Pros
The gym was spacious, had top of the line equipment including bumper plates for Oly lifts and a turf field which was great for conditioning. In fact, a few weeks before my departure the company invested in 5 brand new Olympic platforms, barbells and bumper plates. For a corporate gym, a trainer really could'nt ask for much more. The pay was decent but only if you hustled your butt off.
Cons
- Huge training staff (35 trainers) for an active member base of 5,000 members where 6% buy personal training. You do the math and tell me if your odds are good making a good living with this company. - Management did little to coach and develop new employees. Case in point: 4 out of the 5 trainers who were in my orientation class quit by their third month. (I was the sole survivor) - Management pushed you to sell supplements and other overpriced ancillary products and services - Useless unpaid weekly meetings on Wednesday afternoons - Orientation was one week of supplement and ancillary product and service coaching- valuable time that could have been spent trying to acquire new clients - You are forced to work shifts (usually during slow hours) for a menial wage to try to acquire new business until you hit a certain threshold, then your "Freedom" is granted. - You get to play janitor during these shifts and clean equipment - Hard work isn't rewarded; if anything you become resented by your peers and assistant department heads who are basically glorified trainers who could care less if you succeed or fail
