Why Fitness Industry Hiring is Different Than What You Think It Is

Written on March 1, 2019 at 12:34 pm, by Eric Cressey

In the past, I’ve written a few times about how when we want to expand our staff at Cressey Sports Performance, we only hire from our internship program. In hiring, the goal is to get someone who is both competent for the job AND a good fit for your culture. We can teach that competency in an internship, but just as importantly, an internship give us 3-5 months to evaluate whether an individual is the right fit from a personality standpoint. We actively involve our current staff in hiring to make sure that they’re the ones helping to shape this culture. I can’t recall exactly, but I believe I initially heard the competency/fit discussion in a book from Richard Branson and his hiring practices at Virgin.

This is an important lesson for all businesses, but I’d argue that the fitness industry is unique in that the pendulum swings much more in the direction of “fit.” Why? My theory is that it’s because the barrier to entry in this industry is so low that very few candidates show a level of competency so overwhelming that they’re “must-hires.”

Just last week, my theory was put to the test when a large company reached out to me on a reference check on one of our former interns who’d applied for a job. Here was the email I received:

Hi Eric,

I was given your information from <name removed> regarding a professional reference. Would you be able to answer the following questions, in a timely manner?

How long have you know him or her?

What is him or her work ethic?

What management style is conducive to their success?

What is one strength and one opportunity for improvement?

Strength:
Improvement:

Eligible for rehire?

Thank you!

You see where I’m going with this? Not a single one of those questions was specific to this candidate’s competency for the position? She didn’t ask me whether he had memorized the Krebs Cycle or could differentiate between linear and conjugate periodization.

It’s crazy, but competency is actually either a) assumed or b) viewed in a way that the organization thinks they can teach a candidate everything they need to know to be successful…as long as they’re a good fit.

What does this mean for up-and-coming fitness and strength and conditioning professionals? Let your resume speak to your competencies, but utilize interviews and your references to show just how awesome you are from a fit standpoint. And, if you’re looking for a job at a particular location, get in front of your potential employer in person before applying. That might mean doing a facility visit to observe, dropping off your resume in person, or actually doing a lengthier internship at that location.

Our hiring processes are among the subjects Cressey Sports Performance co-founder Pete Dupuis and I cover in great detail in our Business Building Mentorship, and the next one will be online this August 25-26, 2021 . It’s a tax deductible expense if you’re a fitness business owner, and we’d guarantee that the lessons learned will more than pay for the cost of attendance. You can learn more HERE.

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