Pros
For personal trainer position the clientele at RDV is upscale, so building your business is not hard- It's a lot of doctors, lawyers, and wives of doctors and lawyers, etc. The point is that they have plenty of money for training services. They have certain areas of the gym just for personal trainers and their clients, so you can have semi-private area and all the equipment you need to run the workout. Full time maintenance staff is awesome because equipment gets fixed promptly. The company invests a lot of continuing education resources for the trainers. I worked there for 2 years and went to a national fitness conference, got a TRX certification, an IoM certification, a TFW certification, all paid for, and they reimbursed me for my NASM cert because I got it right after I was hired. Also every month we had customer service training which was really helpful. The management gives you tons of freedom to run your personal training business how you want. You definitely have opportunities to work with youth teams, usually hockey or volleyball, and lead group exercise- this is great for getting out there and promoting yourself. You just can't run your own promotion/sale- the pricing never changes.
Cons
They decide session pricing for you, you have no say. When I worked there 1hr was $60-65 and the trainers cut was $30, a 30min session was $36, the trainer gets $18. And there was small group pricing. The 50/50 split is really good compared to other box gyms, as you can still make upwards of $30/hr and they pay your insurance, keep the lights on, pay electric bill, have child care etc. etc. The $65/hour is a low price for that area too. Meetings. It's a corporate place so there is always admin and corporate stuff you have to do- but it really wasn't that bad. You sign a non-moonlighting policy- you can't simultaneously work another training job, but you do not sign a non-compete- BUT what happened to me when I left to open my own studio I was upfront, honest, and gave a resignation and 2 weeks notice, they did not let me finish the 2 weeks. I had to leave immediately and lost all my clients' records and measurements and all computer files. I should have backed these up beforehand. I gave 4 stars for "career opportunities" because you can build a good clientele and really refine your craft, but career wise you do 1 of 3 things- stay a trainer there forever sharing your revenue with the gym 50/50, 2) get an internal promotion there or another location and deal with corporate policy on a deeper level, or 3) master your craft and move on where you can make more money and run your business how you want to.