Fitness careers advice

Lets see...fitness careers, must mean wandering around a gym helping people with free weights and doing your workout? Not quite! 'instructors' range from duty managers and lifeguards to membership consultants, personal trainers and aerobics instructors.

Fitness careers positions are 90% customer focused and service orientated, all have specific qualifications relating to them and all involve antisocial hours.You must be able to take into account their current fitness levels, medical conditions, previous injuries and much much more.

As such there is a need for you to have structured, and preferably vocational, fitness qualifications. As well as the qualifications you hold you must be able to display an appreciation for the very low pay as an entry-level instructor and of course the often very antisocial hours that your particular club or gym keeps (24 hour clubs are already beginning to thrive in London!). If you have recently taken a degree in Sports Science, you will additionally need to take a vocational qualification from a recognised body. Some of the bigger UK health club chains may allow you to qualify whilst working.

The only three areas where you can join the fitness team without an NVQ or Diploma minimum are the reception, duty manager and membership advisor positions.Of course the more experience and skills you have the easier you will find it to find a position in these areas. The duty manager and membership advisor roles are probably the best entry to management level and also have the best entry pay.

Summary

If you want to be a fitness instructor you will have to be prepared to work very hard for low initial pay as well having completed the relevant qualifications first.