is anyone here a driving instructor - or know anyone that is?

[fairycakes]

my dp is stuck in a rut in his job - he is a manager of a restaurant with no career prospects, rubbish money and not even liking his job. the only experience he has is in restaurants and his only qualification is also restaurant related! he has considered lots of career changes but without taking a major paycut (cant afford as got baby) he needs a new career that doesnt require experience etc.

this is why we have thought about driving instructor - he is very patient and a good driver - but it costs up to £3k to train so we dont want to spend all that without thinking about it seriously - is anyone here a driving instructor maybe you could give us an insight? or do you know anyone that is? what are the pros and cons? do you work for a company or self employed? he is thinking of training with the AA and working as a franchise for them but i was thinking -how do you find out if there is demand for instructors in our area? etc etc....help!!! thanks

Hi I thought about this at one time - I never followed it through but I did enquire with a local school who paid/trained you themselves and then took a % over your first couple of years to recoup the 3K. Do watch out for unscrupulous training schools with false promises about salaries. To earn the 25-30K they say you need to work 7 days a week. I think its best to work for a company for the first couple of years to get clients/experience etc. Remember there will always be 17yr olds looking to drive and the test has got harder.

thanks yeah i know there are always people wanting to learn so i suppose you cant go wrong there - im just worried that maybe supply is greater than demand in our area but im not sure how you would go about finding that out!! x

anyone else? ta x

What driving school cars do you see out and about in your area. I have a friend who tried to be a di and he found it so hard and alot of money. he is driving for a living but not teaching. I learnt with bsm where they are self employed but they find the clients for you rather than you doing the leg work which makes it easier than working and recruiting for lessons but you have to do own tax, ni etc

Dh is training to be a driving instructor. He'll work w/a school first. It is A LOT of evening/weekend work, cuz that's when most folks want a lesson. But it works for us b/c those are the hours we wants - after school run, evenings, weekends, etc.

my dh is an instructor and no where did he spend that amount of money on training..do you realise it doesnt have to be the big companies that train you..any driving instructor with enough expereince can train you ..at a much cheaper rate.. plus you dont always have to stay with them for a fixed amount of time but its best to work for someone for a while for you to get the hang of everything and at least you are guaranteed work..if youre on your own it can be a tough slog with advertising etc.. choose s smaller school to go with as long as they give you work but usually if they dont give you enough hours they will reduce the franchise and if they dont offer then haggle with them!! it depends as well how long you train as to whether you do it alongside your present job which is possible... which area are you in..london ? if you wan tto ask anything else just shout but its a very flexible job especially with families as hubby can drop kids off at school etc or help out if necessary but beware it can be lonely for the wife as its unsociable hours..my dh does 8-8 mon-fri plus half days sats ..