.

There are some unique, built in factors in this niche that almost guarantee high turnover and plentiful opportunity. The physical nature of the work will keep you in better shape than a desk job too. It’s a highly social field without the isolation of telework. If you don’t like it as a career, it can serve as a side gig with gold plated stability. I’m talking about the field of Aquatic Recreation — namely lifeguarding and teaching swimming.

Yes, I know you did that as a summer job umpteen moons ago and that you’re a gung-ho freelance writer today. As much as I wish you every success in your freelance practice, Pareto’s Law will apply itself to the blogging world. Some of us will not finish the journey. But stay with me for a moment before rushing to your closet to see if your Speedo bathing suit still fits.

There are a variety of employers of lifeguards and swimming instructors. Among the best paying are the recreation departments of municipal governments and local authorities. These employers have a high degree of unionization and are better paying as a result. More importantly, as an employee of a city or region, you are given preferential consideration for other forms of internal employment.

Municipal services are broad and diverse including but not limited to:

· Emergency Services

· Social Work and Public Housing

· Urban Planning

· Finance and Economic Development

· Communications

· Public Health

· Information Technology

It’s a matter of Human Resources policy that most cities must hire staff from within before going to external candidates to fill vacancies. Many of these hiring rules are enshrined in collective agreements. Being a municipally employed lifeguard or swimming instructor gives you access to these fields of employment ahead of the general public.

SOCIAL IMPACT

If you want to have meaningful social impact, consider addressing the drowning epidemic as a swimming instructor[i]. North Americans and Europeans have been taught swimming as a rite of passage for generations, but with our communities increasingly composed of people from countries without access to water safety education, it doesn’t take a mathematician to see a public health disaster looming. Children from newcomer families are going to be invited to social gatherings and school outings at swimming pools and beaches. Without swimming lessons and water safety education, some of these outings could end tragically in death by drowning.

Teaching people how to swim is imparting an essential skill that saves lives. What better background for parenting or a career in education than teaching children a vital life skill? There is something magical about seeing a scared beginner transforming into a confident, secure swimmer.

Swimming is, by far, the best and safest cardiovascular exercise for mature adults with none of the injury risk of jogging or weightlifting. Swimming isn’t just great fitness, it’s also great stress relief. When you’re immersed in water, you forget about your worldly problems and are taken out of your emotional orbit to a solitary yet peaceful place.

There are many niches and specialties within aquatics that offer their own unique employment opportunities:

· Synchronized swimming or competitive swim coach

· Swimming Instructor Trainer

· Aquafitness Instructor

· Therapeutic Recreation Specialist

· CPR/Defibrillator/First Aid Instructor

· Waterpolo or Diving coach

· Pool, Beach Front, Waterfront and Wave Pool lifeguard trainer

· Scuba Instructor

Because most people don’t want to work in a bathing suit into their thirties there is great turnover and, therefore, great demand for aquatics workers. The regulatory requirement for certified lifeguards means that employers have no choice but to pay market rates or close their facilities [ii][iii].

PREREQUISITES

As a lifeguard and swimming instructor, you need to be a strong swimmer. You will be required to perform timed swims and fitness tests when completing and updating your certifications. You will also be expected to put yourself at risk by performing deep water rescues of people who may be larger and heavier than you. Lifeguard certification includes completing CPR training and performing spinal injury rescues. This intensive rescue training is great preparation for a career in paramedic services.

As a swimming instructor, you will be demonstrating how to perform swimming strokes correctly. Your competence in swimming freestyle, breast stroke and back crawl will be on public display. As a teacher, you will be required to break down each stroke’s component movements into learnable skills. As a water safety educator, you will impart important lessons like the risks of swimming alone and the hazards of diving into waters of unknown depth.

Lifeguard certification courses in the USA are offered by The American Red Cross. Prospective Canadian lifeguards should contact The Royal Lifesaving Society for certification and training.

Also note that the municipal services sector is one of the few that has, among other benefits, defined benefit pensions. A defined benefit pension pays out a known income stream for life based on your career earnings as a contributing member. If you pay into a defined benefit pension plan for 30 or more years, your pension will approximate your take home income of your peak earning years[iv]. No small matter in retirement planning.

The aquatic labour shortage has created business opportunities. An entrepreneurial swimming instructor can do very well teaching private lessons in backyard pools. Lifeguard employment/personnel agencies have emerged to address the labour shortage. Privately owned aquatic teaching and certification schools have sprung up as well.

Maybe this isn’t as sexy or exciting as the razzle dazzle world of freelance writing. Most of us have to have a household composition requiring a regular and secure income. If your entrepreneurial skills are a work in progress, a stable job in an uncertain world is not a bad thing and a worthy stable job could be the perfect answer.

[i] https://www.ilsf.org/2020/07/14/fatal-drowning-in-commonwealth-countries/

[ii] https://www.postandcourier.com/myrtle-beach/myrtle-beach-lifeguard-shortage-plagues-beaches-as-visitors-return-to-ocean/article_0b79aa64-d267-11ea-bb71-dbd7bfc42fdc.html

[iii] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/lifeguard-shortage-means-service-cut-at-two-minneapolis-beaches/ar-BB17pYci

[iv]https://www.investopedia.com/articles/credit-loans-mortgages/090816/understanding-rules-defined-benefit-pension-plans.asp