Employment Opportunities
DRIVING INSTRUCTORS TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a California DMV licensed driving instructor,
the applicant must be at least 21 years of age with no felonies
or moral convictions. He/she must provide proof of high school graduation,
pass a physical examination which includes vision, blood pressure,
heart rate, etc.
To apply for driving instructor’s position, you must first
be sponsored by a licensed California driving school (a school that
intends to employ you as a driving instructor). This employing school
is responsible to educate you in all of the phases necessary to
be a driving instructor. This includes but is not limited to: (1)
rules of the road, (2) advertising rules, (3) DMV forms and certificates,
(4) maintenance and legal requirements for training vehicles, (5)
licensing and renewal laws, (6) continuation education requirements,
(7) certificate logs and age requirements, (8) techniques of teaching,
(9) equipment needed for classroom and vehicle training, just to
name a few.
The entire training program involves 60 hours broken down into
40 hours of classroom and the remaining 20 hours is used for learning
how to teach the different aspects of driving, the techniques for
teaching turns, lane changing, basic maneuvers like backing and
parking, freeway entering and exiting, freeway transitions (going
from one freeway to another), vision habits, space management skills,
and much more.
This 60 hour program usually requires between 4 to 6 weeks to complete.
The sponsoring driving school normally charges for this training.
The training quality and cost of the training vary from one driving
school to another. Some schools also allow the instructor to work
off the cost of the training, while other schools charge up to $2,500
for an instructor’s training program.
After the 60 hours of instructor training has been completed in
order to obtain an instructor’s license, the applicant must
go to the DMV, provide a fingerprint scan, submit an application,
pay a $35 fee, and pass a written test.
For some driving schools, this initial 60 hours of instructor training
is only the beginning because they require monthly training sessions
which involve advanced teaching techniques and problem solving methods.
There is also a seminar given by the California Driving School Association
once a year which many schools require all of their instructors
to attend. This seminar covers the latest laws, DMV speakers, and
new ideas on teaching.
Instructors are required to teach classroom and behind the wheel
training. When the instructor furnishes their own training vehicle,
their work schedule is dictated by them. If a company training vehicle
is provided, each instructor is required to teach a minimum of 32
hours of behind the wheel training per week. Hours and days will
vary.
In our 25 years of experience we have found that instructors who
have been the most successful and content with instructing driving
have been those who have a variety of work backgrounds, are between
the ages of 35-60, and possess sales ability, and have a high degree
of communications skills.
If you are an experienced, licensed DMV driving instructor from
California or any other state and are seeking employment, we interview
and hire instructors between the ages of 21 years and older on a
regular basis. However, we require a 6 hour RETRAINING program to
insure that each new hire will use the same terminology, teach our
curriculum in the prescribed manner, and learn our general office
and operating procedures.
Driving instructors have the choice of either supplying their own
training vehicle which includes insurance and work supplies or using
a company vehicle when available. The pay range varies from $15-$28
per hour.
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