How to hire the best staff for your gym

Steal these tips from fitness’s top recruiter for your hiring strategy.

What’s up Gym World?

We’ve made it to the CrossFit Games. I was surprised to find Greg Glassman hanging out in the affiliate lounge.

Rumor has it that there are 1,000 affiliates in attendance, which is about the number of ice bath companies sponsoring the event.

Let me know if you’re here.

How to find good talent

Finding talent is the #1 issue many gym owners face.

But not you dear reader.

You subscribe to Gym World, so you get to learn the secrets of Jessie Stackhouse, a top recruiter in the fitness industry. Her staffing agency has helped over 1,000 gym owners fill key roles in 1 week.

Here are Jessie’s tips for hiring better people:

Fix your job description ✍️

Showcase your gym as a place where people want to work—not just workout.

Your job description should include:

• Compensation/earning potential
• Growth opportunities
• Benefits

Job descriptions set the tone of who you are, what makes you stand out as an employer, and lets candidates feel out the vibes before moving through the hiring process.

Quirky and honest copy works well for me. I just try to sound human:

Use multiple platforms 📲

Jessie claims the #1 platform for sourcing talent is Indeed. Here’s how to stand out on the platform:

1. Optimize your post using keywords that candidates are searching for
2. Test different job titles like “Fitness Trainer,” “Personal Trainer,” “Fitness Coach,” etc.
3. Refresh the post at least 1-2x per week

But posting a job isn’t enough. The best candidates are often employed, and you’ll need to find them and take an active approach to hiring.

Jessie hunts for people on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Indeed. Then she:

• Follows or connects with them and engages with their posts
• Sends a DM → it could be something like, “Hey [name]! I have an opportunity for [position title] offering [salary/details]. Would love to connect with you if you’re interested.”
• Makes a time sensitive offer to hop on a 5-10 minute call

If you don’t have the time to do outbound for a key hire, consider working with a recruiter.

Jessie says 70% of candidates that she presents to the gym owners she works with come from outbound.

Always be hiring 🌪️

By constantly having open positions, you’ll have a database of candidates that you can go back to when one of your employees leaves.

Jessie recommends having an open coaching and front desk position at all times.

Make your careers page visible 🔎

Most gyms don’t have a careers page on their site. Jessie says that’s a mistake.

Make it visible, easy to navigate, and capture basic information from candidates.

To kick it up a notch:

• Celebrate and highlight current employees like you would with your members (ex. About Me, Employee of the Month, etc.)
• Highlight the max earning potential
• Treat it like a social platform and update it regularly

Let’s recap 🔁

If you’re a gym owner looking to attract top talent :

1. Fix your job description
2. Use Indeed
3. Source your own candidates
4. Always be hiring
5. Have a careers page on your website

Jessie Stackhouse on Gym World

Wanna hear more hiring tips? Watch Jessie’s interview on Gym World, or add it to your queue on Spotify or Apple.

Happy hiring,

j