7 Key Tips on Hiring a Personal Trainer for Your Business

If you’re an employer intent on hiring a personal trainer, the tips in this article will ensure you choose the best candidate. 

We’ll explore key skills, traits and characteristics that you should take into consideration when deciding which candidate to hire. 

Once you’ve found your ideal candidate, OriGym's Level 4 Nutrition are the ideal next step, providing a lucrative specialism for your business, and for the PT you choose to employ. Download OriGym’s FREE course prospectus for more information!

#1 - Hiring a Personal Trainer Tips: Ensure That the Applicant Has an Accredited Qualification

When it comes to tips on hiring a personal trainer, one of the most straightforward examples we can provide is to ensure applicants hold an Ofqual regulated Level 3 personal training qualification from a reputable provider - at a minimum! 

Ofqual is a government regulated organisation which is responsible for outlining the framework of vocational training courses. 

CIMSPA (The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity) then endorses this course to certify that the teachings adhere to a set industry standard.

Many current employers will typically advertise that they are looking for a candidate who holds a CIMSPA recognised qualification. This can be seen in the advertisement below for Virgin Active:

If you’re looking for tips on hiring a personal trainer, we’d recommend stressing the importance of an applicant having these qualifications. 

For example, you can word the requirements as followed, in order to state that the desired candidate will hold: 

• An Ofqual regulated Personal Training qualification
• A Personal Training certification recognised by CIMSPA

In doing so, you are guaranteed to hire a personal trainer who has been trained by a reputable provider and is working to a set industry standard. This means they will have knowledge in key areas that influence how they work with clients, like understanding anatomy, and basic nutrition principles.

They also be well-equipped to help clients design and achieve their goals, which not only reflects positively on them, but on you and your business.

The last point in particular is important, as all CIMSPA recognised courses will now have a business module that teaches students how to sell as a personal trainer. 

By stressing the importance of CIMSPA recognition, you can therefore ensure you hire a candidate who will know how to attract more clients to your services, and increase your profits. 

A PT who does not hold a qualification of this manner can be regarded as underqualified, as there is no way to guarantee that they’re working to the set industry standard. 

#2 - One Of The Best Tips On Hiring A Personal Trainer Is Finding Out Their Area Of Specialisation

Your business will likely attract a range of customers with different ability levels and fitness goals. To ensure that all of these individuals’ needs are met, you should consider hiring personal trainers who have areas of specialisation.

This is a simple PT hiring tip to implement. Study an applicant's CV, and question if they can bring something of value to your business. 

You may even choose to poll your existing customers to see what services they’d personally like to engage with. 

This will help to better inform your final decision, as if you discover your customers are interested in weight loss guidance, you can hire a candidate who specialises in that area.

Through implementing these tips on hiring a personal trainer, you can curate a team whose skills align with the goals of your customers. For example, the job advertisement below tells us that members of Energie Fitness are interested in boxing.

If customers are getting a service that they value, then they will be more likely to keep investing in your business, and may even refer you to their family and friends who share a similar interest. 

Having a qualified specialist on your team also means that you can offer more services and open up additional gym revenue streams.

For example, if a personal training candidate has a qualification in Nutrition , then you can begin to advertise the fact that you have an in-house nutrition advisor.

The trainer can then offer nutritional advice to help facilitate a client’s fitness goals. This will add additional value to the standard personal training package, as the client will be getting more for their money. 

You will also then be able to create marketing materials that specifically advertise these additional services. This in-turn can help to increase the number of clients in your gym.

#3 - Hiring A Personal Trainer Tips: They Should Be Able To Adapt To Different Styles Of Fitness

Whilst it’s beneficial to hire a personal trainer who has developed a niche, trainers can offer even more to gyms if they are well versed in multiple areas too. 

This may sound like a contradiction, so allow us to stress that this isn’t an ‘either or’ situation, as a PT can have a speciality whilst still being knowledgeable in other areas. 

For example, a candidate may hold an Advanced Nutrition Qualification as part of their speciality, but still have experience leading classes such as: 

• Les Mills
• Zumba
• Yoga
• Pilates

As well as being able to diversify the services your business offers, a PT with a range of skills is likely to be able to adapt their training style to meet the needs of different clients. 

This is because they will have worked with a wide variety of clients of different ages, abilities, and goals.

Overall, implementing tips on hiring a personal trainer such as this one will allow you to target different demographics of clients and consequently increase your gym’s earning potential.

To demonstrate what kind of trainer will be worth hiring at a gym, let’s take a look at Chris Yoxall’s profile at PureGym Liverpool, in which all of his areas of expertise are listed for customers to see.

Applicants like Chris will be well versed in areas outside of personal training, and will thus be able to attract and teach clients who are interested in:

• Boxing-based classes
• Metabolic circuit training
• Studio cycling

Beyond offering these services, candidates who have multiple qualifications will show a willingness to learn. 

You could therefore offer to train them up in different areas, in order to expand their existing skill set and ensure that they're continuously bringing new services into the gym.

#4 - Another Of The Best Tips On Hiring A Personal Trainer Is Looking For Client-Focused Applicants

When hiring a personal trainer some tips we can provide is to look for candidates who are customer-orientated. For example, when conducting interviews, you may ask questions regarding how they will design bespoke workout programmes. 

The answer that the candidate’s provide will shed some light on how they will interact with your customers. 

An example of a strong answer will see candidates stating how they will get to know their clients prior to the creation of their programme. This will involve asking questions during an initial PT consultation, regarding topics such as:

• Daily routine
• Eating and sleeping habits
• Previous fitness experience 
• Fitness related goals

Gaining this information allows trainers to understand their clients’ specific needs, and in-turn aid in the creation of the bespoke programme. 

As part of these tips on hiring a personal trainer we’d advise posing a hypothetical situation, in which the applicant is assigned a client with specific needs. The answer they provide will show you how they are likely to interact with customers of your business.

For example, say they are assigned a client with a lot of commitments, such as a full-time job and busy family life. 

These customers aren’t likely to commit to 5 sessions per week, so it’s the trainers responsibility to curate a programme that is both engaging, and that works around their schedule.

A strong answer to this hypothetical situation could see a trainer mentioning that they’d take the clients schedule into consideration, crafting a bespoke programme centred around 3 full body sessions a week.

The importance of hiring a personal trainer who is client focused can be seen below in a testimonial from The PT Factory:

Hiring a personal trainer who puts their clients’ needs first will result in similarly positive reviews for your business, which encourage other potential customers to sign up to your business. 

A great PT can also help promote safety and wellbeing throughout your business, ensuring that programmes are safe and effective for clients who’ve previously suffered injuries.

The importance of understanding this can also be seen in the following testimonial from The PT Factory, in which the client praised their PT for taking their injury into account:

If a trainer fails to take the health of a client into account it could result in an aggravation of a prior injury. Consequently, this can have a negative impact on your business’ reputation within the fitness world.

Ultimately, by following these tips on hiring a personal trainer you can ensure that your staff will work to the highest possible standards, always putting your customers first.

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Support your personal trainer hiring process with our other helpful articles:

• Personal Training Marketing Strategies
• Finding a Personal Trainer Job
• Make Money As A Personal Trainer 

#5 - We’d Advise Hiring A Personal Trainer With Experience Working With Different Medical Conditions

Similarly to the previous point, hiring a personal trainer who has experience working alongside clients with various medical conditions means you can offer these individuals a safe place to train.

For reference, this could include common conditions that can affect a client’s ability to exercise such as:

• Arthritis 
• Pregnancy 
• Heart conditions 
• Asthma 
• Diabetes 
• Joint pain

By hiring a personal trainer who has experience working with said individuals, your business can attract a demographic of clients who would otherwise have nowhere else to go.

This is because clients with any of these conditions likely won’t be able to exercise at the same rate as able-bodied individuals. 

Thus, the personal trainer will need to take their condition into account when crafting their bespoke programme, tailoring it to meet their current capabilities.

In a similar vein to the previous example, these clients may recommend your services to others through the likes of testimonials that highlight this available service.

This can be seen in the example below from PT Lisa King:

Clients with similar conditions will see these testimonials and know that their needs will be taken into consideration, meaning they’re much more likely to choose you over a competitor.

#6 - Hiring A Personal Trainer Tips: Look For Trainers With A Strong Social Media Presence

When looking to expand your team of personal trainers, one of the key tips we’d recommend implementing is to look for clients with strong social media presences.

A candidate who has experience in this area can bring marketing related knowledge to your team, which if implemented correctly, can help you reach a new demographic of potential customers.

For example, with knowledge of how social media operates you can trust the trainer to promote your business through posts on the likes of:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter 

This PT will likely know how to increase your business’ visibility through the use of tools, like targeted hashtags on posts.  This will help to ensure that your content reaches a specific audience who is likely to invest in your services. 

An example of a PT who uses their account to promote the gym they work is Kelly Louise, who regularly promotes their services for their employers at JD Gyms:

Kelly uses her knowledge of social media to display multiple story icons that are designed to entice an array of clients to her sessions at JD Gyms. She also ensures to use specific hashtags on her posts to ensure that they reach a target audience: 

Not only will this encourage Kelly’s dedicated followers to get involved with her sessions at JD Gyms, but with the inclusion of hashtags this post has the potential to reach users who don’t yet follow her. 

This is a great way for personal trainers to:

• Increase their own personal engagement
• Enhance your business presence on social media
• Attract more clients to generate a greater income

PTs with this skill can use the knowledge that they’ve gained through running their own social media pages to get involved with any future marketing materials for your gym or studio. 

For example, they could create marketing campaigns that interest your target audience, similar to this example from JD Gyms:

Remember, when hiring a personal trainer these tips should be implemented to ensure the success of your business. Even if you just have one employee who is experienced in social media they can in-turn train others.

This will ensure that they can draw attention to your business and increase revenue, through both the companies’ profile, as well as their personal account.

#7 - Hire A Personal Trainer Who Continuously Develops Their Passion 

One of our top tips on hiring a personal trainer is to choose an applicant who demonstrates an ability to update their skills and knowledge.

To determine whether a candidate is capable of this, you can ask them a simple question of whether they keep up to date with the latest health and fitness trends and developments.

This can help to highlight a candidate's passion for the industry, as they could mention how they read journal articles to stay updated, such as the example below from Mintel:

Passion for the role is important, as a PT should not only enjoy exercising for personal gain, but for helping others to reach their own goals. By asking this question, you can help to determine how seriously they will take the position. 

Another way a candidate could display their commitment to the latest industry developments is to see whether they hold any continuing professional development (CPD) qualifications.

Examples of what kind of courses can fall under this category can be found below:

Ongoing education allows PTs to keep up-to-date with new techniques and methods of instruction. In doing so, they can proactively ensure that they are offering your customers the best possible service.

Therefore, we can conclude this tip on hiring a personal trainer by stating that candidates should be able to demonstrate exactly how they have better knowledge and skills. 

Before You Go!

When hiring a personal trainer the tips presented in this article will ensure that you select a candidate that can improve the services your establishment provides. 

Naturally, you’ll have your own preferences in mind when conducting interviews, so just remember to take time with this process in order to ensure you choose the right employee.

Remember, if you’re looking to advance your knowledge of the fitness industry a Level 4 Nutrition qualification is a great place to start. Through obtaining this certification you and your staff can provide customers with a high calibre service. You can also check out our course prospectus here, to learn more about the qualifications we offer.