5 things to look for when hiring personal trainers

Personal trainers contribute to your health club’s bottom line by helping to build positive relationships with your members. Members who are happy with their personal training experience typically keep coming back to your health club to reach their fitness goals. In order to have a profitable personal training operation within your health club, it’s important to know what to look for when hiring personal trainers. We’ve put together some tips to keep in mind when hiring personal trainers and some questions to consider asking during the interview process.

5 things to look for when hiring personal trainers

1. Grasp of your organization
It’s essential that personal trainers understand the business of health clubs. For your health club to remain profitable, they should understand their role within the larger organization and how they can contribute to the business’ success.

Example interview questions to ask regarding the personal trainer’s knowledge of your health club:

• What do you know about this organization?
• What do you believe your role will be in this organization?
• How can you contribute to the growth of this organization?

2. Knowledge
Excellent personal trainers understand fitness, health, and how the body works. They keep up on fitness trends, but also turn to the tried-and-true exercises that get results. The best personal trainers typically have professional certifications and continue to improve through ongoing professional development.

Example interview questions to ask regarding industry knowledge:

• What trends are you seeing in fitness?
• How do you stay up-to-date with the latest health and fitness information?
• What are some exercises you often use with clients?
• What certifications do you have?
• What was the last course you took for professional development? What did you learn?
• What are your plans for professional development?

3. Understanding client needs
When onboarding new clients, personal trainers should be paying attention to the needs of the client. As a health club owner, you should have a lifestyle questionnaire that personal trainers will work through with their clients. Understanding how the personal trainer will approach onboarding a new client is very important as it is a direct reflection on their experience with your health club.

Example interview questions to ask regarding client onboarding:

• How do you onboard a client?
• What do you think is the most important part of the onboarding process?
• How do you respond to your clients’ goals?

4. Personable
Great personal trainers understand their clients’ goals and are good at showing a genuine interest in their well-being. In an interview, you can get a sense of a personal trainer’s personality by his or her mannerisms— such as eye contact, smiling, level of comfort, head nods, etc. However, what they say during the course of an interview is also important.

Example interview questions to ask to better understand a candidate’s personality:

• How do you work with clients who may be leery about personal training?
• What questions do you ask your clients during the session?
• Walk us through a scenario of what a great session with a client would look like.

5. Motivational
To keep clients coming back, personal trainers should encourage and be their clients’ biggest supporter. You want to find qualified personal trainers who will help motivate your clients and assist them in seeing results.

Example interview questions to ask to gauge a personal trainer’s motivation level include:

• How do you motivate your clients?
• What would you say to a client who feels defeated and overwhelmed?
• What if your client is not in the mood to do the plan you put together? How would you handle that situation?

We hope you find these tips beneficial during your hiring process.

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