Driving Instructor - My experience after a year
Discussion
Hello all, I thought I'd give you my experiences of being a driving instructor as I'm sure many have considered it.
Firstly the training is quite hard, there's 3 tests, theory and advanced driving test are both fairly simple but there's an 'instructional ability test' (soon to be changed) which is utter bulls
t, an examiner roleplays a student (not at all well) and you have to show that you're a good teacher. There are so many problems with this approach that I don't know where to start but like I mentioned, it's being replaced because it's utter bks and not at all representative of actual teaching.
There are two options when you pass (or during training) join a franchise or go solo, I chose a franchise and was very happy with them, they weren't cheap but they completely filled my diary up as much as I wanted, I was never short of work.
The job itself is extremely rewarding, changing someones life for the better is a fantastic feeling but it's not without it's negatives of which there are many. In order to make decent money you need to work all the hours under the sun, I've been known to work 70+ hours a week on quite a few occasions, and while the money was great for it at around £900-£1000 after deductions it completely ruined any life I had, social life gone, and it really impacted my long term relationship to near breaking point, not good for the health too as I was doing no exercise and gained lots of weight.
A big problem with he job is that there is a lot of time you are working and not getting paid for, time in between lessons, time organising your diary which is an unholy PITA because customers think they're the only person in the world. If I work 30 paid hours a week that's nearly 10 hours travelling between lessons (half hour each 2 hour lesson) and that doesn't include diary work, financial records etc etc. So really a 30 hour paid week is more like 45 hours minimum and don't think you can just do the hours you want, the majority of people aren't available during the day so prepare for later nights.
In terms of hourly rate I receive around £22-£25 an hour but after hours worked and costs it's more like half that. It's a fairly stressful and irritating job too, when you're on the road 10 hours a day you learn to fking detest other peoples driving and I'm a really calm guy, only ever raised my voice to one student and that's because they fell asleep at the wheel!!! The road is full of complete a-holes...
Then you have some students that do their utmost to crash your car, think of ANY scenario and they'll try to do it. Wrong way round a roundabout? CHECK! Swerve towards oncoming vehicles? CHECK! Emergency brake at 60mph because they thought they saw a red light? CHECK! Slam the accelerator when stuck in traffic? CHECK!
So after a year of doing this, I'm looking at getting out, the hourly rate is alright, the good feeling you get is nice too but the aggravation, stress and responsibility just aren't worth while.
If anyone has specific questions I'd be happy to answer them. Just because it's not for me doesn't mean it's not for you.
Firstly the training is quite hard, there's 3 tests, theory and advanced driving test are both fairly simple but there's an 'instructional ability test' (soon to be changed) which is utter bulls
t, an examiner roleplays a student (not at all well) and you have to show that you're a good teacher. There are so many problems with this approach that I don't know where to start but like I mentioned, it's being replaced because it's utter bks and not at all representative of actual teaching.There are two options when you pass (or during training) join a franchise or go solo, I chose a franchise and was very happy with them, they weren't cheap but they completely filled my diary up as much as I wanted, I was never short of work.
The job itself is extremely rewarding, changing someones life for the better is a fantastic feeling but it's not without it's negatives of which there are many. In order to make decent money you need to work all the hours under the sun, I've been known to work 70+ hours a week on quite a few occasions, and while the money was great for it at around £900-£1000 after deductions it completely ruined any life I had, social life gone, and it really impacted my long term relationship to near breaking point, not good for the health too as I was doing no exercise and gained lots of weight.
A big problem with he job is that there is a lot of time you are working and not getting paid for, time in between lessons, time organising your diary which is an unholy PITA because customers think they're the only person in the world. If I work 30 paid hours a week that's nearly 10 hours travelling between lessons (half hour each 2 hour lesson) and that doesn't include diary work, financial records etc etc. So really a 30 hour paid week is more like 45 hours minimum and don't think you can just do the hours you want, the majority of people aren't available during the day so prepare for later nights.
In terms of hourly rate I receive around £22-£25 an hour but after hours worked and costs it's more like half that. It's a fairly stressful and irritating job too, when you're on the road 10 hours a day you learn to f
king detest other peoples driving and I'm a really calm guy, only ever raised my voice to one student and that's because they fell asleep at the wheel!!! The road is full of complete a-holes...Then you have some students that do their utmost to crash your car, think of ANY scenario and they'll try to do it. Wrong way round a roundabout? CHECK! Swerve towards oncoming vehicles? CHECK! Emergency brake at 60mph because they thought they saw a red light? CHECK! Slam the accelerator when stuck in traffic? CHECK!
So after a year of doing this, I'm looking at getting out, the hourly rate is alright, the good feeling you get is nice too but the aggravation, stress and responsibility just aren't worth while.
If anyone has specific questions I'd be happy to answer them. Just because it's not for me doesn't mean it's not for you.
In the city but surrounding areas too, even travelling across a short area takes time, you need to piss and eat too, getting to get people to come to me would just be too hard. Some days it works out and a you can get to the lessons earlier and get home a bit earlier, but generally not.
I didn't mention tests either, always at stupid times, like 1117 and 1241 so you always lose a slot because they don't match up very well and have tendency to over run.
I didn't mention tests either, always at stupid times, like 1117 and 1241 so you always lose a slot because they don't match up very well and have tendency to over run.
Interesting post. Always wondered what the life of a driving instructor is like (genuinely, although that does sound sarcastic).
I feel like it's slightly unfair to slag off the learner drivers though. They are learners after all. I've never played strip poker but I'd probably whack my fella out and sup six cans of Special Brew after a Royal Flush. Is that related? I don't know.
I feel like it's slightly unfair to slag off the learner drivers though. They are learners after all. I've never played strip poker but I'd probably whack my fella out and sup six cans of Special Brew after a Royal Flush. Is that related? I don't know.
I don't mean to slag them off, it was meant as a way to express the unexpected nature of the job, the fact you have to be vigilant every single lesson, it's quite draining, even those who seem like excellent drivers and haven't made any serious faults in hours suddenly do something unexpected.
My ex did it and I played her "student" during training, which come to think of it probably went towards why we divorced!! lol
Its not easy and once "trained" franchise is the best way to go forward but look at getting out of that as soon as possible to reap the financial aspect for yourself. But then you are responsible for the whole advertising, servicing etc.
Its also dependent where you set up. She was very lucky at the start; Dorset, medium sized town, plenty of students in nearby Bournemouth, roads not too busy. Once she setup on her own its all about word and mouth a lot of the time. At one stage she went into partnership with another woman instructor as she was turning a lot of people down. Her biggest complaint was examiners, never the students.
When we split up she carried on up in Aylesbury and is still going well and this is now after 10 years. I used to "instruct" in the military on how to drive different types of vehicles after the soldiers had passed their test and that was bad enough so certainly not for me.
Its not easy and once "trained" franchise is the best way to go forward but look at getting out of that as soon as possible to reap the financial aspect for yourself. But then you are responsible for the whole advertising, servicing etc.
Its also dependent where you set up. She was very lucky at the start; Dorset, medium sized town, plenty of students in nearby Bournemouth, roads not too busy. Once she setup on her own its all about word and mouth a lot of the time. At one stage she went into partnership with another woman instructor as she was turning a lot of people down. Her biggest complaint was examiners, never the students.
When we split up she carried on up in Aylesbury and is still going well and this is now after 10 years. I used to "instruct" in the military on how to drive different types of vehicles after the soldiers had passed their test and that was bad enough so certainly not for me.
Valgar said:
not good for the health too as I was doing no exercise and gained lots of weight.
I had 2 instructors when I was taking lessons in 1997, both males in their 40s or 50s, and some abiding memories from those lessons were: both were so obese they could barely get their seatbelts on (1 car was a Citroen AX, so that might have had an influence) and their thighs were so voluminous that me changing gears always resulted in hitting their right knees.Valgar said:
I don't mean to slag them off, it was meant as a way to express the unexpected nature of the job, the fact you have to be vigilant every single lesson, it's quite draining, even those who seem like excellent drivers and haven't made any serious faults in hours suddenly do something unexpected.
Yeah, I know, I was just talking rubbish.My first driving instructor had two other jobs besides, which didn't seem like much fun and I'm almost certain he was rinsing me for every penny he could hence why I left him. My second one never seems to be off the road and has serious issues with walking which I assume is to do with sitting down 25 hours a day.
Just heard on the news they're changing the driving test. Out goes reversing round a corner. In comes following a satnav. Few other changes.
Probably a good thing, still think it's very difficult to have a real way of measuring someone's driving ability. In my opinion, the 'test' should be taken over a series of sessions and not just 45 minutes or whatever it is. And a single 'major' shouldn't fail you; one mistake doesn't make you a bad driver.
Probably a good thing, still think it's very difficult to have a real way of measuring someone's driving ability. In my opinion, the 'test' should be taken over a series of sessions and not just 45 minutes or whatever it is. And a single 'major' shouldn't fail you; one mistake doesn't make you a bad driver.
Erudite geezer said:
I had 2 instructors when I was taking lessons in 1997, both males in their 40s or 50s, and some abiding memories from those lessons were: both were so obese they could barely get their seatbelts on (1 car was a Citroen AX, so that might have had an influence) and their thighs were so voluminous that me changing gears always resulted in hitting their right knees.
The bloke who taught me (in a Rover 114i) was absolutely massive. He was waiting for some sort of heart bypass operation and when he picked me up for one lesson told me that during an emergency stop his seatbelt mount had inexplicably broken. I always half expected him to drop dead during one of the lessons.I think when working on any self employed basis you are doing things that you aren't directly being paid for but lead up to receiving payment for the product you sell. Your lessons aren't your hourly fee, they are your commodity that you offer.
Even when working for a franchise or similar I take it you still have to do it on a self employed basis?
Even when working for a franchise or similar I take it you still have to do it on a self employed basis?
horsemeatscandal said:
Just heard on the news they're changing the driving test. Out goes reversing round a corner.
Why's that?I reverse around a corner every day to get in the drive, yet many people dont have a clue
Surely the reversing around a corner is to show youve realised what happens to the wheels when going backwards
Interesting post OP, thanks for sharing.
My BIL had a stint being a driving instructor back in the 90s - after passing his tests he was with BSM. I think he finally quit (after about 4 years IIRC) because he found it too stressful and, ultimately, not worth the money he was making.
He didn't manage to go solo and stayed with BSM and they were one of his main complaints - they filled his diary for the first six months or so but after that he always seemed to be scratching around for scraps.
I suspect that's how they treated their instructors back then - one of the guys I had lessons with back in the 80s was a BSM driver who took me on as a side job (against the rules) presumably because he had the time and could use the money.
The same guy also taught my sister (a late starter) in the 00s having set up on his own at some point, so I guess he liked it enough to stay with it!
My BIL had a stint being a driving instructor back in the 90s - after passing his tests he was with BSM. I think he finally quit (after about 4 years IIRC) because he found it too stressful and, ultimately, not worth the money he was making.
He didn't manage to go solo and stayed with BSM and they were one of his main complaints - they filled his diary for the first six months or so but after that he always seemed to be scratching around for scraps.
I suspect that's how they treated their instructors back then - one of the guys I had lessons with back in the 80s was a BSM driver who took me on as a side job (against the rules) presumably because he had the time and could use the money.
The same guy also taught my sister (a late starter) in the 00s having set up on his own at some point, so I guess he liked it enough to stay with it!
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