Thread: Good questions to ask in an interview for personal trainers position

I have been given the daunted task of interviewing people for our personal trainers position. I was wondering what questions could I ask to make sure that I am picking the right person for the job.

Thanks

There are several that you can use to trip up people and find out the difference between a weekend course trainer and somebody who actually knows what they are doing.

The first would be to give them an outline of a typical person and ask them to design a program for weight loss, muscle gain, etc. Any good trainer will ask questions like:

Do they have any restrictions? Bone/Joint Injuries? Are they on medication? How long have they been training, or have they trained before at all? What type of work do they do?

A bad trainer will design a program without knowing EVERYTHING about their client. A good trainer will learn everything they possibly can about their client before beginning.

Ask them what they would do about someone who came to them with a heart condition, eating disorder, etc...would they refer them out or train them anyway knowing that they aren't qualified to do so?

Also, you can ask them to demonstrate how they would tell someone to perform certain exercises and then start asking WHY they are telling people to do things. Especially if they are doing things wrong themselves because it is the popular way to do things.

If they are certified through more than one agency it is usually a good indication that they are interested in furthering their education about PT...and make sure to check when they got their latest cert...if someone got certified in 1995 and hasn't done anything to further their training education since I wouldn't want them in my gym. Ask if they attend conferences, seminars, etc.

JMHO but there are too many people out there who call themselves trainers who don't know what they are doing and end up hurting people or causing them to be worse off than before.