For facilities and clubs that are always looking for up-and-coming trainers, an intern program is a great solution. By developing an intern program, a club can help develop trainers into the type of team member your club is looking for — saving you a lot of time in advertising and recruitment costs.
First your fitness manager must have the education and teaching skills to develop and train new trainers. Having a manager with a degree in the exercise field assures that the base curriculum will be taught to the new trainers.
Second, develop a relationship with an educational facility. Whether it is a community college, trade school or university, most programs are always looking for host facilities for their graduating classes. Fitness managers should request a copy of the curriculum the students go through and descriptions of all the classes. Another good suggestion is to request a copy of books or texts that the students use.
Third, make sure that the curriculum prepares graduates for taking a personal training certification. Most universities use ACSM or NSCA text as the backbone of their courses. This also ensures that your future trainers will have the proper credentials when they graduate.
Fourth and most importantly — spend time with your interns. The time you spend educating interns at first, means the less time you will have to spend with them if hired. By setting clear expectations in the beginning you can be sure that as trainers, interns will know how to conduct themselves and how to train your members the way you want them to.
Vic Spatola is the Director of Personal Training for Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club in Greenwood Village, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. Contact him at vics@greenwoodatc.com.
