First of all I apologize for this post not being on topic but I thought this Forum would be the right place to be advised and thought their would be a good chance of a few in this forum.
So heres the story Im currently 15 and with my GCSE Exams coming up this term ive considered a job as a Fitness Instructor for some time now,but my dilemma is What Grades or experience you need to get enrolled in a cource.Also does anyone now what i can do to help my progress towards my Dream job and help my chances.
Thanks Ryan
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As to grades and experience - a lot of people just pay for their course themselves - YMCA and lots of other providers.
Does your school have a careers office that could help you further ? You could go on to do sports science or something.
Maybe a PTI in the forces ?
Good luck !
If you want financial support through your higher education and go on to be a fitness instructor, you could consider the forces - they all have a need for dedicated PT staff.
Work experience at your local gym won't harm your efforts.
Sorry, not much help, but good luck.
PTI's are well recvd there and you will get the quals you need.
I hope I don't sound bad but how much a year do they get on average?
You'd start on about 12k.
Most PTs I know just did the standard Premier course? A couple I know had very limited educational qualifications (less than yours certainly) and they passed it ok.
quite a few have only got course certificates for classes such as BTS, various exercise to music etc etc...
some did extras like a sports massage module that earns them a bit extra...
it depends how far you want to take this...
Get some decent quals from a Uni or one of the Forces and you will be better grounded.
I get the impression that you will either be pi55-pot poor or be one of the few to make it right to the top and get minted (or at least be on decent money). I'm sure someone like Simon Waterson makes a mint.
If you really really want it badly then do it, but for God's sakes have a back-up plan!
http://www.futurefit.co.uk/courses_personalTrainerPro_nvq.asp
http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/profiles/profile754/
They often work for more than one gym / club / hotel / health spa etc and also work with people at home, so you need to be really organised.
Hope this helps you a bit.
Only thing is that they can replace her classes with their own instructors to save money, but as the instructor is paid the same to teach as she is to clean the machines - their hearts arent really into it.
Personal training and her own classes pay pretty well.
PT's on the other hand and some class instructors are usually self employed and at the gym I work - PT's pay a monthly fee to use the facilities but they can charge what they want for PT sessions - the gym doesn't take a cut of the fee, but this does vary from gym to gym.
It definitely pays to have a few things to offer, for example I work in a local sports injury clinic doing sports massage as well as doing PT
It might be worth staying on at school and doing some further study into something sports related if you can. This also opens up the opportunity to train and coach local football or other sports teams if that's the sort of thing that interests you.
Sorry to ramble on - but hope some of this is useful
When I looked into ETM courses, there were no qualification requirements. I would warn you though, if you go the NVQ routes, it can get expensive if you want to cover all bases eg ETM, gym, PT, nutrition, etc.
Good luck though. Its great to hear that not all teenagers are anti exercise!
you need to be able to get registration with REPS so proper recognised qualifications are important and will be more so as the industry tightens up in the future
a chat to a careers adviser at school or college would be good - local colleges do good NVQ courses as a starting point if you dont want to do A levels
but that was in 1990
(doctor, not teacher)
It is worth checking out what the uni's are asking to do a sports science degree (he only needed 3 D's) and then you will need to do the PGCE course for a year afterwards.
Teaching pay is not bad (relatively) and the PT teachers would get the same as any other I would have thought (with equal pay etc).
So look at going back to school/college to do some A levels or an NVQ3 and go from there.
I think your pay expectations are maybe a little high. I have loads of qualifications in science based subjects and only get paid about what you are aiming for after getting 15 years experience (and the pharmaceutical industry is supposed to be reasonably well paid compared with sports science). If you want high pay then you need to look for the high-flying jobs, but be warned, these generally require long hours and a lot of stress. You might have to sacrifice a social life for a few years.
Have had a drink or three - its a Friday night, so you take the risk with posting a new thread!
As a REPS (Register Of Exercise Professionals) level 3 resgistered PT you could expect max of £30k/year - based on full time London private practice (I'm sure there will be the (very) odd exception to this, but not many)
If however you use reps qualification as a base or an adjunct to another (maybe aligned such as Life Coaching) qualification, then you can increase this significantly.
Advice from me, (which is worth what you pay for it) is to do a degreee after A levels ( maybe Phys ed related, if only for the enjoyment factor) and then spend the money on a reps level 2(minimum) (£650 via Future Fit) or 3 (£1500 via same) qualification. Gather other experience along the way (including gym work??) and progress to starting your own business.
Personal experience is Phys ed degree, followed by very loosely related career in industry, gaining further training and qualifications along the way ( NLP, life coaching etc) and now adding PT work as suplementary income.
Good luck, and enjoy!!