Driving Instructor - My experience after a year
Discussion
saaby93 said:
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
There will still be driving in and out of parking spacesI 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
They want to focus on areas where recently passed drivers tend to have injury-accidents, so less low-speed manoeuvrers and more general driving.
There's no way I'd ever want to be a driving instructor and as others have said, this completely reaffirms it for me.
My instructor was a massive racist who chain smoked his way through my lessons, he must've been mid 40s but looked about 60 through the stress, fags and lack of exercise.
I can't see any redeeming features of being an instructor, it's not as if you see anyone that you've helped again is it?
My instructor was a massive racist who chain smoked his way through my lessons, he must've been mid 40s but looked about 60 through the stress, fags and lack of exercise.
I can't see any redeeming features of being an instructor, it's not as if you see anyone that you've helped again is it?
My driving instructor was a very nice fellow - warm-hearted and jolly.He was an extraordinarily patient and calm man who seemed unfazed by whatever madness may unfold around him. He smoked a pipe, but I don't think it was particularly unusual for instructors to smoke back in the late '80s.
bobtail4x4 said:
my instructor used to pick up the next pupil during the end of your lesson,
Mine did as well! Although he was a countryside instructor and we (the pupils) all knew each other as we were in the same year at school, or knew them from the next big village over. Instructor was a top guy; most of us passed first time with him.It surely can't be that difficult to become an instructor, where I live we get a lot of people learning how to drive/park/reverse etc due to quiet nature of the area and the way instructors teach and how/where they stop to explain things I often wonder whether these people aren't fake instructors and how should driving standards be good when people who have no clue teach others how to drive.
VGTICE said:
It surely can't be that difficult to become an instructor, where I live we get a lot of people learning how to drive/park/reverse etc due to quiet nature of the area and the way instructors teach and how/where they stop to explain things I often wonder whether these people aren't fake instructors and how should driving standards be good when people who have no clue teach others how to drive.
Have you got some gripe about people learning to drive outside your house? It is difficult to become an instructor as fewer than 10% of candidates in the process will ever qualify as an instructor.Edited by stevensdrs on Saturday 15th April 15:38
I was a driving instructor many years ago in the 80's
I passed my driving test at 17, and advanced test at 20,and then qualified as an ADI at 21.I did it for 2 years.
Never become a driving instructor!
1.self employed (not all bad)
2.no sick pay
3 driving tests cancelled due to weather
4 high cost of running a car.
5 you will have to work evenings and weekends
6 no social life
7 no family life
8 sitting in traffic jams breathing fumes
The driving test is now going to be pathetic
Some moron has decided that reversing may be scrapped,and also the three point turn.These are the two most important parts of driver training!
Reversing backwards around a corner gives the pupil skills in how the car
responds to the steering and helps judge the distance from the curb while incorporating observational skills.
The three point turn incoporates several skills simoutaniously
1 observation
2 throttle control
3 clutch control
4 steering
5 brake/handbrake
6 spacial awareness/judgement
This greatly adds to pupil confidence.
For me the icing on the cake is the driving test now will incorporate the
Use of satnav
Does anybody honestly think that any driver of any age can't use a satnav! ,they are just like smartphones,if you haven't got the intellect to use a satnav then you should not be driving a car.
So many people rely on electronic devices now they are lost without them,if anything the test should involve the use of paper maps.
The human race is losing its cognitive skills and the new driving test will promote this - a step backwards.
We are going the way of the aircraft industry - computer flown planes.
When the computer fails the pilot has no flying skills,because most of the time they are not needed - cut price training - and if something goes wrong - God help us.
The people who are going to change the driving test have never been instructors.
P.S. An ambulance drove into me, because he was looking at his satnav!
I passed my driving test at 17, and advanced test at 20,and then qualified as an ADI at 21.I did it for 2 years.
Never become a driving instructor!
1.self employed (not all bad)
2.no sick pay
3 driving tests cancelled due to weather
4 high cost of running a car.
5 you will have to work evenings and weekends
6 no social life
7 no family life
8 sitting in traffic jams breathing fumes
The driving test is now going to be pathetic
Some moron has decided that reversing may be scrapped,and also the three point turn.These are the two most important parts of driver training!
Reversing backwards around a corner gives the pupil skills in how the car
responds to the steering and helps judge the distance from the curb while incorporating observational skills.
The three point turn incoporates several skills simoutaniously
1 observation
2 throttle control
3 clutch control
4 steering
5 brake/handbrake
6 spacial awareness/judgement
This greatly adds to pupil confidence.
For me the icing on the cake is the driving test now will incorporate the
Use of satnav
Does anybody honestly think that any driver of any age can't use a satnav! ,they are just like smartphones,if you haven't got the intellect to use a satnav then you should not be driving a car.
So many people rely on electronic devices now they are lost without them,if anything the test should involve the use of paper maps.
The human race is losing its cognitive skills and the new driving test will promote this - a step backwards.
We are going the way of the aircraft industry - computer flown planes.
When the computer fails the pilot has no flying skills,because most of the time they are not needed - cut price training - and if something goes wrong - God help us.
The people who are going to change the driving test have never been instructors.
P.S. An ambulance drove into me, because he was looking at his satnav!
I was fortunate in that my best mates dad was a driving instructor so I got a pretty good discount.
Going by your comments I now understand why I ended up doing a lot of random errands whilst on a lesson. Such as driving to the post office etc ha.
When I passed I think he was happier than I was as he could then get rid of me and my reduced rates.
Going by your comments I now understand why I ended up doing a lot of random errands whilst on a lesson. Such as driving to the post office etc ha.
When I passed I think he was happier than I was as he could then get rid of me and my reduced rates.
jas xjr said:
i have always classed a driving instructor as a job i could never do .
the idea of getting into a car with somebody who potentially has never sat in a drivers seat scares the living daylights out of me .
complete respect for anybody that does this for a living.
I was an Instructor for 8 years. Teaching people to drive was the easy part. Dealing with the morons on the road who were supposedly qualified was the hard part!the idea of getting into a car with somebody who potentially has never sat in a drivers seat scares the living daylights out of me .
complete respect for anybody that does this for a living.
Tim
Nearlyretired said:
The driving test is now going to be pathetic
Some moron has decided that reversing may be scrapped,and also the three point turn.
And replacing with reverse in to a parking space that teaches exactly the same skills, but with reduced risk of tSome moron has decided that reversing may be scrapped,and also the three point turn.
ts making angry passes as you pull up to start the manoeuvre, and can be practiced on a car park rather than a residential road, ending in constant complaints to the DSA from NIMBYS. [quote]
Does anybody honestly think that any driver of any age can't use a satnav!
My son is learning to drive at the moment , we are paying £38ph, our instructor is very unreliable and has cancelled or been late for about 40% of his lessons
The instructor offers a discount for 10 lessons, you pay £370 instead of £380, friends of ours who have done this have received a much better service from him, he does go miles though as I see on his website he has trainees up to 40 miles away.
Its something i have thought about getting into myself
The instructor offers a discount for 10 lessons, you pay £370 instead of £380, friends of ours who have done this have received a much better service from him, he does go miles though as I see on his website he has trainees up to 40 miles away.
Its something i have thought about getting into myself
Valgar said:
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 bullst, 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.
did you not listen to Bob Newhart before taking up this role ...????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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_rJXDhNTD4
liner33 said:
My son is learning to drive at the moment , we are paying £38ph, our instructor is very unreliable and has cancelled or been late for about 40% of his lessons
The instructor offers a discount for 10 lessons, you pay £370 instead of £380, friends of ours who have done this have received a much better service from him, he does go miles though as I see on his website he has trainees up to 40 miles away.
Its something i have thought about getting into myself
£38 ph, wow, that is high.The instructor offers a discount for 10 lessons, you pay £370 instead of £380, friends of ours who have done this have received a much better service from him, he does go miles though as I see on his website he has trainees up to 40 miles away.
Its something i have thought about getting into myself
My daughters instructor charged £46 for a 2 hour lesson, I think an hour was £26.
A friend of mine waa a driving instructor running his own business for about 15 years. He's packed in after working unbelievably hard at. He never needed to set the business up, I gather he was well looked after following a serious workplace accident that left him disabled, he'd made a good bit of cash before that and was paid out after the accident.
Needless to say, he worked like a donkey when he was running his driving school. He was on the road full time, usually doing in excess of 60 hrs a week and his business partner was always fully booked on her car too. He had that much business that they turned some of it away.
He used to tell me about the good things and bad things being a driving instructor entailed. He used to turn away business from certain communities because it was such hard work. He'd given up on instructing Asian women who wanted to be accompanied. Often he'd have a pupil who couldn't speak much English and so didn't understand him very well, accompanied by a friend sitting in the back to translate and an uncle or brother as a chaperone. This seemed to descend into the chaperone shouting at him, the translator shouting at him and the driver crumbling under the pressure. This became an increasing burden on his business as his marketing had reached the inner districts of the city, when he actually worked from twenty miles away in a neighbouring rural county!
Which is to say nothing of the boy racers who wanted to rag the car about. Pupils who received bans during their lessons but never told the instructor. Learners turning up drunk, high or too tired to drive. Learners who wanted to use their driving lesson as cheap and convenient transport to a far off destination (like starting a two hour lesson in Ashington and just wanting to go south on the A1 to Middlesborough or further!).
Needless to say, he worked like a donkey when he was running his driving school. He was on the road full time, usually doing in excess of 60 hrs a week and his business partner was always fully booked on her car too. He had that much business that they turned some of it away.
He used to tell me about the good things and bad things being a driving instructor entailed. He used to turn away business from certain communities because it was such hard work. He'd given up on instructing Asian women who wanted to be accompanied. Often he'd have a pupil who couldn't speak much English and so didn't understand him very well, accompanied by a friend sitting in the back to translate and an uncle or brother as a chaperone. This seemed to descend into the chaperone shouting at him, the translator shouting at him and the driver crumbling under the pressure. This became an increasing burden on his business as his marketing had reached the inner districts of the city, when he actually worked from twenty miles away in a neighbouring rural county!
Which is to say nothing of the boy racers who wanted to rag the car about. Pupils who received bans during their lessons but never told the instructor. Learners turning up drunk, high or too tired to drive. Learners who wanted to use their driving lesson as cheap and convenient transport to a far off destination (like starting a two hour lesson in Ashington and just wanting to go south on the A1 to Middlesborough or further!).
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