INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Personal Trainer positions are at a 39% growth rate, which is much faster than average. With that said, there are currently 309,800 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 121,700 to 431,500 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Personal Trainer jobs was $40,510 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $21,640, and the highest 10% more than $76,550.
Our conclusion? The Personal Trainer job market is wide open for candidates.
Top personal trainer sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
A personal trainer resume experience section to be proud of
Writing a strong experience section for your personal trainer resume:
- List your previous jobs in chronological or reverse-chronological format;
- Use no more than 4-6 bullets per position;
- Mention only relevant work experience;
- Describe the tasks you were responsible for and how you managed to exceed expectations;
- Show you’re able to take charge by choosing action verbs over buzzwords.
Looking for real-life examples of what a strong experience section looks like? Check out our suggestions below!
- Provide tours of the facility and help guests meet their fitness goals.
- Sell membership and personal training packages.
- Follow sales guideline.
- Ensure guests are set up for a great experience.
- Design and develop workout programs.
- I was a key part of getting nearly 900 members during pre-sale by generating leads through different marketing initiatives and cold calling prospects
- Going above and beyond every time when it comes to customer service, making sure members always leave happy
- Built on my group fitness classes including Kettlebells, Beachbody Insanity, Circuits and Rig Fit
- Managing a case load of personal training clients
- Designing fun, simple and effective, workout and nutrition plans for clients
- General upkeep of the gym and daily operations
- Had 20+ personal training clients.
- Led fun and engaging group fitness classes.
- Was able to help a high number of gym members with training and nutrition.
- Helped create a friendly and positive atmosphere on the gym floor.
- Grew client base independently by 50% and obtained 99% client satisfaction.
- Assisted in PR and marketing, including contributing 12 original articles regarding health and fitness across various media platforms.
- Created orientation manual and nutrition guides to serve as an introductory foundation to health and wellness to clients.
- Helped over 2,000 people ages 10-90 years old through HIIT workouts and skill development routines
- Assisted clients in losing over 38,000 pounds of body fat
- Oversaw creation of social media content and other marketing and promotional materials which increases internet based traffic by 30%
- Administered fitness assessments, counseled clients on benefits of proper nutrition and exercise habits resulting in 14% increase in full -time memberships
- Had over 20 personal training clients
- Helped maintain a positive and friendly atmosphere on the gym floor
- Led engaging classes, training sessions, inductions and consultations
- Designed effective workout and meal plans for clients
- Uphold all relevant health and safety regulations
- Sales management.
- Inventory management.
- Customer service.
- Personal trainer services and fitness advisor.
- Had over 20 personal training clients
- Helped maintain a positive and friendly atmosphere on the gym floor
- Delivered group classes, personal training sessions, inductions and consultations
- Designed effective workout and meal plans for clients
- Uphold all relevant health and safety regulations
- Helped over 2,000 people ages 10-90 years old through group HIIT workouts and skill development routines
- Assisted clients in losing over 38,000 pounds of body fat
- Oversaw creation of social media content and other marketing and promotional materials which increases internet based traffic by 30%
- Administered fitness assessments, counseled clients on benefits of proper nutrition and exercise habits resulting in 14% increase in full -time memberships
- Received "Trainer of the Month" award nine times
- Trained 20 clients per week on a one-on-one basis, helping 88% achieve first month goals
- Designed personalized fitness programs and nutritional plans for clients to reach optimal results
- Excelled at customer service, gaining 65% of new clients through referrals
- Developed new marketing strategy that increased sales revenue by 30%
- Developed relationships to discover my clients’ individual fitness goals
- Designed customised training program solutions to best motivate each client toward success
- Performed one-on-one training sessions
- Autonomously designed and ran group training programs of up to 10 clients per class
- Senior internship at Boston University Strength & Conditioning (6 mo.)
- Trainer at Equinox (1 year)
- Trainer at Healthworks Group (2 years)
- Effectively helped people to abide by an exercise routine, and maintain a healthy diet in order to become physically fit.
- Managed to hone my communication skills due to actively interacting with new people.
- Having to attend both school and my personal workout sessions I got better at managing my time and organizing my daily activities appropriately.
- Former personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness
- Wellness Instructor for Quiet Storm Foundation; taught kids ages 7-17 foundations of nutrition and and safe exercising
- 150+ apprenticeship hrs with wellness coaches of 20+ yrs experience
- Co-founder of Sports Jelly, a Las Vegas fitness co-working community
- Coordinated and taught fitness classes for local non-profit organization, increasing class attendance 50% over 3 years.
- Taught fitness classes at Schoolcraft Community College, doubling registration over 4 semesters.
- Successfully grew my business through marketing, sales, and creative class designs.
- Get customers through different routes, both in person, and online.
- Improve commercial skills.
- Management and coordinate the process of the athlete through training plans.
- Purchasing recycled continuously formed and updated the field of fitness knowledge.
- Report reports at the end of the month, indicating sales results and sports.
- Especialty: Elite athletes, Models and people with pathologies
- Grew client base by 25% and delivered $72k revenue annually
- Met face to face with existing and potential clients to further company revenue
- Developed marketing and sales strategies to deliver monthly expansion through Facebook ads and Instagram/Twitter ads and Google adwords
- Able to put together an effective sales pitch on the spot when clients walk through the door
- Worked with and distributed to clients Shaklee nutrition who helped fuel Olympic athletes earning a combined 121 medals at the summer and winter games
- Conducted client assessment tests to determine current fitness state.
- Created customized health plans, based on assessment and client's personal goals.
- Lead workshop classes with up to 30 participants.
- Performed health and fitness assessments. Sold and promoted personal training packages.
- Conducted training sessions focused on body-composition change and overall lifestyle improvement.
- Taught boxing and conditioning classes.
- Mentor and supervise members with training sessions
- Teach basketball fundamentals, drills, and team concepts
- Collaborate with other coaches in cultivating talent
- Lead multiple teams in different age groups to produce consecutive winning seasons and best records within the league
- Establish and maintain a fun, positive experience for all children in the group; creating a safe and caring environment that participants will feel confident and happy
PRO TIP
Check the Personal Trainer job description for inspiration. Look for similarities between your employer’s values and your experience.
Action verbs for your personal trainer resume."
Recommended reads.":
Taking Control of Your Personal Trainer Resume’s Skills Section
A skills section that shows what you’re capable of includes:
- Keywords from the job advert to help you pass ATS;
- Both hard and soft skills, incl. technical skills and people skills;
- Skills that are relevant to the position you’re applying for;
- No more than 15 skills – to keep your resume readable.
Top skills for your personal trainer resume
Fitness consultant
functional training
bodybuilding
Strength training
Nutrition
Maintaining loyal customers
Changing lifestyle
Communication
Self confidence
Persistence
Planning
Time management
Patience
Tolerance
PRO TIP
Don’t feel obliged to spend a separate section for your soft skills - you can weave them throughout your job experience or career summary. But, don’t just write empty words - back them with examples.
Recommended reads.":
Personal trainer resume header: Tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your personal trainer resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Personal Trainer resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
A personal trainer resume summary that spotlights your achievements
Checklist: a strong personal trainer resume summary:
- Use adjectives that highlight the character traits you’re most proud of;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements;
- Add keywords from the job advert to increase your chances of passing ATS;
- Keep the recruiter’s attention by going for short sentences.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
You’re not going to get hired simply because of a good summary or objective. However, your recruiter can bump you up in front of similarly experienced candidates who didn’t demonstrate such passion and drive.
Recommended reads.":
Creating an impressive education section for your personal trainer resume
The Education Section: Checklist
- List your degrees in reverse-chronological order;
- Include your degree subject, place of study, name of institution, and year of graduation;
- Add a line or two about your relevant certifications;
- Mention some classes and projects that have helped you gain additional skills.
Top certifications for your personal trainer resume
How To Become A Personal Trainer
Become international certified personal trainer where your certification will valid in 192 countries.
Start a Fitness Personal Trainer Business - Plan & Documents
Course provides full business plan template and operating documents for starting a Fitness / Personal training business
2022 ACSM Certified Personal Trainer Exam Practice Questions
ACSM® CPT Exam Prep American college of sports and medicine Get ready for HIGH annual salaries
ACE Personal trainer exam (2021)
100 + questions to prepare to your ACE exam.
How To Become A Personal Trainer & How To Start That Career
Steps to start a career as a personal trainer & get customers to grow your personal training practice
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Personal Trainer. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
A professional format for your personal trainer resume
There are some aspects worth taking into consideration when choosing the format of your Personal Trainer resume. These include the position and company you’re applying for, your total years of experience, whether you’ve been through some employment gaps, and so on.
Generally speaking, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that: all your jobs listed in a reverse-chronological way, starting from the most recent and moving backward. It’s great for highly experienced professionals with over 10 years in the industry behind their backs. The reason for this: it’s almost entirely focused on experience and achievements.
The functional skills-based resume format, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It’s based on your skills, personality, and expertise. It highlights what you’re capable of even when you don’t have sufficient work experience. This makes it great for students, recent graduates, or people with larger career gaps.
If neither of these sounds like you, go for the combination resume format. It’s a combination of the best characteristics of other formats, which makes it great for showcasing different aspects of your career and education. It also gives you plenty of options to choose from – in terms of colors, structure, and sections.
Check out our additional tips on perfecting your Personal Trainer resume’s style and layout:
- Choose traditional 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for a serif or sans serif resume font that’s easy to read yet looks professional (e.g. Arial, Verdana, or Calibri);
- Keep your Personal Trainer resume short: one-page template are preferable, but if you have over 10 years of experience, you can also go for a two-page format;
- Save your resume as PDF and choose a suitable name, e.g. NameSurnameResume;
Tired of looking for ways to make your resume stand out? Read this article!
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you feel that you don’t have high chances in a particular company, due to lack of relevant experience, then you can still consider using a creative layout. That might help you get noticed and invited for an interview, as most of the other applicants will have boring resume designs.
Additional sections for your personal trainer resume
After drafting the required sections of your Personal Trainer resume, it’s now time to move to something a bit more fun. There are a number of sections you can add to your resume depending on the company, the position, and how you’re feeling in general:
Adding the right kind of creativity to your personal trainer resume
It is through creativity that we express ourselves. And trust us, it’s important to show at least a bit of your personality if you want to leave a strong first impression.
But what are the ways to add creativity to your Personal Trainer resume? Well, you can either go for a colorful and engaging template, or you could add some out-of-the-box sections, such as ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my typical day looks like’.
It’s up to you! Just make sure that the level of creativity matches the position, the company, and the industry you’re applying for.
What makes a great personal trainer resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
