I started my Monday all ready and eager to begin my pursuit of a new career in the fitness and/or diet industries … and all I was met with was a whole lot of frustration !!
I actually started a couple of steps last week. I visited the Dietitians of Canada website to see what was needed to become a registered dietitian vs. a nutritionist. One thing I learned in the past few weeks was that there is a huge difference between the two. The term Dietitian is protected by law so that only qualified practitioners who have met education qualifications can use that title. A Dietitian is health professional who has a Bachelor's degree, specializing in food and nutrition, as well as a period of practical training in a hospital or community setting. The term nutritionist however, is not protected by law in all provinces, so people with varying amounts of training and education can call themselves a nutritionist. Pretty scary and something to keep in mind if anyone out there is looking for help :O
The first course I looked at last week was an online course through the same place where I had signed up for a Personal Trainer certification last year (more on that later). This new course would earn you the title of Nutrition & Wellness Specialist. The course is all of 22 hours long, a weekend course from Friday evening through Sunday, followed by an exam. Not really sure how much knowledge I can gain in just 2 ½ days of schooling … likely not more than I already know now. And if I’m not mistaken their nutritional advice is based on Canada’s Food Guide, something I’m already very familiar with and anyone can get online for free.
Nix that idea – I’ll save myself the $300.
The Dieticians of Canada website had 3 links to schools in Ontario that offered Undergraduate Programs in Dietetic Education, one which is unfortunately now defunct. The other 2 only offered 4-year, full-time, day school programs; there was no part-time or distance education available.
Bummer :(
Being single, going back to school full-time for 4 years is not an option right now … somebody’s gotta pay those bills. It’s a shame too, one of the programs was Ryerson’s School of Nutrition, and it looks awesome !!! I’m having one of those “if I could do it all over again” moments.
Last week I had made a few phone calls, one to Ryerson and one to the Dietitians of Canada, and a couple more to some local fitness centers. Today I made a total of 10 phone calls, mostly to other fitness centers in and around the GTA. Some offered services of Nutrition counseling and most offered personal training – and many were hiring. My mission was to speak to someone in charge of hiring to ask what type of certification they require when hiring for either of these positions; after all, if I’m going to take a course I may as well take the right one. Of those 14 calls, I spoke to 2 live people, and the remaining 12 I left voice mails for after being directed to the appropriate person. Up till now, not one phone call has been returned. Now you know the reason for the title of my blog today. Do people EVER return phone calls these days ?? What an exercise in frustration :(
One of the fitness centers I called last week was not too far away, so I decided last Friday to go by for a personal visit. Of course when I got there I was told they don’t see walk-ins and that I should call or simply send in my resume. Well I can be pretty persistent, and I did manage to get in to talk to the right person :) And I’m really glad I did !!
As I mentioned, last year I had signed up for a course to become a Certified Personal Trainer. I did this while still working at my last job, so I always knew this was an area of interest I wanted to pursue. However while I started the course feverishly and studied each evening for the first few weeks, eventually my texts found a place on my book shelf as my enthusiasm waned. Perhaps because I wasn’t accountable to anyone at the time ;-)
Well as it turns out, when I visited this very large corporate fitness chain last week, they informed me that course I had signed up for is okay, but it’s not the gold standard for personal training in their eyes. While they would hire someone with that certification, once hired you would have to get further certified at one of a few other training centers out there. And then of the 2 live people that I spoke to today, I was given the exact same information - interesting …
My plan of attack was going to be to dust off those books from last year and continue on with that course, but now I’m rethinking my plan. Plus these other training centers offered much more detailed and comprehensive nutrition courses as well, and again these few places I did manage to talk to stated that those degrees would be the ones they required for hiring.
Good to know :)
Tomorrow I’m going to make some more phone calls (maybe even some more in person visits) to verify that this information is universally accepted among other companies, and also check into the courses that these places have to offer. I hope to be signed up for one or two course by the end of the week :)
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