What is a Water Safety Instructor?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a water safety instructor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.18 an hour? That's $27,408 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 13% and produce 45,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Water Safety Instructor Do
There are certain skills that many water safety instructors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, listening skills and motivational skills.
How To Become a Water Safety Instructor
If you're interested in becoming a water safety instructor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 69.3% of water safety instructors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.4% of water safety instructors have master's degrees. Even though most water safety instructors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Water Safety Instructor Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of lifeguard/swim instructor you might progress to a role such as teacher eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title general manager.
Average Salary for a Water Safety Instructor
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Water Safety Instructor
There are several types of water safety instructor, including:
Instructor
Role:
Instructors are knowledgable about a topic and work to pass that knowledge off to their students. Whether you work in a gym or a school, instructors are super important to the students' success.
There are lots of possibilities for you as an instructor. You could work at a health club or a gym or you could work for a school and instruct math. There are so many different instructors out there, basically any topic you can think of probably needs an instructor.
Your hours will vary depending on what industry you decide to go with. You may find some jobs require you to work nights and weekends, like if you were to become a fitness instructor, while school instructors only work during school hours. Your schedule really depends on what you're passionate and knowledgable about and when people want to learn it.
- Average Salary: $53,426
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Swim Instructor
Role:
A swim instructor teaches swimming techniques, swimming strokes, and water safety rules to students with varying levels of swimming abilities, assists more experienced swimmers to enhance their swimming abilities, and assesses the progress of students and adjusting teaching programs accordingly. They monitor students to prevent accidents or injuries, implement ground rules, plan swimming sessions that take into account student's abilities and progressive development, identify incorrect swimming techniques, and correct students appropriately ensuring that the swimming pools and locker rooms are kept clean and tidy.
As a rule, they require certain skills such as CPR and first aid and American Safety Instructor and Basic Swim Instructor certifications. They should have sound knowledge of proper swimming techniques and water safety, effective communication skills, and be passionate and enthusiastic.
A high school diploma or GED is enough, plus being an experienced swimmer, for example a retired professional swimmer. On average, they earn $24,852 per year, which translates to $11.95 per hour. Though generally, they earn anywhere between $18,000 and $35,000 a year.
- Average Salary: $25,815
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Ocean Lifeguard
Role:
Lifeguards supervise the activities of swimmers on the beach and keep an eye out for signs of danger. Besides rescuing individuals from drowning, ocean lifeguards also protect those on the beach, dock, or pier.
These professionals need to be ready to move at a moment's notice; therefore, they are in great physical shape. Ocean lifeguards also require concentration to watch all the shimmers in the area all the time.
The daily routine of a lifeguard is highly variable. They may experience days with no emergencies and others in which a significant number of individuals need to be rescued. It's a critical job that requires focus and concentration. While it can be challenging, it's also rewarding.
To become an ocean lifeguard, you'll need excellent swimming skills, CPR knowledge, and a practical approach to life. There are no educational requirements to become an ocean lifeguard.
- Average Salary: $29,909
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Water Safety Instructor Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active water safety instructor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where water safety instructors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Water Safety Instructor Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 2,723 | $36,368 |
| 2 | Texas | 1,298 | $22,339 |
| 3 | Florida | 1,239 | $24,807 |
| 4 | Georgia | 1,036 | $24,706 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 954 | $23,903 |
| 6 | Virginia | 850 | $27,027 |
| 7 | New York | 814 | $37,185 |
| 8 | Illinois | 704 | $25,624 |
| 9 | Colorado | 671 | $27,316 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 662 | $26,599 |
| 11 | Michigan | 654 | $31,536 |
| 12 | New Jersey | 612 | $31,382 |
| 13 | Ohio | 546 | $21,082 |
| 14 | Massachusetts | 536 | $36,326 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 493 | $24,459 |
| 16 | Maryland | 435 | $27,571 |
| 17 | Arizona | 418 | $27,506 |
| 18 | Washington | 408 | $37,444 |
| 19 | Oregon | 394 | $28,562 |
| 20 | Minnesota | 353 | $26,954 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 327 | $22,690 |
| 22 | Missouri | 325 | $22,986 |
| 23 | Alabama | 324 | $22,688 |
| 24 | Indiana | 320 | $19,739 |
| 25 | Iowa | 304 | $21,945 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | 284 | $27,263 |
| 27 | Kentucky | 282 | $27,577 |
| 28 | Louisiana | 218 | $23,107 |
| 29 | Utah | 211 | $25,989 |
| 30 | Nevada | 204 | $27,094 |
| 31 | Kansas | 189 | $23,464 |
| 32 | Connecticut | 187 | $33,525 |
| 33 | Mississippi | 155 | $23,849 |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 148 | $21,211 |
| 35 | New Mexico | 123 | $26,240 |
| 36 | Idaho | 118 | $32,632 |
| 37 | Nebraska | 112 | $25,143 |
| 38 | Montana | 105 | $24,972 |
| 39 | West Virginia | 100 | $28,575 |
| 40 | Arkansas | 100 | $24,886 |
| 41 | Delaware | 99 | $27,166 |
| 42 | New Hampshire | 96 | $32,938 |
| 43 | Hawaii | 85 | $28,465 |
| 44 | Maine | 80 | $36,027 |
| 45 | Alaska | 80 | $27,174 |
| 46 | North Dakota | 77 | $33,654 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 68 | $29,427 |
| 48 | Wyoming | 60 | $26,156 |
| 49 | South Dakota | 55 | $24,866 |
| 50 | Vermont | 53 | $33,795 |
Top Skills For a Water Safety Instructor
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 13.2% of water safety instructors listed learn-to-swim on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Water Safety Instructor Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Water Safety Instructor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Water Safety Instructor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Water Safety Instructor diversity
Water Safety Instructor Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among water safety instructors, 61.0% of them are women, while 39.0% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among water safety instructors is White, which makes up 68.3% of all water safety instructors.
- The most common foreign language among water safety instructors is Spanish at 60.8%.
Online Courses For Water Safety Instructor That You May Like
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It is well known that water treatment at the household level can lead to dramatic improvements in drinking water quality. But does Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS) also have global relevance? What are the potential treatment solutions and how do they function? Is there a standard strategy for successful HWTS implementation, or can we identify key components which make programs more likely to succeed? In this course you will learn about the most important water treatment methods...
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Best States For a Water Safety Instructor
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a water safety instructor. The best states for people in this position are Washington, New York, California, and Massachusetts. Water safety instructors make the most in Washington with an average salary of $37,444. Whereas in New York and California, they would average $37,185 and $36,368, respectively. While water safety instructors would only make an average of $36,326 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. California
$36,368
Avg. Salary
2. North Dakota
$33,654
Avg. Salary
3. Michigan
$31,536
Avg. Salary
How Do Water Safety Instructors Rate Their Jobs?
Top Water Safety Instructor Employers
Most Common Employers For Water Safety Instructor
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City of Las Vegas | $35,701 | $17.16 | 14 |
| 2 | Fairfax Water - Official | $34,199 | $16.44 | 12 |
| 3 | City of Fontana | $33,710 | $16.21 | 6 |
| 4 | Miami-Dade County | $32,596 | $15.67 | 11 |
| 5 | City of Tucson | $30,829 | $14.82 | 18 |
| 6 | Virginia Beach | $29,559 | $14.21 | 7 |
| 7 | St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office | $29,538 | $14.20 | 7 |
| 8 | City of Glendale, CA | $28,221 | $13.57 | 10 |
| 9 | United States Marine Corps | $27,494 | $13.22 | 7 |
| 10 | American Red Cross | $27,343 | $13.15 | 114 |