How to get the high paying jobs and be a career CrossFit ® coach

The Cover Letter gets you The Interview.

When you are applying for a position on BarbellJobs, the one thing you can do above all else is to have a custom cover letter for the job you are applying for.

First off, without a cover letter, you will NOT get an interview, no matter how amazing you think your resume is. The resume shows your experience, but the cover letter gets you the interview.

I want to stress this one more time, without a custom cover letter, not a generic one that you send to every employer, you will NOT get an interview.

Before you make your cover letter, go to the website and Facebook page of the gym you’re applying to. Go through the site and page and look for ways that you can add value.

Do they not have any specialty classes? Do you have the experience to be able to add a specialty class and increase the gyms revenue? Look at the coach bios, do none of them have A nutrition background, and you do?

That could be a skill set the gym would see that adds value. Does the gym not have a YouTube channel, and you have content creation skills? You need to find how you can add value to the already established team.

You are either applying to be an asset or a liability; the gym always wants an asset. A coach who is an asset will help to raise the revenue of the facility.

Gyms are a business; if you can help to better that business financially, you are an asset. If you need training and can not bring anything special to the facility beyond coaching a class, you are a liability.

A gym owner will only want to hire a coach who can be an undeniable asset. With the number of quality coaches out there, it’s not hard to find an asset. You have to make sure you are one of them if you want a career in our industry.

Have a Specialty

If your experience is of coaching general group classes and nothing else, you have to expand your knowledge and expertise. A coach who can only coach a group is a generic coach and a warm body.

If you want to stand out, you must find an aspect to specialize in.

This can be rowing, nutrition, power lifting, Olympic Weightlifting, even jump rope. Gain the kind of knowledge that others would pay you to teach it to them.

If you’re applying for a high-level position along with 20 other people who are a basic coach, and you can teach a specialty class, even yoga for recovery, you are the coach who stands out.

Basic knowledge isn’t enough; you need to have an expert skillset or at least be on your way to developing it. This again brings us back to being an asset and an opportunity to express it in your custom cover letter.

Be a Content Creator

As our industry evolves, content creation is becoming more and more valuable.

Content creation is how we market our facilities, if you have skills in it, and can do it well; you can position yourself for a general manager role.

Simply stating you can create content is not enough, though, to stand out you will need a YouTube page already showing your skills. This also allows the employer to see you and get to know you early on, which again will help to elevate you beyond the rest of the crowd.

Interview the Owner as well

You are looking for a position that will elevate your life, and just as you are not going to be a fit for every gym, every gym isn’t a fit for you either.

At the end of being asked questions, you will be asked if you have any questions. If your answer is no, you’re not only doing yourself a disservice, but you look uninterested.

You must have questions for them as well; this is your opportunity to interview them to see if you want to work there and what the future would be like.

Here are some suggested questions.

What can you tell me more about the day-to-day responsibilities of this position?

This is your chance to learn as much as possible about the role so you can decide whether this is a job you want.

By asking these questions, you may find out that there are more duties than what you are expecting, which could also allow you to negotiate your wage as well.

What do you think are the essential qualities for someone to excel in this position?

This question can often lead to valuable information that’s not in the job description.

The facility may have a high amount of senior-aged athletes and knowing that you can explain how you’ve worked with that age group to scale for them before or describe your CPR experience.

What is the culture like for your facility?

Are you a good fit for this specific gym? This question can help you understand quickly.

What is your long term plan for your brand?

This will allow you to see the vision for where this gym owner is leading the brand. I say brand and not gym because brand expansion is becoming more and more common to new facilities.

If the owner says they plan to open three more locations in 5 years, you now have an idea of how you can position yourself to be a more significant asset and potentially run one of these locations.

What’s the biggest struggle you have in your facility right now?

This question gets them to open up about the inner workings of the gym. You’re asking for a pain point.

When you have that information, you can now address it and show how you can be an asset in fixing it, making you even more valuable.

Maybe it’s retention, and in your last (or current) position your facility had a retention program that you can borrow from.

Perhaps it’s that they have a hard time keeping equipment clean, and you can negotiate higher pay for taking on that responsibility.

How do I compare with the other coaches you’ve interviewed for this position?

What I love about this question is that you get to have a feel for the honesty and bluntness of the owner.

If they are stepping around it, you may not be able to trust this person long term.

If they are direct, they may tell you how you stand out or how others stand out, and both are precious pieces of information that you can use to better yourself in both the short and long term.

Your main priority as a Hire

Here is what you have to understand. Your second priority as a coach is coaching.

Your main priority is to increase the revenue of the facility you work for.

You may think your job is to coach, and it is, but for the facility to grow and for you to make more money, you have to be a catalyst in increasing the revenue for the facility.

When the gym ideas its income, it can market better; it can purchase better equipment, and if you’re one of the reasons for the increase in revenue, you are an incredibly valuable asset who can position yourself to write your ticket in this industry.

If you’re not comfortable with sales, you’re not going to last and should consider working at YMCA or globo gym.

Congratulations, you now can have the best interview possible.

If you are a coach who wants a little help to get those high paying jobs, lock below about the Coaching Resume Review.

Skip the line and connect directly with hiring managers and companies looking for you.

Find a Job Post a Job