Pros: set your own schedule as a trainer, get to work out a lot, good networking (clients), free gym membership, gain solid skills for future career (sales, relationship-building, networking, customer service), high energy environment
Cons: lousy pay and lousy management, clubs are filthy and germ-infested, not a lot of growth opportunities, members complain to you about everything
I was a trainer here. My manager was horrible. Probably the worst I've ever had and I am mid career now. He had no people skills and really hindered my overall experience working here.
However, I did make some good friends and there were a few good people working there that I was close with. The Club Manager where I worked at (Balboa) was a really
– more... good guy. Down to earth, great salesman, solid guy.
This is a good job to learn the initial and necessary "people" and "customer service" skills you need in a real job. However, if you're a college graduate and have aspirations in life, I highly urge you to get out of this place and fast and if you must work here, just make it temporary while you look for other work.
You can, however, make a good career if you become a "Master Trainer" and then get into management, but even then, it's still not a very glamorous management job and appears to me to be kind of a joke. Let's be honest, it's a gym.
The pay was really lousy for trainers (min. wage, plus bonus per session depending on how high of a certification you had). No matter how high of a certification you had, it really wasn't very good pay.
All in all, 24 Hour was a fun place to work. I enjoyed my experience there despite my overall negative comments. The job in itself was fun and had a lot of energy to it. You got to talk to a lot of people, it's a good opportunity to network and sell, and you get to work out a lot since they expect you to look good if you're a trainer. – less