How passionate about learning, teaching and kiteboarding are you?

Let’s say you had the chance to be at the forefront of the future developments within the teaching and kiteboarding world - would you? If you are interested in being part of the kiteboarding development and expansion, keep reading then!

The IKO is looking to expand its core family. We are in the search for more Examiners Candidates who meet the IKO criteria and want to develop the IKO in new markets around the globe. It is not easy to join the IKO core team though it is worth it. Those who join the core must be devoted to promote kiteboarding and commit themselves to provide high-quality Instructor Training Courses.

During the IKO Examiner Training Courses (ETC), candidates are trained and evaluated by a Training Master (TM) according to their teaching skills and personality. To become an examiner you must not only pass the training course though have previous positive feedback from past teaching experiences, be a seasoned teacher and ready to travel.

If you want to seize the opportunity to be one of the few Examiners of the IKO - apply now!

Benefits

Run IKO Instructor Training Course (ITC)
Purchase IKO products with 30% discout over the public price.
Access to open job listings on the IKO website.
Post seeking employment ads viewable to IKO Centers.
Post personal profile info online, which is viewable via the general public website.
Receive customer feedback that results in an international instructor ranking.

Prerequisites

Be at least 28 years old.
Be an Assistant Trainer for two years and teach actively.
Have been Head Instructor in a school where the owner was another person.
Have taught in different countries, locations (ocean, river, tidal), spot configurations (lightwind, strong wind, deep water and from a boat), and several times with 4 students and 2 kites alone.
Send 1 hour video of yourself teaching a complete beginner the Discovery Level course.
Complete the 'Become a Head Instructor' eCourse.
Complete the 'Teaching to Children' eCourse.
Complete the 'Teaching to Students with Health Conditions' eCourse.
Complete the 'Boat Handling' eCourse.
In the month previous the candidature, pass the following exams:
- Assistant with a score of 95%
- Instructor Level 2 with a score of 90%
- Instructor Level 3 with a score of 90%
Have run a minimum of 10 ATCs with a total of at least 40 Candidates
Have a valid First Aid and CPR certificate.
Provide a copy of a boat driver’s license.
Be fluent in English and another language.
Have 10 points in their Pro account at the time of the candidature and during the training.

Procedure

Candidates who meet all the pre-requisites contact the IKO Office which will provide details about the candidature together with the Examiner Candidate Application Form.
Candidates send the Examiner Candidate Application Form duly completed along with a resume and a motivation letter.
Documents are reviewed by the Training Department. The Training Department investigates on the Candidate profile, evaluate the application, and approve the application or not.
If approved, Candidates are interviewed on Skype by the Training Department and present their project.
When the application has been fully approved by the Training Department, it is presented to the CEO who is in charge of the final decision.

Selection Process

Since there is only a limited number of Examiner positions available, the Candidates are selected from a pool of qualified applicants. The mentioned prerequisites are not the only criteria for selection; IKO also checks on past behavior (if candidates were and are a good role model for the sport, if there were no issues with local regulation where they worked, that their behavior are not contentious, that they have maturity, ability to manage a group, etc.) and that they can be an asset to the sport development by their motivation and availability to do ITC and to open new markets.

Training to become Examiner takes time, and is done by steps to check that candidates can assimilate the information and use the training effectively.

Training Procedure

If selected for the Examiner Training Course (ETC), the IKO office will schedule the training weeks according to the Training Master and Candidate’s availabilities. The candidate will contact Training Master to work out the details. Being selected for Examiner Training does not mean that an Examiner candidate will be certified at the end of ETC3. They must succeed to the 3 ETCs, in some case they could be asked to do a 4th week or they can fail the training after any of the 3 ETCs.

ETC 1

During ETC1 the Examiner candidates assist the Training Master (who is the official Examiner) and prepare each day’s lesson plan with them. Candidates are evaluated on their capacities to become an Examiner. Daily feedback is organized throughout the training. Based on the feedback from the Training Master, the Training Department approves or not the Examiner candidates to continue their training. If approved, they will schedule ETC Week 2 and 3 with the Training Department. If not approved, ETC Weeks 2 and 3 are canceled and Candidates will not receive any more training, nor refund.

ETC 2

During ETC2 the Examiner candidates will prepare each day’s lesson plan of the ITC and present them to the Training Master. Candidates run the ITC as an Examiner with the guidance of the Training Master. If Candidates do not feel comfortable with some parts of the ITC the Training Master will cover them so they can learn and improve their knowledge; however, compared to ETC1, the Examiner candidate will be more active and shall take over responsibilities. Daily feedback is organized throughout the training to learn from the mistakes made, difficulties found and ensure they are understood and applied. Candidates are evaluated and are invited to attend ETC Week 3 (except if there is an obvious reason that they fail ETC2).

ETC 3

During ETC3 the Examiner candidates are asked to run the whole ITC while the Training Master acts as an observer and provide feedback throughout the day. At the end of the ITC Examiner candidates must take the responsibility of the certification, Internship, and post-training requirement. They must also do the whole online certification on their own. Examiner candidates are evaluated. If they pass, they will be validated as Examiner. If they fail, they will be requested to perform a 4th ETC week following the same format as ETC 3. In case they fail ETC 4, there will not be any other opportunity to become Examiner. No Refund will be done.

Important note: the maximum time between two Examiner Training Courses (ETC) is one year, no matter if it is ETC 1, 2, 3 or 4. If more than one year has passed, the Examiner candidate will have to restart the course from the beginning.

Evaluation Criteria to be certified

Examiner Candidates are certified if they show the ability to:

Organize and run ITCs according to IKO standards.
Evaluate the Instructor Candidates according to their skills.
Show good group management abilities and communication skills.
Observe and uphold IKO Standards and show impeccable conduct.
Follow both the Instructor and Examiner Manual.

Note: Candidates may not automatically be certified at the end of the training. Certification depends on their result and feedbacks throughout all the ETC process. The Training Department will inform candidates of the results.

Total Cost

Examiner Training Course total cost: $2,400 USD plus personal expenses to attend at least 3 ETCs.

Each ETC Week: $800 USD to be paid before the beginning of each week.

Note: Examiner Candidates do not receive compensation during the training. The TM receives the Examiner’s salary.

Get started! To apply, contact the IKO Office

Examiner