Frustrating business situation

[fitnessfan365]

This is just more of a rant. I've been dealing with a majorly frustrating business situation for the last month. A bit of background...I've been a successful independent personal trainer for awhile now. A buddy of mine that's also a trainer works in a very high end gym. He's been trying to convince me to interview there for two years now. The more revenue the department does, the higher his bonus. Since the earning potential is pretty good, I finally agree to interview.

 

First interview - Golden. Fit director loves me. We arrange a second practical interview for me to demonstrate skills. Day before, he pushes back. He proceeds to do this three more times over TWO WEEKS. At this point, I was almost ready to walk away and say screw it. But he finally kept the latest appointment.

 

Second interview - We finally meet and I ace the practical/ He can tell by my confidence, skill set, and experience that I'd make a great addition to the team. Tells me I'm hired and offers 20% above standard to sign me. Says he'll email me the offer letter by the end of the day.

 

Two days later, he contacts me and apologizes for the delay. That he has to finalize with the club manager and will be in touch "tomorrow". A WEEK goes by and nothing. So finally I call/leave a voicemail. He sends a text back saying that he talked to the manager after my voice mail and now she says she wants to interview me. 1) If I hadn't called, who knows when he would've even talked to the manager. 2) He already said I was hired and put a deal in motion w/an offer letter to finalize. But he didn't actually have the authority to do so. So now after a full month and being told I was hired, I don't actually have the job yet. I've never dealt with such flaky and unprofessional behavior in my life.

Edited November 4, 2015 by fitnessfan365

[preraph]

You have to decide if this place is too disorganized for you. I imagine lots of gym places are where management is concerned. If you take the job, find out if you have to answer to that guy. If so, not sure I'd want the job.

[SoftViolin]

Wow, how frustrating. Good thing you are self-employed currently and are not quitting your job/making other changes in response to what so far turned out to be an offer in quotes only. How unprofessional of them indeed. You think it's just this one guy -the fit director, who seems to be acting like that, or is that indicative of the structure? Does your buddy have any insight?

 

For what it's worth, I'll offer you this bit of personal experience. When I interviewed for my current job, the interview process was pretty disorganized - in some of the similar ways, they invited me on-site, then said, just kidding the director needs to speak to you on the phone first. Then during the on-site interview it looked like they were very unprepared. But it was a great opportunity, worked seemed very interesting and so I went with that. And no cliffhanger here - it did turn out to be one of the most disorganized places I ever worked in. So something to watch out for.

 

And in your situation - maybe get everything they verbally offer you in writing right away

[rester]

I can't speak to flaky and unprofessional behavior, but I've had hiring procedures on both ends take 2-3 months. I've also had the process of hiring consultants (not employees, but similar process) take anywhere from 1 month up to 6 months.

 

If the low person on the totem pole is the one that is giving the initial interview, the approval needs to go up the chain. Hiring people isn't always a company's top priority. In fact, if they are busy, sometimes the hiring process can get completely put to the side, even when it's when they most need to hire someone.

 

I suggest having some patience, keep working with your independent clients, and following up regularly. I wouldn't have waited a full week to have called them back to follow up, but that's me. If they say they will get in touch the next day, and they don't, wait until one day later and give them a call.

 

There are ways to do this without being pushy that will keep you in their sights.

 

All that said, this: "2) He already said I was hired and put a deal in motion w/an offer letter to finalize. But he didn't actually have the authority to do so. So now after a full month and being told I was hired, I don't actually have the job yet." is definitely unprofessional and I can see why that's frustrating. Make sure you get an offer in writing before doing anything drastic.

[angel.eyes]

As with dating, when someone or some place shows you who they are, believe them.

 

From your interactions, they:

• Over-promise and seriously under-deliver. You don't have a job with higher than average pay. Instead, you have another interview.
  
• Are disorganized about the whole process
  

 

Out of curiosity, does your friend get some sort of bonus for referring you?

Will this gym allow you to maintain your private practice?

 

As someone else said, get everything in writing. I've seen so many gyms try to screw over their best sales staff and personal trainers.