How to choose a good provider of Driving Instructor Training services
Most people come into Driving Instructor Training as a result of a change in their personal circumstances. They might be made redundant or they might find themselves needing more flexibility in their lives. very few people seem to actually plan, from school age, to become Driving Instructors.
When you are in these situations, it is very easy to be taken in by the claims made about how easy it is and what the potential earnings are and the list of people happy to tell you what you want to hear is high!
The truth is that a Driving Instructor is a Teacher and as you would expect, they are expected to demonstrate in the qualification process that they are experts in their field - you wouldn't want a Teacher of maths at the local high school teaching your kids if they were only just capable of passing the same exams themselves would you!
So it is a fact that only 1 in 4 of those people who embark on Driving Instructor Training nationally will go on to qualify and operate as Approved Driving Instructors.
It is also a fact that as a self employed person, you will not qualify for sickness, holiday or maternity pay and that you will be responsible for funding your own equipment (in this case, the biggest expenses here are obviously the car and suitable amounts of fuel) and if people cancel lessons in the run up to Christmas for example, or if the weather makes it dangerous to work, then you will see your profits drop as no work = no pay!
My first tip for choosing a good Driving Instructor Trainer is to avoid anyone who suggests in their marketing that passing is easy or guaranteed or anything like that - you get back what you put in and you will simply improve your chances of success if you take the attitude that, like the rest of us, you probably have things you need to learn and get better at and put suitable amounts of effort into your training rather than just turning up.
The second thing to look for is ORDIT registration. ORDIT is the DVSA's "Official Register of Driving Instructor Trainers" and a trainer who is listed on this voluntary register has been inspected by DVSA and found to provide high levels of service. Regular re-inspections are necessary in order to stay on the register and whilst NOT being listed doesn't necessarily mean that a trainer isn't up to scratch, it is a relatively low cost move for a business - so why wouldn't they obtain registration?
The third thing to look out for is recommendation - it's always good to be able to find happy customers talking about your potential Trainer whether those customers were Driving Instructors or learner drivers who trained to pass a driving test with them. Good customer service and an ability to build rapport with customers is essential to this job and it doesn't really matter what level of driver you are training - you either give good customer service or you don't!
It is only now that I would contact the Trainer to inquire about Driving Instructor Training and I what I do with incoming inquiries myself is meet the potential trainee for a coffee and a chat about what is involved in the qualification process and to answer any questions they might have.
For those that choose to embark on the training and throw themselves into it so that they succeed, this is a fantastic job to do! You get to meet all sorts of people and your surroundings are constantly changing as you drive around - no two days are ever the same! As with the training, the success of your business is dependent on how much effort you put into running it, but there are franchise opportunities for those who wish to let others look after the business side of things for them... it's those first steps in choosing the right trainer and giving yourself the best chance of passing the qualification exams that are the most important considerations at the start!
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