What school/ schools should i look for to become a credentialed instructor?
I’d like to start my own business as a security consultant/ shooting instructor. My focus would primarily be pistol’s and carbines teaching fundamentals and defensive use in civilian contexts. I have military experience but not combat experience. I’ve had a couple moments living in Memphis that I almost had to pull a gun, but luckily that was not needed.

Shave your head....grow a beard.  Start being a dick....Seriously....check out the NRA..that would be baseline creds

The market is way overloaded with 'shooting instructors', so much so that it even affects attendance to classes by the 'big name' teachers.

You might consider doing an apprenticeship or working alongside someone who is already credentialed. It’s a lot of work and not a lot of reward, unless you are top tier.

That actually seems helpful. I feel like an NRA cert is little more than a piece of paper. Is there a way to start through an organization that has more credibility? I’m not inclined to give them a dime of my money given their failures and fraudulent practices.

The first question you need to ask yourself is "Why would someone pay me to teach them to shoot?"

Some instructors build their business on their prior combat or law enforcement experience. Some students believe that's a valuable experience for an instructor to have.

Some instructors build their business on proven expertise, which is usually demonstrated by a consistent string of placing high in competitive matches (USPSA, IDPA, 3 Gun, etc).

So, why would people pay you for your time?

(To answer your other question - Tom Givens/Rangemaster has an instructor development program which is considerably more in depth than the NRA. But 99.99% of people who would recognize that "stamp" on your website wouldn't be interested in hiring you because they're primarily looking for much more recognizable, big name instructors, so it's debatable whether it's worth it). https://rangemaster.com/instructor-training/

BTW The NRA instructors certs are kinda useless.  If you want real training as an instructor take Paul Howes instructor class in Texas at CSAT.  You have to be able to meet his skill standards and written tests.

No school is going to give you the experience you need to deliver a valuable product.  The certificates are just recognition that you met the requirements of that particular class.

I was fortunate in that guys such as Tom Givens and Dave Spaulding took me under their wing and guided my development.  In large, the reason they did so was that I was putting in the work as a STUDENT and that I was willing to travel to help with their classes.  I also had a boss who was supportive of my doing so as I brought the knowledge back to the agency.

There is a playlist on my YouTube channel that delves into becoming an instructor.  There are also numerous videos on the history and evolution of firearms instruction.  Each of the videos is also available as an audio podcast.  

I can't speak to the security business as that is not my line other than to say that each state is going to have its own requirements for training armed security guards.  I'm certified by the FBI, FLETC, and my state's law enforcement certification body as an instructor, but here, armed security is regulated by the Secretary of State, and I have never jumped through those hoops.

My path to being an instructor was accidental, sort of.

I took a lot of firearms training classes over the years (pistol, carbine, and shotgun). Some from the 'big name' schools and some from
reputable local places. As the years went by, I thought about becoming a firearms instructor. I had extensive training experience from my career and from my days in the military.

In my training travels, I had a discussion with a well known instructor and indicated that I was retiring soon and asked if he could use a gofer/flunky/assistant/driver when he travels (mostly by vehicle)
to his gigs. We talked about my desire to become an instructor and what better than to assist one on a regular basis. He was positive to the idea and said that I should let him know when my retirement occurred. Unfortunately, he died unexpectedly and so I figured that was that.

That all changed, when on a lark, a friend of mine and I decided to take the Patrol Rifle Instructor course at Sig Sauer. During my time at the course, I met many dedicated instructors and made some connections.

One of the other students was a police Lt for a small dept and he liked how I conducted training. Fast forward a year, and he asked me to come up to his dept and help a new officer who was having difficulty qualifying with his carbine. The Lt and another instructor were unable to get this officer qualified. I was able to get the officer competent with his rifle and qualified in short order.

Ever since, I have been asked to return each year to assist in training.


So, what is the gist of my rambling?

Take a lot of courses as a student. Two reasons: 1) The more variety of instruction, the better. You will see and experience a wide variety of techniques used to impart knowledge on a student. Take the ones you felt were the most effective;
2) As an instructor, your shit has to be good. One cannot ask a student to perform a task that you yourself cannot do. I know this seems fundamental, however, there are folks teaching (not necessarily firearms related) things that they themselves cannot do very well.

Then, take instructor courses from reputable names/schools.

You will gain certs and, more importantly, connections with others that train. Your peers will be watching you during these classes and if they dig your shit, they may ask you to help them (or even offer you a job in their shop).

That is my experience. I dont teach on a regular basis. I am retired and I enjoy not working, however, I do occassionally like helping those departments on a limited budget get the most for their officers.

I think most credentialed instructors start out doing NRA Pistol.  Becoming a state license to carry instructor would be next.  The NRA and State Certifications tend to have the widest recognition.   That recognition and the NRA website can help you get students.  NRA certification will aid you in getting insurance.

As some have said, Tom Givens or Paul Howe offer instructor training that is better.  Unfortunately their credentials are not as widely recognized.

A top notch instructor reference I use is Karl Rehn's Strategies and Standards for Defensive Handgun Training

Karl has been doing this stuff for a long time and has a lot of good advice.

Project Appleseed trains rifle instructors for free.  You just have to shoot Rifleman to qualify.  

As worthless as the NRA is, their certs aren’t. Right, wrong, or indifferent 99% of LE agencies and/or civilian organizations require them to teach their folks.

But as others have mentioned, why should people go to you? What sets you apart from the myriad of other instructors available? Do you have verifiable mil/le experience that qualifies you as a SME? Competition accomplishments?

All this....

Not really any options besides the NRA for non-mil/non-LE certifications.  I agree the basic NRA stuff is pretty easy considering the folks I have seen with their certs...  

I only hold one NRA LE cert, all the other stuff was state level or similar.  And I really wish I had added a couple other basic LE NRA certs while the agency would pay for it (actually it might have been no cost anyhow).  

But without some real experience of some kind or another don’t expect to get beyond basic level stuff.  Too many knowledgable people with experience and certifications already.  Plus I suppose you might need to be willing to work really cheap- some of these ranges and such don’t pay enough to get highly qualified people interested.  But if you are willing to do it and get your foot in the door it might work out in the long run.  

Have been enjoying your YouTube channel Lee!  Promise to only pass it on to my intelligent friends

I worked as a firearms instructor at my local gun club. I went and took NRA instructor classes. I was then able to take the LTC instructor course. So I was able to teach LTC classes at the gun club.

But I'd say just take all the shooting courses you can afford. NRA or other well known courses like Thunder Ranch or Gunsite or something.

You really need to have your own shooting range and classroom to make good money as a firearm instructor. I did my own firearm training business for a little while. And it was ok, but it didn't make a lot of money. I mostly used other people's shooting ranges. And a lot of the money went to them for range fees. And many ranges don't allow outside instructors. Used my own private property as well. But that opens you up to a lot more liability if something goes wrong. Having a LLC and liability insurance is a must in that case. As well as knowing first aid and have a good medical kit in case there's an accidental shooting.

NRA courses...
Sure, if you want to be on par with 1970's techniques

NRA courses are certainly very influenced by COL Cooper and Gunsite.  NRA training isn't Tier 1 training, but it is Basic training designed to keep gun owners from making serious mistakes (which are all too common).  NRA training does honestly include a lot of civilian specific material that the high speed, low drag instructors fail to even mention like avoiding legal mistakes, preventing unauthorized access to your firearms, and undesirable police interaction.  I recommend the NRA courses as a base to build from.

The world of civilian shooting is a large, complex, and varied environment.  Some civilians never shot a gun or pistol before.  Some know a lot about certain things, with massive gaps on other things (ie target shooting vs fighting).  Even at high level competitions like Tactical Games, which has a ton of squared away competitors, there were guys the other weekend who leaned really hard on their $3,000 pistols while not knowing how to properly grip the $3,000 pistol.

Those of us who are interested in reaching our potential are truly fortunate to have the benefit of warriors such as yourself who have considerable hard earned real world experience.

If you want to be a good instructor spend most of your effort learning how to teach/coach students/athletes. There are many superb practitioners who absolutely suck at teaching.

You bring up valid points about gear used over trying to build skill
But there is a picture in the latest NRA basic pistol shooting manual that is truly comical
It shows a shooter leaning way too far forward with their butt sticking out.
Super silly, Sad a NRA manual cant show a proper basic stance

All good NRA instructors learn quickly to work around deficiencies in the material.  The NRA is in the process of updating their material, but as you say there are issues.  But lots of instruction material has issues.  This laugh of the day is from the greatly esteemed Tom Givens:

NRA is a useful first step for instructors, like a high school diploma for instructors.  As discussed many times, it's widely recognized and has low prerequisites and startup costs.  The other major advantage is availability and cost in time and money.

NRA instructor courses are available locally and low cost.  $150 for a basic course + $200 for the instructor course plus not having to pay for airfare and lodging and recerts.  It gets you started with teaching.  It provides you with the lesson plan and cirriculum so you don't have to spend a hundreds of hours writing and rehearsing one. Do this and teach a few NRA basic pistol classes.  You might not even like teaching.  If you want to continue, then get CCW instructor and take other courses like Rangemaster, Close Combatant, Sig Sauer, and other classes.

Define what you mean by  “security consultant”? Not to go outa my way to be assh*le (even though being such comes easier for me than most people) but unless you’ve lived/operated in a high threat environment just what is your baseline level of knowledge and experience? To be blunt, I see a metric ton of people running around claiming to be firearms training/security experts who’ve never aimed a loaded weapon at anybody much less have ever been in harms way. It’s like somebody whose lived all their life in the middle of the Sahara Desert teaching people how to swim.