Case Study: Why you should be a Recreation Assistant at Better

Andrew Gilbert, Community Sport Manager, describes Better as “An organisation which invests not only in its business but also in its people. Continued training and development opportunities given to staff to provide them with the best opportunity to grow within the business.”

Matt Harrison, 22, works at Better Gym Pancras Square. He started his time there as a Recreation Assistant, however he has recently been promoted to Duty Manager. With Matt’s consent we spoke with him to get his thoughts and feedback on the Recreation Assistant role, to see if his experience would help encourage others to apply too. We spoke to Matt about his time as an RA, what the job is like and how he got promoted to DM. 

Matt explained to us that the role can be split into two categories; the lifeguarding side and the general assistance side. The application process involved a swimming test to make sure applicants are sufficient swimmers in order to qualify for the lifeguarding side of the job. Additionally, Better offer the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification Course, if needed. In terms of the general assistance, he told us this could be anything from chatting to visitors and answering any enquiries they may have to keeping the changing rooms clean. Matt highlighted that having a good attitude along with good communication and people skills are key to the job because there is constant interaction with visitors. He said “It’s important to be upbeat so we make a good impression.”

We wanted to know what Matt liked about the role in particular. He told us “It is a good entry level job no matter what qualifications you have, if you can swim and speak to people with confidence then you can get the job.” He also raised a point about progression in the business: “Progressions are clear and easy and you naturally begin to work your way up.” Matt has recently been promoted to Duty Manager after his managers encouraged him to push for a manager role. He told us that if someone felt they had the skills to be promoted and hadn’t been approached by a manager about it, they could suggest it to their manager. He said “the managers are encouraging and also approachable” and continued “they would appreciate that self-motivation”.

We were interested to know what the biggest perks of the RA role were and Matt responded by discussing the flexibility of the job. He said “You can opt for either a permanent contract or be a flexible work colleague, which means you can pick up shifts around your own availability and work at lots of different leisure centres around the company.” He then continued “The pay is also great for a ‘reccy’.” Ultimately, most of what we discussed with Matt led back to the community of working at a Better Gym. He explained “Working in a gym is so different to working in an office, it’s a real community with a good vibe. You get to meet such a variety of people.” 

On the contrary, we wanted to know what some of the challenges of the job may be. Matt explained that sometimes you have lots of jobs to do in a day so “managing the workload can sometimes be a slight challenge”. In addition, he explained that the early/late shifts can be difficult to adjust to sometimes, however followed up with a positive “The thing is, early starts mean early finishes so it makes it worth it.”

We asked Matt if he had any advice to people thinking of applying to the RA role and he responded “Be prepared to work hard, it can be frustrating at times like any job but it has its rewards… the biggest being the friendships you make – they are amazing because you spend so much time together. It’s a great community.”

If you would like to find out more about the Recreation Assistant role and apply for the job please visit the job page.