WITS certification - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

No, as much as they said was they were cutting the budget. It might just be an excuse to remove the hastle of internships.

I don't see how it cost them much all they did was sign a paper and I would participate in group classes or watch a trainer that is allready working.

Luckily WITS is allowing me to transfer my time.

If you work at a gym, WITS will accept work hours as internship hours

[JimB]

I took the WITS course at my local community college last fall and passed the written and practical exams. They tout the fact that the certification process includes a 20-hour internship, but they don't tell you that finding a gym that will give you an internship is just about impossible. They say they "help" you arrange the internship, but that "help" consists of giving you a list of health clubs in your state, which is no more useful than the Yellow Pages. When you contact those clubs (those that are still open) they tell you flat out that they don't offer internships because clients who are paying good money for an experienced trainer don't want to be trained by a newbie. I got the training director of my own gym to reluctantly agree to let me do an internship there, and I got through the 10 hours of observation and a few hours of the alternating observation/training phase, but then hit a brick wall because clients complained that they were paying for a certified trainer and not an intern. My mentor insisted that it had nothing to do with me personally, but that didn't help. I had an interview at one gym that did have a training program, but they told me I would have to get ACSM certification within two months of being hired. I was told simply that WITS is not accredited. So now with only a few hours left to go on my internship, I'm blowing off WITS and going for ACSM.

[JimB]

Randall, sounds like your gym welched on your internship for the same reason mine did: That clients who are paying for a professional trainer don't want to be trained by an intern. That's the reason hardly any gyms offer internships.

StandApart, your gym sounds like a rare exception. I wonder how long that policy lasts.

[JimB]

I'll say this much for WITS: I thought my instructor was very good, and I did learn a lot that will give me a leg up on the ACSM exam. I'm reading the ACSM study material now, and a lot of the information is familiar from the WITS course. But WITS certification only seems to be useful if you're already working at a gym and need the certification strictly as a formality. If you're new to personal training it won't do you much good.

[BrianB]

Randall, that is quite an odd excuse. Did they give you any additional info?

Christina

Perhaps something like insurance? Maybe even if they aren't paid they have to be added to the policy or something? Just grasping for straws. Sounds bizarre.

[standAPART]

Commercial facilities have an "umbrella insurance" plan and if the appropriate paperwork is filled by management for your internship, you are covered.

My facility is an exception because I run the facility.

The excuses you are hearing are all true and viable. People pay $500+ for a personal trainer and the fact that an intern comes in fro a session really scars them. The trainer should offer a free (30 min) session to the client, or if the trainer and manager are professional enough, they will convey this to the client. All professions have "first day" or "interns". I think most of you are having difficulty because you are either lacking a professional approach to the interview process (for interning), or there is a hesitant demeanor among management because WITS is a bit unknown. My interns work along side me and even when they take the "lead" during a session, I am right there. Other times, interns are simply going through paperwork, exercise programming, or learning new stuff from me.

[JimB]

For the record, I'm no newcomer to the job interview process ... I've been gainfully employed in my regular career for 35 years now, so I think I know how to conduct myself professionally in an interview. I was told that the internships simply didn't exist when I made my first contacts with gym training directors, before I even got to the interview stage. And I think WITS is misleading its students by implying that internships are there for the taking.

[JimB]

ops: I want to offer an apology for categorically bashing WITS to StandApart and any other WITS instructors who deliver what they advertise. StandApart is to be commended for providing his own gym for internships and for making the commitment to mentor his students. Sadly, that isn't always the case.

I'd sure love to see other gym owners rising up to challenge me here on the subject of internships.

[kelli m]

jim,

As an owner of a personal training business, I look forward to offering for credit bachelor degree internships. I have in the past offered the same sort of thing to those trying to attain certification.
The university that we pull from has a no pay policy,but the plan is to pay them a little. Not all facilities are so difficult to work with