How to Write A Fitness Instructor CV

Whether you’re an experienced fitness instructor looking for a new role, or you’ve recently qualified and are looking to secure your first role in the industry, perfecting your fitness instructor CV is essential.

Having a good CV that effectively shows off your individual skills is key in grabbing the attention of your potential employer and securing yourself your dream role.

Fortunately, if you need some advice when it comes to writing your fitness instructor CV, you’re in the right place!

Below, we’ve compiled all of the tips and tricks that we’ve acquired throughout our experience in the fitness industry for you to have read through.

We’re sharing our skills with you so that you can write a brilliant fitness CV and kick-start your exciting career in the industry. 

In this article you’ll find:

• Fitness Instructor CV Structure
• Top Tips and Common Mistakes
• What to Include in Your Fitness Instructor CV?
• Fitness Instructor CV Example Sections

If you want to increase your opportunities, enquire online for our Level 4 personal training course or our Level 4 Sports Massage qualification and expand your range of qualifications!

What Makes A Good CV?

Employers and hiring managers are busy people, they receive a lot of applications and see tons of CVs for every position that they advertise. For that reason, a bad CV just won’t make the cut.

When you’re applying for a role, hiring managers and employers have the upper hand. It’s extremely unlikely that yours will be the only fitness instructor CV that they see for any given role, so it needs to look good so that they even take the time to read it in the first place. 

It might sound harsh, but it’s true. How many times have you sent off a CV and not heard anything back? Unfortunately, it’s most likely that they didn’t read it in the first place. 

That’s exactly what you don’t want to happen. So, keep reading because we’re going to show you how to write a fitness instructor CV – a good one!

Fitness Instructor CV Structure 

When it comes to writing your gym instructor CV (or any CV for that matter) presentation is key!

If your fitness instructor CV lands on the hiring manager’s desk, and it doesn’t have a clear structure, or they have to work to find your relevant qualifications, skills, or work experience, then chances are they won’t read it.  

The best CVs are those that are easy to understand, so having a good structure is essential.

You want to make it as easy possible for your potential employer to read your CV and find the information that is relevant to the job position.

Structuring your CV in clear sections is the easiest way to ensure that it’s easy to follow. These sections may change between individuals, but as a guide we recommend:

1. Contact Information

2. Personal Summary

3. Work Experience

4. Education

5. Industry Related Qualifications and Licenses

6. Achievements

7. Hobbies and Interests

8. References

All of these sections should have a title that is made clear by using a larger font (up to 16pt compared to 12pt for the body of the text), writing it in bold, or underlining the heading. Whichever you choose, the main thing is that the separate sections are clear to the reader. 

These headings are important because they’ll break up any big blocks of text which may be off-putting to the reader. Plus, they’ll make it easier for the reader to navigate your CV.

Of course, the content of each section is equally important – that’s where you get the opportunity to show off your skills and experience, after all.

Its only right we go into more detail about what exactly you should include in each section of your fitness instructor CV. Keep reading because we’ve included a gym instructor cv example for each of the above sections.

But first, we’re going to share our top tips for a good gym instructor CV.

Top Tips – How to Write A Good Fitness Instructor CV

Before you get to writing your personal trainer CV, these are a few things that you should know as standard.

These tips are based on our experience of the good, the bad, and the ugly, CVs that we’ve seen in the past.

If you want to write a good gym instructor CV that an employer will actually read, here’s what to do:

• Keep your CV to 2 sides of A4 maximum.

• Don’t overdo it with a fancy font. Stick to Arial or Times New Roman (12pt) so that it looks professional and it’s easy to read.

• Check your Grammar and Spelling before sending your CV. It takes an extra 2 minutes to upload the document to a free grammar checker, there’s no excuse to miss this step out! 

• Review your CV for each role and make any changes so that you cover all of the points mentioned in the job description.

• Write a cover letter for each specific role that you apply for.

• Make your fitness instructor CV personal to you! Of course, mention that you have the required qualifications, but what makes you stand out from the other candidates? That’s what is going to get you a job!

• Remember ‘PEE’ (Point, Evidence, Explain) from school? Use it on your CV. Don’t just list your skills and achievements. Whenever you make a point, give evidence of it, and then explain why it’s relevant, or why it makes you the best candidate.

Its only right that next, we’re going to go into more detail about what exactly you should include in each section of your gym instructor CV. 

Enjoying this article so far? Take a look at these:

• Should I Become a Personal Trainer?
• Fitness Instructor VS Personal Trainer
• What Can a Level 3 Gym Instructor Do?

How to Write A Fitness Instructor CV

What exactly should you include in each section of your gym instructor CV? This is our breakdown of what you should include (according to the sections that we outlined above).

Above, explained how important it is that you use a clearly structured layout for a CV – but – regardless of those things, you’ll still need to include the content that will make a potential employer want to hire you.

If you’re struggling with how to write a good gym instructor CV, then stick with us because we’ve included fitness instructor CV template examples and explained what to write in as much detail as we can without actually writing it for you!

#1 Contact Information  

Your contact information, full name, contact number, and email address should all be clear and easy to find at the top of your CV.

Tip: Start this section with your full name written in bold.

In this section, you should also include your location. You don’t have to write your full address if you don’t wish to. A full address isn’t really necessary on a modern-day CV because employers will contact you via telephone or email, rather than by post.

Nevertheless, including the town or general area that you live in is recommended because some employers may take your location into consideration during the hiring process.

As experienced fitness professionals, we’ve been there writing our own fitness CV and we’ve been part of a hiring team. For us, one trick that helps a CV stand out at a first glance is writing your qualified status (relevant to the job role) at the bottom of the contact section. 

For example:

Jake Smith

07123456789

Jakesmith123@gmail.com

Rochestown, Cork, Ireland

LEVEL 2 FITNESS INSTRUCTOR

#2 Personal Summary

The personal summary (or personal statement) section of your CV is effectively your sales pitch.

This part is make or break for your application. The quality of your personal summary will determine whether an employer will keep reading or move on to the next candidate.

Each time you apply for a job, you should review your CV and make sure that all of the information is relevant to the role. This is especially true for your personal summary because within this section, you should provide an overview of yourself and how you suit the specific position that you’re applying for. 

Your personal summary should be a short but strong paragraph. This is potentially the only section of your CV that an employer will read so it needs to be good. If it is, they’ll go on to read more about you.

This section only needs to be a couple of lines, it seems like there’s a lot that you need to include but you should keep it as concise as possible. You can always elaborate further when you discuss your work experience, education, qualifications, and so on.

Fitness Instructor Personal Summary – Where to Start? 

Start your personal summary by establishing who you are as a professional and state the role that you’re seeking. Within the paragraph, explain why you are suitable for the role, and what you can bring to the company. Following that, briefly outline your career goals. 

For every point that you make, use PEE to provide evidence that what you are saying is true, and then explain why this makes you a suitable candidate for the role. For example, instead of writing “I am an organised, motivated, and reliable individual” as almost all candidates will, apply PEE.

I am an organised individual with an attendance record of 98% in my current employment. I believe this demonstrates that I am a reliable individual, an important trait for a fitness instructor due to the client-centric nature of the role

In order to tailor this section to the job that you’re applying for, have a read of the job description and highlight the key things that the employer is looking for. That way you can ensure that you hit all of the main points and show that you’re right for the role. 

For example, check out this example of a fitness instructor job description we found on Indeed:

Looking at this job description, you can get an idea of what this employer expects from a fitness instructor. From this, you should be able to identify the skills and experience that you have which demonstrate how you fit this description. 

The above example says the role involves conducting inductions, fitness assessments, and delivering exercise classes. So, within your personal trainer, mention that you have experience in these tasks (if that is true, of course).

If you don’t have any relevant work experience, you can still write a good personal summary. For example, look at what is mentioned under ‘what are we looking for’ and see if you can match it to your experience.

• ‘Fun and Friendly’ –can you show that you are a social and approachable person? You could demonstrate this trait by discussing a team that you’re a part of, or an example of a time that you worked well as part of a team.

• ‘Qualified Instructor’ – this one is easy. State that you have the required qualifications (and any further qualifications that could help you to stand out).

• ‘Passionate about fitness’ – of course this is true if you’re writing a gym instructor CV but you need to show it! Everyone applying for this role will say they’re passionate about fitness, use examples to validate this (and any other points that you make).

If the job description isn’t as detailed as this one, the best thing to do is research the roles and responsibilities of a fitness instructor, and then write your personal summary with those in mind.

Gym Instructor CV with No Experience – Writing Your Personal Summary 

If you don’t have any directly relevant experience in the fitness industry and you’re not sure on how you can show that you’ll make a good fitness instructor without a proven track record in the role, check out our fitness instructor job description article which explains the skills and qualities that make you suitable for the role.

As well as highlighting your personal skills and qualities, a gym instructor CV for somebody with no experience in the industry should highlight any transferable skills acquired from previous employment.

If you’re writing a gym instructor CV as somebody without experience in the industry, you should use your personal summary to show why you are still a suitable candidate.

Discuss the experiences that you do have, and use examples from your qualifications, education, other experience, to demonstrate how you can transfer your current skill set into a new position.

#3 Work Experience

This is perhaps the most important part of your CV because this is where you demonstrate your record as a professional individual, explaining the skills and experiences highlighted in your personal summary in more detail.

Keeping in mind the importance of a well-presented fitness instructor CV, organise your work experience so that there are clear sections for each of your previous jobs.

Here are some important things to remember when structuring this section:

• Put your work experience in reverse chronological order – starting with your most recent experience and working backwards. 

• Include all relevant roles and responsibilities that add value to your fitness CV.

• Keep each summary of your role concise, you can use bullet points if it helps!

• For every employment, write your job title, the company name, your start and end date (month and year) as a title or ‘header’ as demonstrated in the fitness instructor cv sample below:

Jan 2019 – present                                                                     Job Title

 

Company Name

 

A few lines to summarise your role (we’ll explain what to write here next!) 

Now that you’ve got a basic structure for how to include your work experience in your fitness instructor CV, of course, you need to know what to write about your experience!

This bit can be a little daunting, if you haven’t written a CV before or in a while, it can be tough to know where to start. Fortunately, we’ve listed the key points that you should consider when describing your previous employment.

Draw Parallels Between Your Past and Potential Roles 

When you’re writing your gym instructor CV, find similarities between the roles and responsibilities of a past job and those identified in the job description.

For example, this Fitness Instructor job post that we found on Indeed outlines the duties that will be included in the role.  

Similar to the way that you wrote your personal summary, identify examples of times that you have carried out these duties (or similar) in your previous employment.

Your experience doesn’t have to be carrying out these tasks specifically. If you’re writing a fitness CV as somebody with no experience, make reference to the experience you do have and explain how you can apply your skills to the duties of the position you’re applying for.

The summary of your job role should identify the skills that you acquired and developed during your various job roles. But you need to keep these skills relevant to the position that you’re applying for!

For example, if you’ve previously worked as a hairdresser, how well you cut hair isn’t really relevant on a fitness instructor CV.

However, having the people skills to welcome clients, make conversation with new people, and being able to organise appointments, are all transferable skills that will make you a good fitness professional.

Should I Include Part Time Jobs on A Fitness Instructor CV?

Yes! We know we said that you should mainly include the roles that add value to the specific position that you’re applying for, but if you’ve recently worked a part-time job it may still be worth including. 

For example, if you have experience in a part-time job that you worked alongside studying, this is a good way of showing your employer your organisation and time management skills.

Being able to hold down a job, no matter how many hours you worked, shows that you are punctual and able to commit to a job!

If you don’t have much work experience, you can always include any internships, volunteering, or charity work you have completed.

Especially if you are writing a gym instructor CV with no experience, this can be a good way to demonstrate your transferrable skills if you don’t have any paid work experience. 

#4 Education

As with your work experience, structure your education in reverse chronological order. Start with your most recently completed education and work backwards to your Junior Certificate awards.

For consistency, structure this section in the same way as your work experience. Clearly state your start and end date (month and year), as well as the name of the school or institution, and the level of qualification. 

This will ensure that your fitness instructor CV looks well-presented and professional, and that it’s easy to read.

Gym Instructor CV Sample Template:

Jan 2019 – present                                                                                                    

School Name

Junior Certificate awards

Maths – X

English Language– X

English Literature – X

Science Double Award – X

Physical Education – X

History – X

Geography – X

The extent of detail in this section should change depending on the requirements of the role, and depending on the educational qualifications you have completed.

For example, if you have completed a University Degree, including all of your Junior Certificate awards isn’t necessary. Instead, you could save space on your fitness CV and structure your secondary school education as shown below in this alternative fitness instructor CV template:

Jan 2019 – present                                                                                                     

School Name

Junior Certificate awards

X Junior Certificate awards grades A* – C (including English and Maths).

On the other hand, some roles may require that you have specific Leaving Certificate awards, and so you will need to include details of your A-Level subjects and grades when applying for that particular role.

You can also include any pending qualifications, as long as you state that it is pending and include when you expect to complete the qualification.

If there are any grades that you aren’t particularly happy with, you don’t have to include them if they aren’t relevant to being a fitness instructor. For example, if you failed your Junior Certificate award in History, you can just miss it off your CV.

Similarly, if you don’t think your grade will impress your employer, for example, you got a 2:2 at degree level, you can miss out the detail and write ‘Degree in Sports Science (BSc)’ instead of ‘2:2 in Sports Science (BSc)’.

#5 Industry Related Qualifications and Licenses

Qualifications are absolutely necessary on your fitness instructor CV, within this section you’ll show the employer that you’re qualified for the role and you can show off any extra qualifications you have that make you stand out.

Although a Level 2 fitness instructor qualification will make you a qualified fitness instructor, having extra qualifications that are relevant, like a CPD in Medicine Ball Training or completing a Kettlebell Instructor Course, is a good way to make your CV stand out.

Even if you don’t want to work as a personal trainer, having a further qualification, such as Level 4 Exercise Referral in the bag will only make you more employable.

When it comes to the layout of this section, again you should use a similar format to your work experience and general education sections.

This time ensure that you include all of the qualifications and licenses that you hold which are relevant to a role in the fitness industry.

This section, as with the rest of your fitness instructor CV, should be concise whilst still including all of the relevant information to show that you are qualified for the role.

As with your education section, include key information, including:

• The month and year you obtained the qualification

• Name of institution

• Awarding bodies (where appropriate)

• Your grade or whether you passed (if relevant)

• Any expiry dates

When writing up the Qualifications and Licenses section of your fitness CV, use the full title of the qualification.

Within this section, you can also include whether you have insurance – especially if this is something that is stated on the job advert.

Check out this example layout of a fitness instructor cv for your qualifications and licenses section: 

Industry Related Qualifications and Licenses

• NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing (Gym) – 2019

• [INSERT GOVERNING BODY] Award in First Aid at Work Level 2 – 2019 (Expires December 2022)

• CPD in Kettlebells

• CPD in Group Training (pending)

• Fully Insured via Insure4Sport (Expires September 2022)

• Full Clean Driving License

#6 Achievements

Now that you know how to write a good gym instructor CV in terms of covering your professional and academic history, what else can you include to really make you stand out?

Staring at a blank page, it might be tricky to think of relevant achievements, but we bet you have a few!

No, we’re not talking about an award for ‘most likely to be famous’ that you won back in secondary school, these achievements should be relevant – things that the recruiter will be impressed by.

Have a think of all of your previous jobs, and think of the hardest task in that role – how did you overcome it? Did you have any positive performance reviews? Did you, or your team, win any awards for your work? 

If the answer is yes, include them!

A few bullet points or a short paragraph is all this section needs to be.

Chances are all of the candidates have the relevant qualifications and some work experience, including extra achievements is a brilliant way to make your gym instructor CV stand out.

Discussing your work-based achievements will show off how much a good employee you would be, which is pretty much the whole point of your CV!

#7 Hobbies and Interests

A ‘hobbies and interests’ section is something that there has been some debate over when it comes to whether it should be included on your CV.

Considering working in a gym as a fitness instructor is an active and pretty social job, we’d say that there are definitely hobbies and interests that have a place on your fitness instructor CV!

Obviously, there are some things to consider when writing this section. First things first, keep it relatively short, don’t use too much space that you could be reserved for more information on you as a professional.

Nevertheless, a list of generic hobbies is hardly worth including. Include a few specifics about your hobbies. For example, if you like rugby – do you play for a team? What is your position? How long has this been a hobby of yours?

Another thing to consider is whether the hobby or interest you’re mentioning adds value to your CV. For example, a generic filler hobby like listening to music isn’t going to impress your potential employer.

On the other hand, talking about a fitness-related hobby, for example, your love for long-distance running, shows that you’re passionate about fitness outside of your career goals.

Likewise, mentioning that you play for a Sunday league football team shows that you enjoy being active, and it shows off other important skills, like commitment and teamwork!

#8 References 

Finally, your reference section should come at the end of your gym instructor CV.

A referee should be somebody that your potential employer can contact directly. This should be a previous employer or somebody that has taught you in the not too distant past.

We don’t recommend that you share anyone’s contact information without their consent, so on your fitness instructor CV, write the reference section as shown below:

References

Available on request.

Before you go!

Now that you know how to write a fitness instructor CV, why not add to your fitness qualifications by completing one of the CPD courses that we offer here at OriGym? There's no better way to make sure your CV really stands out. 

That being said, you can maximise your income as a fitness professional by submitting an enquiry for our Level 4 personal trainer course today, or downloading our latest prospectus for more information on the range of courses we offer.

References

Pierce, P. and Snyder, J. (2006). Resumes for Health/Fitness Students and Professionals. Health and Fitness Journal. 2 (19-27).