Seriously considering retraining

L

looactive7

Guest
Hi everyone,

I am looking for some friendly useful advice.

I am 24 and currently in a clerical position and I really do not enjoy it, over the last 3 yeas I have been in and out of work doing temporary jobs as it is extremely difficult to find a permanent position.
I am seriously considering retraining and becoming a gym instructor, I have over the last 2 years discovered a love of exercise & nutrition however I have no experience and wondering if that by retraining I will be stuck in the same temporary job boat but just in a different career?!
I really love the buzz of exercise, I love talking about it researching it and helping others achieve goals and talking about my success to motivate them but is this enough? Am I just looking for an easy way out of my current job situation.

ANY advice is welcome about life as a gym instructor also from anyone who has retrained?

Thanks in advance :)
 
You would be moving into one of the most competitive and lowest pay for qualification and effort fields of work available. This at a time when budget gyms with less staff are taking over driving more staffed establishments out of business.

If you want job security and a bit of an easy life, this is not the career for you. If you just want to be in an environment where you can help people get fitter and this will be more rewarding than higher salary go for it.

Most people in the fitness industry don't stay there into old age. There are pressures on client numbers etc. if you are a PT and standard gym floor staff often double as cleaners etc. too, so be prepared to work hard and have some harsh targets.

That said everyone I know who has done this job and just enjoys helping improve fitness in others absolutely loves it and the only time they have moved out of it has been due to financial pressure, basically needing more money.

This is a vocational career, meaning people do it for the love of it. I thought I would because I love training, but I found teaching people who weren't really into it horrible so stopped. An old training partner of mine has been a PT for 3 or 4 years now and would never want to do anything else, but spends a lot of time having to get clients and even though his work time is only 25 to 30 hours a week this is over long periods.
Basically it is you as a person that makes this work worthwhile or not. This is not advising one way or another but hopefully useful.
 
I agree. Here in the states, privately owned gyms are dropping like flies because of these 10$ a month chain "fitness centers". Three gyms I've personally worked out at have gone out of business in the last two years. It's a dead end career, honestly, unless you can get a job at a college as a health and wellness instructor, which is a once in blue moon kind of job. Even the "personal trainers" at these 10$ gyms are just skinny 19 year old kids who know nothing about actually working out. It's a shame, really. I would love to be able to get paid to help people make themselves better, but the money just isn't there anymore.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top