Project reference · Fitness, beauty & wellness
Fifteen months to sign. Two days to make twenty offers.
A fitness club chain in the Gulf first heard from us at the end of 2014 and looked at our sample candidates. It was not ready. We stayed in touch, and when its operations director needed trainers quickly, the groundwork was done: terms agreed with its legal team, two contracts in place, and a recruiting event in Ukraine where its managers made twenty offers in two days. Thirteen people flew out and started work.
15 months from first call to signature
Patience
31 candidates presented before the event
Pre-screening
20 offers made in two interview days
Event
13 hires flew out and started work
Result
Lead time and event
A slow start, then a very fast middle
The months before the contract decided how quickly everything after it could move. Once the terms were settled, the search, the event and the offers took six weeks.
The brief
What the client actually needed
The chain wanted three kinds of people for its existing clubs and a large new one due to open: fitness instructors, membership coordinators who sell memberships, and front-of-house coordinators. Forty-two positions in all, mostly women, with good English and recognised certificates for the trainers.
Pay was a modest guaranteed salary plus commission, with shared staff housing. The client wanted to see the candidates face to face before deciding, so the plan was a recruiting event in Ukraine, attended by its operations director and its head of sales, with video interviews for candidates from other countries.
Before the first interview
Two contracts, one set of terms
Our main recruitment agreement covered fees, invoicing and the replacement guarantee. A recruiting event held in Ukraine is licensed work, so it needed a second contract with our Ukrainian company, written the way local rules require. The client's legal team asked for both texts to be identical and for a certified translation.
We could not make the wording identical, so we made the terms identical and showed, clause by clause, where the phrasing differed and why. We also wrote down the basis for the fee: guaranteed monthly pay only, no commission or housing. The main agreement is dated the end of March; the second one was in place by the event.
The hard parts
Where it gets difficult
A client who is not ready yet
The first call produced interest, three sample candidate files and then a year of silence. We followed up without pushing. When the request came, it came with a four-week deadline.
Two jurisdictions, one legal review
A careful legal team, a main contract and a licensed local contract. Settling them took ten weeks of drafts, and it is why nothing went wrong later.
Who pays for the room
The client was used to agencies absorbing event costs. We kept our fee as the only charge, priced the venue in advance and had the client pay the hotel directly. Nothing was hidden in the invoice.
Commission is hard to sell
Most of a trainer's income was commission. Before advertising we asked how many sessions a new trainer really gets, so candidates heard numbers they could check rather than a headline figure.
The event is the final round, not the first
Everyone booked for the event had passed our own interview, the first candidates had already been presented and interviewed by video, and the offer letter format was agreed beforehand. That is how two days could end with offers instead of a longlist.
Fifteen weeks from offer to flight
Work permits came through in batches and some applications were refused. We kept twenty people informed all summer; thirteen flew out in four groups between late August and late September.
What we did
Wait, agree, select, mobilise
- Dec 2014–Dec 2015 · Stay in touch. A first call, three sample candidate files, our terms in writing and follow-ups, until the operations director asked for trainers.
- Jan–Mar 2016 · Agree the terms. The event plan and its costs, the client's own contract terms worked into our agreement, a second contract for the event, and a written fee basis.
- Apr–May 2016 · Search and select. Adverts, a recruitment video, an information letter for candidates, phone and video interviews, then two interview days with the client's managers.
- Jun–Sep 2016 · Mobilise. Offer paperwork, work permits and visas, departures in four groups, and more candidates for open roles until the end of the year.
Two years later the client asked for a copy of the agreement so that it could be renewed. A long start is not wasted time if it is what makes the rest fast.
In the client’s words
“I personally wanted to thank you for all your hard work and fantastic efforts and professionalism.”
The client’s operations director, the day after the interview days.
How we work
We do not show you another company’s name
The client, its owners and its people are not named here, and they will not be named in a meeting either. We are glad to talk this project through in detail. What we will not do is discuss the last client that way with you, or you with the next one.
Next step
Planning to hire for clubs or studios in the Gulf?
Tell us the roles, the package and the date you need people. We will tell you honestly what it takes to get there.