HOW TO ACE A PERSONAL TRAINING JOB INTERVIEW
So what is the process?
Once you’ve submitted your CV and covering letter, you’ll be called in to the club for an interview so that the Fitness Manager and/or General Manager can meet you. Initially, the first skill they will be looking for is to see how you talk and interact with people.
Interview
You may be asked to provide a PT session plan &/or deliver a PT session at the gym. Stick to what you’ve learned on your practical course in terms of exercise programming and balance.
Keep things relatively simple but structured with advanced overload training so that it is an effective session. Use your knowledge of anatomy & physiology to educate the “client” and remain genial throughout the session.
Later on in the interview, you’ll be asked to provide a self-evaluation of this session to feedback on how you thought you performed and to give justification for your programming and exercise choices.
Once complete, they will be looking to see if you’ll make a good fit into their PT team and ask questions to determine your background knowledge of their company, personal training and the industry as a whole.
Questions that they’re likely to ask you therefore will be around the subject of what you know about their PT services…. they way it is structured, their standards, expectations and service levels etc..
You’ll need to have checked this out beforehand with some relevant research.
They will want to find out what you believe is important towards becoming a successful PT in a club setting and will also be interested to learn about how you intend to keep up with the latest trends within the industry.
You’ll need to have put some thought into the generic “are you a good team player?” question before you come to answer it…
Prepare scenarios of when your contribution helped a team to succeed using examples from work (fitness industry or other), sports, social or anything else you deem appropriate.
Remember, they also want to find out if you are suitably prepared to put in the necessary hard work to make it as a PT at their club. Make this a two way question and use this opportunity to find out more about what they will do for you if you become a PT in their club and what their expectations of a PT are.
You’ll be asked to tell them what aspect of PT you’re most passionate about and why… and provide situations/ examples of where you have exceeded the expectations of a PT client (or any other relevant customer situation example)
You should be aware of how you’ll provide a superior PT customer service, beyond the session itself, hopefully your PT course covers this as part your training:
Make sure that you’ve also done some research into the club’s PT pay model and what they require from you moving forwards–> e.g. Some of the larger health club chains will expect to stop PT elsewhere or with your own freelance clients should you be successfully selected to become part of their PT team, so don’t appear surprised when they tell you!
Business Plan Proposal
For most health clubs, the bottom line is how much money are you going to generate for them through your PT – therefore this requires that you’re going to be very busy and ultimately successful for yourself and them.
When you write out your proposal, you’ll need to provide details for the first quarter of your employment of how:
- You’re going to generate new clients
- The specific activities you intend to perform when in the club
- Your target niche – the people who you will influence in the club
- Your sales and activity plans on the gym floor: marketing/offering taster sessions/specific events etc
- The days and times you plan to be in the club
- Your expected number of sessions to be delivered per week
You also need to be able to tell them how you will fit in with their corporate health club PT brand.
They’re going to want to discuss your business plan in the interview and ask for your specific strategies that you’re going to adopt to start, grow and maintain your business as a PT (and what experiences you’ve had with targets)
Conclusion
Your success/ failure at interview will depend on the following factors:
- Your business plan
- Your knowledge of the industry and their company
- Your PT session plan
- Your PT delivery
- You – Are you approachable and able to fit into their current PT team?
Prepare sufficiently for numbers 1-4 to help you to remain calm and confident during the interview process and number 5 should look after itself!
