I'd keep the main job or get a similar job man.
I know too many personal trainers earning very little money unfortunately.
Considering Career Change
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DividendGuy
- Posts: 441
- Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:58 pm
Convincing the boss to let me work part-time or somehow take time off is definitely not a possibility. My job is all-or-nothing. There is no room for coming in late or leaving early on a regular basis.
I could switch dealerships, but I've already worked at four and this is the best of the bunch. I don't see things improving much from here. This is the highest paying location I've ever been in and it's actually the best of a horrible bunch. It's a horrible job, but I think I'm already working for one of the better providers of that horribleness.
I wonder if this wouldn't be a better idea if I had more invested. If I could comfortably cover half of my expenses via dividends than I don't think I'd really care about doing something that doesn't pay much, because there's a strong likelihood that I'd be doing something that I enjoy for low pay once I'm FI anyway.
Thanks again for the ideas guys. Much appreciated. Maybe this is a good idea, but just too early.
I could switch dealerships, but I've already worked at four and this is the best of the bunch. I don't see things improving much from here. This is the highest paying location I've ever been in and it's actually the best of a horrible bunch. It's a horrible job, but I think I'm already working for one of the better providers of that horribleness.
I wonder if this wouldn't be a better idea if I had more invested. If I could comfortably cover half of my expenses via dividends than I don't think I'd really care about doing something that doesn't pay much, because there's a strong likelihood that I'd be doing something that I enjoy for low pay once I'm FI anyway.
Thanks again for the ideas guys. Much appreciated. Maybe this is a good idea, but just too early.
I worked as a trainer part time in college, for a little over a year. I averaged around $14/hr, working out of the local Y. This included down time, where I was hourly and did stuff like re-rack weights.
As graduation approached, I considered doing it full time. I even almost went in for an interview with Advocate Health Care. They run gyms that do stuff like cardiac rehab. Pay was probably gonna be in the 30k/yr range, with benefits. I had my ACSM HFI cert and a little over a year of experience.
In the end, I opted to use my degree in computer science instead. I have no regrets about that. A couple things that changed my mind:
1. I spoke with a guy who was doing well as a trainer - corporate fitness, private clients, long 60 hour weeks, spoke at seminars, 10 years in the field, looked the part, etc. He was only clearing 60k a year. That level of success in IT at least doubles the salary.
2. The vast majority of the clients are just buying someone to spend time with them. Only the truly exceptional trainers get to do much more than babysitting.
3. I decided working with people 40+ hours a week would be too much for my introverted personality. The job is not about being expert on exercise. It's about really caring for others, understanding them, and doing what you can to foster their success.
During a career transition about 5 years ago, I reconsidered training. It looked liked 40k a year was achievable, by working as a salaried trainer out of a private studio. Again though, the people aspect of it got to me. You're basically catering to the whims of bored middle aged women, unless you have what it takes and put in the years to carve out a niche.
Your build has very little to do with your success, btw. It's all about the relationships you build with others.
From what I've seen, the non-rock star money comes from training other trainers and running small group fitness classes. Doing hourly one on one sessions is a sucky way to get paid. Too expensive for the customer.
As graduation approached, I considered doing it full time. I even almost went in for an interview with Advocate Health Care. They run gyms that do stuff like cardiac rehab. Pay was probably gonna be in the 30k/yr range, with benefits. I had my ACSM HFI cert and a little over a year of experience.
In the end, I opted to use my degree in computer science instead. I have no regrets about that. A couple things that changed my mind:
1. I spoke with a guy who was doing well as a trainer - corporate fitness, private clients, long 60 hour weeks, spoke at seminars, 10 years in the field, looked the part, etc. He was only clearing 60k a year. That level of success in IT at least doubles the salary.
2. The vast majority of the clients are just buying someone to spend time with them. Only the truly exceptional trainers get to do much more than babysitting.
3. I decided working with people 40+ hours a week would be too much for my introverted personality. The job is not about being expert on exercise. It's about really caring for others, understanding them, and doing what you can to foster their success.
During a career transition about 5 years ago, I reconsidered training. It looked liked 40k a year was achievable, by working as a salaried trainer out of a private studio. Again though, the people aspect of it got to me. You're basically catering to the whims of bored middle aged women, unless you have what it takes and put in the years to carve out a niche.
Your build has very little to do with your success, btw. It's all about the relationships you build with others.
From what I've seen, the non-rock star money comes from training other trainers and running small group fitness classes. Doing hourly one on one sessions is a sucky way to get paid. Too expensive for the customer.
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DividendGuy
- Posts: 441
- Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:58 pm
@Scott2,
Thanks for all the info there!
The guy who was basically rocking out and only making $60k/year is pretty eye-opening. That's probably all you need to know about the kind of money you'd expect to make doing this. This is exactly why I figured I'd be taking a 50% pay cut, or more.
It would suck to do something like this and not totally, completely love it. At that point you're not completely in love with what you do, and yet you're not making enough to make serious progress toward ERE. That's my worst nightmare.
Thanks again for some inside insight.
Thanks for all the info there!
The guy who was basically rocking out and only making $60k/year is pretty eye-opening. That's probably all you need to know about the kind of money you'd expect to make doing this. This is exactly why I figured I'd be taking a 50% pay cut, or more.
It would suck to do something like this and not totally, completely love it. At that point you're not completely in love with what you do, and yet you're not making enough to make serious progress toward ERE. That's my worst nightmare.
Thanks again for some inside insight.