Today, more and more people are looking to get into shape and stay fit. In 2015, U.S. fitness centers had a total membership of approximately 55 million people. Given the growth in revenue and employment opportunities, the fitness industry is seeing a steady need for more trainers and fitness club employees. Staying competitive in the fitness industry will mean offering the best possible services, and that starts with employing the right people. CareerPlug works with over 4,000 fitness and health clubs and from experience, we’ve learned that the hiring process does not just revolve around the candidates who have the strongest resumes. The most effective hiring processes start by asking candidates the right questions.
Asking the Right Questions
There are plenty of insights you can gain before conducting an in-person interview with a candidate. Using pre-screen questions when a candidate first begins the application process can help hiring managers filter out candidates who don’t meet basic requirements for the position. For example, if you are trying to fill a personal trainer position, you may want to know more details about the candidate’s experience and level of education. How many years of experience do they have as a personal trainer? Are they CPR/AED certified? Are they a certified ASE personal trainer? By only evaluating candidates who are qualified for the job, using pre-screen questions can save fitness hiring managers valuable time.
Sending Assessments
Identifying candidates that have the right mentality to work at a fitness club is very important. Sending candidates assessments can facilitate hiring decisions based on personality traits. A personality assessment is designed to measure certain competencies that can be important predictors of successful job performance. Fitness hiring managers can test for competencies such as service orientation, achievement striving, and optimism, or any other traits that would be most beneficial to have given the nature of the work. Personality assessments allow managers to see beyond a candidate’s resume and basic qualifications and gain more insight into whether a person would be the right fit for the health club.
Using Interview Guides
Many fitness centers and gyms are part of larger franchises. Because of this de-centralized nature, creating consistent hiring processes across all fitness club locations becomes crucial to maintaining strong standards and services across the board. When positions need to be filled, hiring managers at different gym locations should follow all the same processes to try and identify the right people for the open positions. The use of interview guides can help with consistency across multiple gym locations. An interview guide ensures a uniform interview experience for all candidates and makes it easier for hiring managers to objectively evaluate candidates and make the right hiring decisions. Hiring managers can use different interview guides for different positions, so that all candidates applying to the same position are asked the same questions, no matter what gym location they applied to.
Hiring Made Easier with CareerPlug
CareerPlug can help with your fitness club’s hiring needs. CareerPlug helps over 4,000 fitness and health clubs institute and leverage effective hiring practices to consistently make the right hires. At CareerPlug, we offer hiring managers the ability to use customizable pre-screen questions and interview guides as well the ability to send personality assessments to candidates. With all the right tools, managers are given the confidence to conduct the most effective hiring processes and make the right hiring decisions for their fitness and health clubs. To learn more about how CareerPlug can help with your hiring needs, request a demo today!
