Student placements offer a fantastic opportunity for your business to grow while giving students the practical experience they need to succeed in their future careers. By taking on student placements, your gym, Pilates or yoga studio, or leisure centre can gain fresh perspectives, reduce recruitment costs, and help shape the next generation of industry professionals. Here’s why you should consider integrating student placements into your operations.
Three things you need to know about AUSactive's students and placements:
- Students Are Fully Insured
All AUSactive registered students are covered under our master insurance policy. This provides peace of mind for both you and the students, ensuring protection throughout their placement.
- Earn CECs for Mentoring
Mentoring students is now even more rewarding! AUSactive exercise professionals can earn Continuing Education Credits (CECs) by guiding and supporting students during their placements. It’s a win-win for your business and your professional development.
- Easily Connect with Students
Getting started is simple. Log in to your AUSactive dashboard and switch on the “Open for Student Placement” button. This allows students in your area to connect directly with your business and apply for placement opportunities.
Benefits for Gyms, Pilates, Yoga Studios, and Leisure Centres:
- Access to Future Talent Student placements give you the chance to meet and assess a diverse pool of potential future employees. By bringing students into your business, you’ll get a first-hand look at their skills, work ethic, and personality. It's like a live audition! Plus, student placements can help increase workforce diversity, making your team more reflective of your client base.
- Reduce Recruitment Costs By working with students early on, you're positioning your business to attract high-quality future workers who are well-suited for your organisation. When it’s time to hire, you’ll already have a pool of trained, experienced candidates familiar with your business, reducing recruitment costs and workforce attrition rates.
- Strengthen Industry Connections Partnering with RTOs (Registered Training Organisations) for student placements can lead to strong relationships that benefit your business. RTOs often refer their graduates to employers, and by working closely with them, you may be first in line for referrals, helping you secure top talent.
- Influence Training and Education Hosting student placements gives you the opportunity to influence the next generation of professionals. By articulating your expectations of workplace performance, you can shape how students are trained and ensure that the skills they develop align with the needs of your business.
- Enhance Staff Engagement and Development Student placements aren’t just beneficial for the students—they provide job variety, management training, and mentoring opportunities for your existing staff. Mentoring students can help your team develop leadership skills and provide career progression opportunities. Plus, with the added bonus of earning CECs, your team benefits from professional development while helping students grow.
- Quality Improvement By helping students translate theoretical knowledge into practical skills, you’re contributing to an improvement in the quality of graduates. Students gain real-world experience, making them better prepared for employment, which ultimately elevates the industry standard as a whole.
Benefits for Clients:
- Better Service Quality Student placements help create better-prepared workers who are more skilled and equipped to provide quality care and support. This can translate into an enhanced experience for your clients, knowing that they are interacting with well-trained professionals.
- Fresh Perspectives Students bring fresh energy and perspectives into your business, which can be particularly engaging for clients. Whether it’s a new workout technique, a different approach to customer service, or simply exposure to younger professionals, clients benefit from these interactions.
- Contribution to the Community By hosting student placements, your business plays a role in shaping the future of the industry. Clients appreciate knowing that they are contributing to the training and development of future professionals, enhancing their overall experience and connection to your business.
Benefits for Students:
- Practical Experience Student placements provide the perfect environment for students to apply their knowledge and gain hands-on experience. They get the chance to learn from experienced professionals, use real-world equipment, and practice in live environments relevant to their future careers.
- Exposure to Different Job Roles Placements offer students insight into various areas of the industry. Whether it’s fitness instruction, client management, or studio operations, students can explore different job roles and understand the breadth of opportunities within the industry.
- Real-World Challenges In a live setting, students are exposed to real-world challenges and contingencies they may not encounter in the classroom. This helps them develop critical thinking skills and adaptability, preparing them for a wide range of situations in their future careers.
Benefits for RTOs:
- Professional Learning Environments RTOs benefit from exposing their students to professional learning environments, where they can witness current industry practices and learn from the best. This hands-on experience improves student completion rates and enhances their employment outcomes.
- Keep Training Relevant By partnering with gyms, studios, and leisure centres, RTOs gain insight into the latest industry trends and practices, helping them keep their training programs relevant and up to date.
- Ongoing Relationships Developing strong relationships with service providers can also lead to additional training opportunities for existing staff, ensuring that both students and current employees are always learning and growing.
Why It Matters:
Student placements are a win-win for everyone involved. For service providers, it's an opportunity to meet future employees, improve workforce diversity, reduce recruitment costs, and enhance staff development—plus, you’ll earn CECs for mentoring! For clients, it's about better service quality and contributing to the community. For students, it's a vital opportunity to gain practical experience and exposure to real-world challenges. And for RTOs, it's a chance to align their training with current industry needs.
So, if you're a gym, Pilates or yoga studio, or leisure centre, taking on student placements is a fantastic way to support the next generation of industry professionals while boosting your own business. Don't forget to head to your AUSactive dashboard and switch on the “Open for Student Placement” button today so students can find and contact your business directly!
Author: Billie Cox – GM AUSactive
