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A career as a lifeguard might not follow for everyone who joins a Surf Life Saving Club but that shouldn't stop people from getting involved, says Andy Kent, lifesaving development officer at Surf Life Saving Northern Region.
Kent is one of the few who has been able to make a career out of lifesaving. As a child, joining the local Surf Life Saving club was compulsory in his family. And day to day life as a lifeguard is nothing like the fictional TV show Baywatch.
"I was brought up in a Surf Life Saving family," said Kent. "I started doing nippers when I was five. I qualified as a surf lifeguard at the Levin Waitarere Surf Club when I was 14 and was a volunteer lifeguard there until I was 18. I have made lifelong friends and value the experience.
"My family were heavily involved and they believed in the values of the whole movement of Surf Life Saving New Zealand and preventing drownings at beaches. It was a family environment and a safe environment to be in."
Now Kent has a desk job in Auckland at the Marine Rescue Centre where he makes sure people at the 17 clubs in the Northern Region are well equipped, organised and trained. Paid lifeguard positions are few and far between but Kent employs some seasonal paid lifeguards.
He became part of the regional lifeguard service as a paid lifeguard in 2004. It's not easy. You have to be 16, obtain an IRB qualification and earn a first aid level II qualification run through St John.
"If you meet those standards then you can trial for a position. At the moment we're in the process of trailing for this year's regional guards," says Kent.
You also need to pass an exam on lifesaving theory before you can qualify as a regional lifeguard.
"If you make the grade you get placed at beaches over the summer for paid work," says Kent.
It may go without saying, but one of the critical things a lifeguard must be able to do is swim. He also says you'll also need something else.
"If you want to be a Surf Life Saver, and a good one, you have to have a passion for surf lifesaving and understand the purpose of the whole movement which is about saving people's lives and preventing drowning."
To be a part of Surf Life Saving, Kent says you also need to be a team player.
"To be a club member you have to be a club person," he says. "You have to be someone who enjoys working with other people and has the ability to trust other people because you're relying on them to keep you safe."
It's a serious job with a lot at stake. But sometimes, despite all the equipment and training, things still don't work out for the best.
"On the odd occasion where there is a fatality you have to take a step back afterwards and realise you can't do everything," he says.
Thankfully, those days are rare and most people are lifeguards because they enjoy it.
"You're working so you treat it seriously but at the end of the day, you've spent a day at the beach really," he says. "You're working but you're doing what you love."
Being a surf lifeguard can also lead to some interesting careers off the sand. Kent says the medical aspect of the job has appealed to some as a long-term career.
"We have a lot of people who do their initial first aid qualifications and deal with stuff on the beach and realise that they enjoy that side of things," he says. "They move onto the first aid area and end up doing paramedicine at university."
The public information side of the job has appealed to some lifeguards who were doing teaching degrees. They now work in paid positions promoting beach safety in schools. Some lifeguards also discover their passion for governance and management by working on their local lifesaving committee.
Kent says that regardless of what else you take from it, it's a good thing to have on your CV.
"Employers are always looking for community involvement and volunteering," he says. "You're also getting all your first aid qualifications which these days, as an employer with the health and safety regulations, is huge."
