Personal Trainer Resume: Examples, Templates & Complete Guide

In the last couple of decades, we have unfortunately witnessed a big rise in obesity and some diseases that go with it. Thankfully, people these days seem to pay attention to this problem more and want to get out of that zone.

Working out with a group is a good thing, but for some people it’s better to hire somebody who will follow them every step of the way, while also giving motivating them, keeping them on a schedule and giving them advice regarding nutrition and exercising.

Personal trainers are here to help anyone who wants to make some new habits, make better and healthier life choices and improve their lifestyle.

The last couple of years have really shown a rise in self-care and self-love, and a lot of people practicing those things also decided to go to the gym and work on their physical health more often.

This has resulted in the growth of a number of personal trainers and fitness instructors all over the world.

However, the boost of personal trainers is the reason why you’re going to have to build up your resume in order to make it look figuratively and literally stronger than anyone else’s.

It’s usually hard to find a perfect job that will make you financially stable and secure, but we’re going to help you get your resume in shape for this feat.

If you love fitness and think that you have what it takes to motivate people and help them achieve and maybe even exceed their goals, then keep reading this article to find out more about writing your perfect resume for the personal trainer industry.

Personal Trainer Resume Example

Personal Trainer Resume Sample

These two are examples of your ideal resume, and they should guide you in the right direction when it comes to writing your own.

The skills and accomplishments listed in these examples are the ones that most employers are looking for these days and you can adhere to them.

Follow the step by step guide in the rest of this article, where we will explain to you in detail each of the subsection of your resume and help you realize the most important thing about it.

Our resume templates are going to make this much easier for you so feel free to use them while making your resume for a personal trainer.

HOW TO WRITE THE PERFECT PERSONAL INFO SECTION FOR YOUR PERSONAL TRAINER RESUME

A resume is always supposed to start with your personal information and you can’t leave it out.

That being said, there are some things that are better left out because your employer doesn’t need to know them and if you put them in they might make assumptions about you.

Personal information that you should leave out of your resume is: social security number, date of birth, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, marital status, pregnancy status, children or citizenship.

When it comes to your name you should use your full name.

However, if your name includes a middle name or several of them, try just using your first and last name. Also, use your actual name, and not any nicknames that you have.

Your name should be written in big bold letters, preferably in the center of the page, like a heading. Never put “Curriculum Vitae” as the heading of your resume. Everybody knows that it’s a resume.

A photograph usually isn’t required, but if the job offer states that you should add your photo make sure to pick a professional-looking one.

The next step is your contact information, which you shouldn’t leave out as it is the only way that your employer is going to use to contact you. Leaving your address isn’t something that you have to do, so you can just write down the area that you live in.

Leaving your phone number is a must, and it’s better if you provide your employer with your mobile phone number as it will be easier to contact you.

Leaving your email address is also crucial, but you should take care that it’s a professional sounding one. Your email address should have your actual name in it, and not any nicknames or aliases.

Make sure that the social media that you share with your employer looks professional, without any posts that are going to compromise your future employment status.

The names of your social media accounts should match the name that you provided.

If you showcase your resume online make sure to hide your personal information and only send it to potential employers.

AMAZING SUMMARY FOR YOUR PERSONAL TRAINER RESUME

The summary of your resume is the place where you summarize all the information from the rest of your resume, so it’s important to pick your most important accomplishments and assets when writing it.

Writing the summary section of your resume might seem intimidating, but it isn’t that hard. Just adhere to the following steps.

By rule, the summary section is usually three to six sentences long and has all the information listed in the rest of the resume.

Here is a list of things that you should mention in your summary if you want to catch the eye of your employer with some examples.

Firstly, you should start the summary of your resume with your professional title and years of experience in a certain area.

You can use as many eye-catching words as you want to, but take care not to overdo it. Some employers don’t like that.

After that, you should mention a couple of facts with hard numbers to back them up. Studies have shown that job seekers in any field with resumes with this kind of data are more likely to get the job.

And after adding a couple of similar sentences about your skills, attributes, accomplishments and experiences, you should finish your summary with a sentence that is more relevant to the specific position or company that you’re applying to work for, preferably while mentioning your goals.

EXPERIENCE SECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL TRAINER RESUME THAT RECRUITERS ARE LOOKING FOR

Do you have experience in the field of fitness or personal training?

If the answer is yes, you don’t have any problems, but you still might want to stick around to make sure that you’re not writing this section of your resume completely wrong.

This part of your resume might be the most important one, because it’s usually what’s most important to your future employer.

That’s why it’s important to learn how to show the right attributes that you have in this small, bullet-point form.

Speaking of form, it would be best if you wrote this section in reverse-chronological format.

This way you’re listing your most recent position as the first one, and then go from there to your first job.

In this section you’re supposed to list how long you’ve been employed, in which company, what was your position and what were your duties.

However, make sure that you only list the things that are relevant to the job of a personal trainer.

If you don’t have any experience in the industry you can always list the skills and accomplishments that you got on your other job, but make sure that they are transferable to your new one.

Just like in the summary section, add some hard numbers and percentages to back up your claims and turn your duties into accomplishments to seem more professional.

Don’t lie about any of these things because you could get in trouble as soon as someone realizes what you did.

Another thing that you can add to this section is any volunteering work that you’ve done. As we mentioned before, make sure that the skills and duties that you had on those experiences are relevant to the world of personal trainers.

WHAT EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR RESUME AND HOW TO WRITE IT?

This part of your resume is equally as important as the part about your experiences. It might seem to some that it doesn’t matter what college a personal trainer went to, as the job doesn’t require a degree, but the education shows something else.

If you have a degree higher than your high school one you’re showing your future employers determination and other attributes that you can’t show just through the experiences alone.

When listing your degree you should list the years that you have spent getting that degree, the specifications of it and where you studied. It should look something like this:

Another thing that you can see in this example is the added bullet points. If you have any achievements that are relevant to the job that you’re applying for or that are just above-average you should write them down in bullet point form for an easier read that will catch anyone’s’ eye. Only list your GPA if it was above-average.

If you’re still in the process of getting your degree you can list it like this:

And in the case that you only have a high school diploma you can list it like this:

You don’t have to put information about your high school education in your resume if you have a degree from college, except if you have some exceptional accomplishments in that period.

When it comes to the job of a personal trainer a college degree isn’t really needed, you don0t have to worry if you only have a high school one. Focusing on your skills and experience will be a big plus in that case.

SKILLS MATTER, SO DON’T MAKE THESE MISTAKES

An eye-catching resume comes with some eye-catching skills. Your future employers might only look at this part of your resume. You never know, so you should make every part of it the best possible.

Everyone wants a personal trainer who is strong-willed and professional, and who can also help them reach, maintain and exceed their goals and motivate them at the same time.

They should also have extensive knowledge of human anatomy, training regimes and various facts about nutrition, which is one of the most important aspects of living a healthy lifestyle.

As we mentioned before in the section about the experience, you should always only list the most relevant skills that you have. Don’t list skills that have nothing to do with the job that you’re applying for.

The fact that you know how to use Photoshop is great, but it won’t mean anything to someone who’s looking for a personal trainer.

The list of your skills should be in the bullet point form, as it is easier to read that way.

There’s a difference between so-called soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are usually skills that are not specific to the job and those are usually skills that all employers are looking for.

Here are some of the most important skills that you can put on your personal trainer resume:

• Soft skills: creativity, leadership, empathy, passion, people skills, discipline, energy, motivation, listening…
• Hard skills: CPR certification, swim training, nutrition, specific fitness trends, yoga…

You should always implement both soft and hard skills on your resume. Too many soft skills will make you look like any other person applying for the job.

USEFUL TIPS AND TRICKS TO USE WHEN WRITING YOUR PERSONAL TRAINER RESUME

• Length of your resume – it’s a common misconception that the more pages your resume has, you have better chances of getting your dream job. However, the truth is that the ideal length of a resume is just one page long. Of course, if you have a lot of important information or a lot of experience you can make your resume as long as it needs to be.
• Formatting – always check the job offer before sending in your resume. Some employers might need your resume in PDF and some might need you to send it as a Word file. It could also happen that you need to print your resume and submit it in physical form. Always keep these formats of your resume ready.
• Font – Please make sure to use as serious looking font for your resume. Refrain from using fonts that have too much flourish or could be considered too childish. Your resume is supposed to look professional.
• Adapt your resume – Ideally, you should write a new resume every time you apply for a new job, but we realize that that isn’t always easy. However, always check the description of the job offer before sending your resume, as all the needed skills and attributes might be listed right there.
• Certifications and other achievements – Feel free to add to your resume of a personal trainer as many achievements that you have as long as they are relevant to the position that you’re applying for. You can add these things as another subsection on your resume or you can incorporate them into the section that we mention above.
• Check your grammar – This is the most important step that you have to take before sending in your resume. Use an app if you find it easier or ask a friend to proofread it for you; just make sure that there aren’t any mistakes.
• Reviewing – it might be best if you could find somebody who has seen a lot of resumes and who can look at yours and tell you if there are any mistakes or things that you can improve. You could also do this by yourself by distancing from your resume a bit, but it would still probably be best if somebody else did that.
• Be precise – Use precise terms and specific things about your job when writing your resume. That will show that you are a true professional who knows what they are doing.
• Bullet points – This is the best format in a resume because it’s easy to read and it’s not boring. Your employers are more likely to look at your resume if it’s in bullet points.
• Languages – add languages that you speak fluently in the part of your resume that’s about skills, because knowledge of languages is highly appreciated in a lot of circles.
• Resume template – Pick a template that’s easily readable but that will catch your employer’s eye at the same time. You can use our resume builder to accomplish this task.

CONCLUSION

Those are all the things that you should take care of when writing your personal trainer resume. If you follow this guide you are bound to make your resume reach a new level and get that job that you were applying for.

Remember all the sections that we wrote about and implement all the tips and tricks that we shared with you along the way. Write all the parts of your resume properly and look at the given examples if you find something confusing.

If you feel like you don’t know where to start, we suggest you use our resume template builder, which will definitely help you make your resume in the fastest and easiest possible way.

We wish you good luck at getting your dream job!