Becoming a driving instructor 498

My wife has recently qualified and started working as an Instructor. I work in IT and have done so for the past 15 years, so my opinion...

It would benefit you greatly to begin your driving instruction career with a local franchise. My wife started with a national franchise and basically they did sweet FA to help her. They were quite good at taking her franchise fee every month though. Now she is with a local and well established franchise it is much better. We plan to be running our own school within 18 months. it's all about building your name and reputation for the first year or so. Word of mouth is the best advertising available. My wife absolutely loves her job. It is true there are a lot of instructors out there who are - how shall I tactfully put it - poo to say the least. In some areas there are simply too many instructors and therefore the battles between who charges the cheapest rage. I would do a bit of market research before committing - you may find it will only work out as a part time job.

If you had full time hours I would say you'd earn less than an IT job, but depending on your own standing the satisfaction might be far better. You'd be your own boss for instance.

HTH.