They say change is good.
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| Wed, 03-16-2005 - 5:08pm |
Over the years I've hollowed out a nice little professional niche for myself here, but apparently I'm going to have venture out of my comfort zone. The gym I've worked at longest shut its doors. I'm not terribly stressed as I have plenty of work at the moment and very little fear about getting more. However, for several years I've been able to teach the classes I want to teach, the way I want to teach them, when I want to teach them. I'm really quite spoiled. ;-P Well, this gym is the only income I have in the summer (and it's not much since I got paid less there than anywhere else), so I have to find work at another gym. So what's the big deal? Nothing really - I just have to relearn to conform to somebody else ideas (I'm NOT good at conformity) and being on the bottom of the seniority list instead of the top.
What a wonderful start I got off to. LOL. I came home after finding out about the closure and put together a resume to fire off. The two postings I found requested the resume be e-mailed, so off it went. (Bear in mind its been over nine years since I've had to send out resumes.) It dawns on me as I'm out grocery shopping afterward that I didn't include references. On top of that when I checked things again I discovered a minor spelling error on my cover letter (fell instead of feel) AND in the subject line of one I used 'of' instead 'for' which worked grammatically but implied I held the position I applied for. :-o

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I'm sorry to hear that your gym is closing. It can be downright scary and upsetting, you seem to be quite proactive in getting through it though. I would have probably whined for two or three days before taking action, so you are already handling it better than I would.
I've done the same thing with errors, almost always on the coverletter too for some reason. Take heart though. I screen resumes for our senior positions and have yet to see one come in without at least one misspelled word or missing punctuation. It is more common than not so our organization tends to overlook the occassional little error, it is when there are three or four that we chuck it.
Keep seeking the positive. Every job, no matter how much you love it, has those things that make you grit your teeth. This is a chance to trim those things from your day and start fresh, with your loyal clients in tow (which would add a great deal of prestige in my opinion with the new gym).
~K~
~Kiervin~
Co-author of: MONSTER'S INK HORROR ANTHOLOGY By Cyber-Pulp Press
Well its either Luck o' the Irish or Murphy's Law, but a job offer came in before I left for work this morning. The company calling has several locations around the city (one was in direct competition w/ mine - people have already been asking for me there), unfortunately the location w/ an opening is the least convenient to get to. The manager actually remembers me from a club I taught at approx. 7 years ago. I meet w/ her tomorrow morning. I don't get the impression its an interview but more of a meeting to discuss the terms of a contract. The downsides are not only the location but its for a staff trainer - which doesn't get paid nearly as well as instructors or independant trainers & they're big on having an 'exclusivity clause' (part of the reason I never applied previously). This could negatively impact my independant clientele and they apparently have another clause that forbids you to continue training anyone from their gym if you leave. I'm confident that they'll offer me a position as an instructor as soon as one comes up, especially when current & new members are asking for me, so that may make it worthwhile. My other problem is I disagree w/ many of their business practices: high pressure sales; poor client aftercare; etc. Its not in me to lie to people when they ask about these things. However, I may not be able to do anything about their various sales practices but I can always push to make changes on the gym and aerobic floor - if I sign on that is. ;-)
I absolutely, positively hate discussing money. Yet now I have to go in (not knowing what exactly they pay their trainers on average) to listen an offer that I'm quite sure I won't like (which may be better than average, but I'll have no idea), knowing that if people are asking for me at one of the locations that I should be able to haggle for a little more, but unable to do the neccessary haggling.
So, do I jump at the new opportunity, that probably has loads of room for advancement & gives me somewhere to workout, or shop myself around. (The Y has already called for extra classes, but they don't pay me.) I don't know what else is available out there & I'm not the only one that's looking for work (I am the most experienced, but also the oldest of the trainers & instructors at the closed gym). I suppose I could accept the job for the time being and see how things shake out. (Hmmm... do I use this as bargaining leverage?)
Another little unexpected problem (or not) is that someone has circulated my phone numbers so people can keep track of where I go. Silly when this info's on my business card that I'm uncomfortable w/ it being circulated via e-mail. Coincidentally I had a rather persistant crank caller yesterday afternoon (the guy used a different number every time, so I had to keep answering).
don't jump at anything until you know what your alternatives are and whether they are offering you a good deal, especially if it's going to negatively impact the independent business you've been working to set up for yourself. don't jump at things just out of fear of the unknown, when you KNOW that you are in a good position here. think about your larger goals and how this would fit into that.
i understand you hate talking about money, but you will just have to suck it up and get over that. i'm sure you'd hate being exploited by your employer more. i'm sure you'd hate working hard and driving across town and sacrificing for a job when you could have done better somewhere else. you are an intelligent woman, you can haggle, unpleasant as it may be for you. it's just necessary unless you are willing to be exploited and not mind that.
You're right. I think my best bet is to go see what they have to offer and ask for time to think about it. DH is a master negotiator and is hard headed when it comes to money, so I'd feel more comfortable getting his opinion - from a purely business perspective.
Unfortunately I discovered the other place I've applied to only has openings for sales staff & a program director (sounds good but again involves sales). I applied to them thru their national site which doesn't indicate which positions are currently available, but later found a job posting site that gave these details. I'm not terribly concerned since they're new & I know little about them other than they're a chain. Another place has an 'exclusivity clause' for instructors and trainers must hold a related degree beyond certification. There's one that seems like my kinda place but is as far from my home as you can get w/o leaving the city & I have no idea if they have any openings. There are other places I can apply as a trainer, but none of the others have classes. Lastly there's Curves and Parks & Rec.
I'm not terribly stressed. If I have to I'll take the current offer to get through the summer. There's plenty of options they're just not neccessarily immediate. My only qualm w/ this is it won't look good on my resume that I only put a few months in w/ this gym.
Unbelievable! I just got an e-mail from the aerobic co-ordinator thanking me for my "impressive resume", but informing that there's no openings for group fitness instructors right now, BUT if I buy a membership they'll put me on their sub list AND if I do it soon enough I can take their course to learn to teach a brand name cardiobox class. (Gee, I've only been teaching kickboxing & self defense for a decade now. Three times a week in the same area as one of their gyms w/ a large & faithful following and was the first to offer it in the city - before they even opened as a matter of fact. Hmmm, think how unqualified the cardiobox instructors I've trained over the years must be.) They emphasized that even w/ that course, which I assume I'd have to pay for as well, was extremely intense (she seems to have implied that I won't be able keep up to the 18-20 year olds they're notorious for hiring - they're a 'fashionable' gym); would only qualify for me their sub list w/ no guarantees of ever teaching and I MUST become a member first. She made clear that this was the only way they hire on new instructors. Since I'm being interviewed by a manager tomorrow for another position I'll keep my astonished reply on hold. I can't believe their trying to sell me a membership & that I have to have one to get on their sub list. Appalling!!!
OK. I'm done my rant.
In hindsight, especially after talking w/ DH, my meeting tomorrow is either in response to my submission for the position to conduct certification training for their trainers or is a cold solicitation that has nothing to do w/ my application for the other positions. So I either have a chance in one position to make some change for the better w/ this company's attitude towards members (I won't tell you the things I've heard over the years - the same things over & over) OR I have some real bargaining power w/ the lesser position. I'll let you all know how it shakes out. Meanwhile I'm off to make supper before I head out to teach kickboxing (all the while wondering if all my training in boxing, martial arts & self defense teamed w/ my experience as a fitness instructor & various certifications are really enough if I should be "furthering (my) education with the training" this gym has so generously offered me). ;-P
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