1. True Personal trainer career opportunities (typical path):
- get hired as a tier 1 trainer - get paid around $20-25 per session plus minimum wage for floor shifts and education(yes they pay you to sit in class) - try to get clients fast and complete education block to be eligible for promotion to tier 2 - expect to work around 50-70 hours weeks and only get paid for maybe half of that time if you're lucky
- get promoted to tier 2 - yay! now you're making $7-8 more per session - your efforts paid off - not exactly - now you are expected to maintain the numbers you've built up to plus get more!! if you don't - see ya later! they will let you go if you're not performing after putting a lot of pressure on you. if you're successful you will be allowed to take part in the next block of education and if you successfully build your numbers you will be promoted to tier 3 - another raise.
- get promoted to tier 3 - everything is working out for you - great stuff. your definitely expected to maintain your numbers and you do want to as if you dont hit your quota you will be paid considerably less. at this stage, unless you're buddies with membership team or someone in management, you're left to yourself and you can pretty much forget about getting any leads - by now you will have learned that the turnover of trainers at your club is huge and most of your colleagues that started with you or around the same time as you are now gone as the couldn't handle the pressure and expectations.
- if you manage to maintain your numbers somehow - usually not in the most fair of ways (but hey, that's life, right?) - and you spend required amount of time with the company you become eligible for the next tier - more education ahead and another promotion - your rate is now decent and you can start coasting - but BEWARE - if you're numbers are not adequate you will be required to get back to floor shifts and start from the scratch - even though you have now built up to a senior trainer status no one really cares - to the company you're only a trainer for which they charged the highest fee.
once you get to 3+ you have only two choices to progress your career - either go into management and sell your soul for less money than you were making as a trainer or (if you live in NYC, LA, Chicago or Texas ) move up to tier X ( rare opportunity for Canadians).
2. Even though it's a high end brand with elite customers - the promised opportunity to make 6 figures salary is a myth and very few trainers in the company actually get there.(maybe 50-100 out of 2500).
3. Education is at a very decent level but you will not be really held accountable to whether you have learned something or not - tests are easy and even if you fail you can retake the test a couple of times) - very often your manager will not have enough clue about what's in the curriculum. As i said in Pros section - it will be up to you only if you want to be a good trainer and excel according to your own standards or if you just want to make someone sweaty and tired. most members don't have a clue anyway and to them being exhausted after a $100 + PT session is money well spent. so no problem there - don't worry if you think you're not a good trainers - Equinox doesn't look for those - they do want trainers though that comply with their templates, are friendly and smiley and don't stand up for themselves.
4. Equinox prides itself in their original programming in terms of classes and personal training - there is no novelty there though - more a rip off of crossfit and P90X programs camouflaged as their own invention of HIIT training formats - I mean really? Tabatas, AMRAPS, Circuits etc..
5. Generally be prepared to be broke for quite a while, under slept, underfed, undertrained, expected to perform at your peak efforts and rarely hear thank you from anyone - stand up to anyone and get fired in less than no time - Equinox will not honor the notice you give them (rare occasions only).
6. management has no actual management training other than in-house one and sometimes not even that, undertrained bosses (mis)manage a large number of staff and no one cares as to them everyone is replaceable and there si always someone looking for a job at a swanky gym
