Summer is just around the corner and for those of you who are looking for a fun and interesting summer job, you may want to consider working as a lifeguard. But it’s not easy, you need to get your lifeguard certification first and that means you need to train for a number of exams that will qualify you to become a lifeguard.
Testing Process
The road to becoming a lifeguard requires you to be ready to pass a number of qualifying tests, including First Aid training, a pool proficiency test, and a verbal test. All of these are needed to prove that you have the skills to save a life if and when you are tasked with doing so. The tests are designed to put these various skills to the test and see if you are both physically and mentally capable to do the job.
Lifeguard Courses
You have a choice of courses to take to get you ready for the tests. The various options available range in the length of the course and how much it will cost to take that course. It also depends on how much time you want to spend on taking the course you need for your certification. Some courses are a little more comprehensive and can be completed in just a week. If that’s too much at one time, you can take a course that is spread out over the course of a month to six weeks and that can make it easier to get the training you need.
Regardless of the time-frame, you choose for your training, you should be ready to take the tests and succeed at passing all of them.
Preparing for the Course
Before you start your course, training there are some preparatory steps you should take ahead of time. For starters, you need to be able to swim. Both fifty and one hundred meters without tiring. Fifty meters is about two lengths of a normal pool. You should be able to do this under a minute and this won’t be much of a challenge for most intermediate swimmers. One hundred meters is the more important of the two as it proves that you can swim comfortably in the water and can do so in both deep and shallow water.
You will need to be able to tread water for at least thirty seconds and dive to the bottom of the pool from the surface level of the water.
If you are unable to do these things, it will become very evident in a short period of time as you attend and try to pass the course. So, you must be sure that you have the pre-requisite skills to get in and out of the water and swim confidently and comfortably while you are in the pool.
Should you feel uncomfortable about your skills in this regard, you may want to take some swimming lessons to get your confidence up so you are fully prepared to take on a lifeguard training course.