Hiring a team of skilled and dedicated personal trainers is crucial for the success and reputation of any gym in the UK. The personal trainers you bring on board not only enhance the fitness experience for your members but also reflect your gym's commitment to quality. Here are some top tips for gyms in the UK to recruit the best personal trainers:

Define Your Gym's Culture and Vision

Before you start recruiting, ensure you have a clear understanding of your gym's culture, values, and long-term vision. This will help you find personal trainers who align with your gym's ethos and can contribute positively to its growth.

Understand the strengths + weaknesses of your Personal trainer model

Every Personal training model has it's strengths and weaknesses. It is important to really understand this and ensure you are ready to answer all the questions you might face from potential candidates. Be honest with candidates about the potential negatives of your model and ensure you also promote the key benefits. 

Love Recruitment recently conducted a Personal trainer Survey and I have attached a link of this for you 

Write an effective job advert to attract the right PTs

Unless you are using a recruitment agency, an advert is your main way to attract the right personal trainers. Ensure the following are clearly mentioned that highlighted in your advert.

1. Your culture + vision

2. Details of the model you are offering 

3. Salary + benefits (almost 60 % of candidates get put off from applying for a job because of the salary + benefits not being mentioned)

4. Focus on why they should apply + want to work for you! 

If you do need any help with this, please do get in touch! 

Advertise your job vacancies on the right platforms 

Once you have got your advert, it's important to advertise this on the right platforms. Ensure that you get the maximum exposure of the right candidates viewing your advert. Here are some of the places where you can advertise

1. Your own club: Great to attract members who are already there and want to potentially work for you.

2. Local free job boards + facebook groups: Free and potentially useful strategy to attract local candidates.

3. Specialised job boards: There are several job boards like Love Recruitment  that purely attract fitness candidates. Get in touch with them to advertise your vacancies.

4. Generic/non specific job boards: This includes Indeed, Reed, Totaljobs. They have got significant traffic. Sometimes not specific to the fitness industry but still a very useful option

5. Advertise on social media: This is relatively new form of advertising your jobs and it can be very useful. Our recommendation for Personal trainer recruitment is Facebook + Instagram.

Certifications and Qualifications

In the UK, personal trainers must have recognized certifications, such as those from the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) or the National Register of Personal Trainers (NRPT). Verify candidates' qualifications and ensure they meet the necessary industry standards.

Have a clearly defined process

This is super important as there is a genuine shortage of candidates on the market. My recommendation is the following.

a. Quick phone call to assess personality + engagement

b. Face to face interview with a quick practical.

My recommendation in regards to timeframes is the following

Application to first call: Maximum 72 hours

Entire process for each candidates: Maximum 1 week

Insurance/Liability + Reference

Ensure that the trainers you hire have liability insurance. This protects both your gym and the trainers in case of accidents or injuries during sessions. We would also recommend taking references from previous employers of their previous clients.

Thank you so much for reading my top tips and if you need anything else from me, please do let me know. I support clients with their advertising needs and if you need any further information on this, please click on the link below.

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Thanks

Kelly Hesketh - kelly@loverecruitmentgroup.com