Any driving instructors willing to share career pros and cons?

[Notouchingmybhuna]

Looking at other career options and driving instruction appeals but would like more info warts and all from people with experience 😄

Just a bump for the evening crowd 😉

Just bumping for you 😊
All I can add is that they are VERY in demand around here. And charge £40-45ph (semi rural south east). But the overheads must be very significant with fuel prices as they are.

Nothing of any note to say, but I’ve read the demand is so high at the moment, I’m sure you’d make good money from it.

My DH is an instructor…… yes lessons are expensive but overheads for being an instructor are very high.

pros….
self employed so choose ur own hours
noone to answer to
can be rewarding

cons.
ppl let you down last minute losing you money
zero AL
zero emergency leave
costs r very high - petrol, insurances, valets
franchise, tax
long hours.

Am a very burned out HCP so just need enough to pay the bills. Have always loved mentoring and teaching students so may have rose tinted glasses but this really appeals 😊

I’ve worked out rough fuel costs based on DD’s current driving lesson routes but have no clue about insurance costs. Am assuming monthly premium is going to be 4 figures 🥴

To be a driving instructor you need to pass a course (distance learning) and also a moderated version of the advanced driving test.
You have to work long hours to make enough money. That is, you need to work into the evening and on weekends. There are gaps between lessons when you aren’t getting paid to go and pick the next person up. DD found her car was often a target for vandalism as a driving instructor and some days she had to cancel all lessons in order to get the car fixed.. Your car has to be maintained to a very high standard. It’s a lonely job and DD often had lunch in the car in a car park. Did I mention she got to know every supermarket that had a loo?

I have a headstart on the remote loo situation as a community HCP 😀 How long did it take for your daughter to decide it wasn’t for her?

I’m no driving instructor but I wouldn’t do it for the following reasons:

• you sit on your bum all day. This would drive me (pun intended 😁) very frustrated. I need to move.
• safety issues. Some learners are nervous and make lots of mistakes (which is normal at the beginning, of course) but it would make me jittery about safety. The safety of the learner, myself, pedestrians and other road users. It would especially bother me in a big city with busy roads like London. I hate stress, so no thank you.

That’s something I’ve obviously considered 😂

The main cons are being self-employed and the amount of costs involved - insurance, fuel, maintenance, tyres, valet. You also need to factor in cancellations, sick days and annual leave, as well as the fact that most people are going to want lessons on weekends and in the evenings, not during the day.

You'll also need to be well on top of things like road works, accidents etc. and figure out how those will impact your lessons if you can’t get to where you need to be.

Sounds like a great job for a family with two working parents!

I think it really depends on demand.

I'm not an instructor but I am learning and my (independent) instructor only works weekdays between 8 & 6. She has a full roster of students and I was lucky to get in with her, she was transitioning to auto when I enquired and had some space. She charges £50/hr but 2 hour lessons are discounted a bit. She's been doing it for 20 years.

A lot of female learners would prefer a woman I think, I certainly did. You may well find that is a USP you can capitalise on a bit.

I learnt abroad. In the UK, do driving instructor cars have a brake for the instructor to use when needed? I assume these are adapted/modified cars and this is what instructors where I learnt had. I'd also assume they are costly?