Working in the Fitness Industry

Roles within the Fitness Industry

Click here for a link to some generic job descriptions provided by REPs

Click here for the job vacancies section of this website that contains current and past vacancies.

Getting Qualified

In order to become a qualified fitness professional you must hold a recognised qualification from an approved training provider. All recognised qalifications are categorised by The Register of Exercise Professionals into a Qualifications Framework. The key qualifications are sectioned into REPs Levels that are as follows:

Level 1:Student members that are not yet qualified and must be supervised by a qualified member of staff

Level 2:The main entry level qualifications that enable the holder to work unsupervised (eg Gym, ETM)

Level 3:Advanced Fitness Instructors

Level 4:Those that meet the L4 National Occupational Standards and have completed one of the approved

L4 qualifications (eg Cardiac rehab)

Click here for a link to a list of courses recognised by REPs

Join the Register of Exercise Professionals

Click here to go to the REPs website

Getting Experience

No matter how good your grades or the number of qualifications that you have, experience is just as important in getting, and keeping, that dream job. There are many ways to gain experience and here are just a few things to think about.

• Identify somewhere that you would really like to work and go along looking smart and with a professinal cv and try to meet with someone in management. Offer your services for a short, but sustained period of work experience at a mutually agreeable time (eg one day a week for six weeks). This time-frame would enable both parties to get to know each other but not have to feel too committed or afraid to terminate the relationship. Do your best throughout the timeframe and treat every experience as a job interview. At the end, give your thanks and be gracious and then move on to another different location (unless they want you to stay of course). This way you get to be good in lots of places, the cv gets better and you meet more people that can put your name forward for future opportunities.

Getting a job

• Get qualified (see above)
• Get experience (see above)
• Finding a job
  • Broadly speaking there are two ways of finding a job; looking for adverts, and finding one yoursel
    • Job adverts. There are many places that you can look to find jobs that get posted in newspapers and on websites and there are a number of them listed below. Keep checking them regularly and if possible subscribe to emails and RSS feeds to keep updated automatically.
      • www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/
      • http://jobs.thisisplymouth.co.uk/
    • Personal contacts.
• Get hold of Job Descriptions of vacancies that you see adverised and keep hold of them, even if you dont apply. Read the essential and potential requirements and try to use this as a checklist for further training and CPD.

Going solo

Becoming self-employed is a big step and requires motivation and planning prior to taking the plunge. Do your research into the product you are offering and review the provision that already exists. In most locations, a variety of work opportunities is normally the best way to put together a portfolio of work.

Further Links

• "Working in the fitness Industry" by training provider Future Fit Training
• Fitness Industry Network
• "Working in Fitness" an article on the spinning.com website