Lifetime Gym NYC audition experience
Just a little share on my experience attending the audition at Lifetime Gym NYC recently. For the record, I did not pass their audition but thought I’d share the experience for anyone curious.
I applied online via their website. You fill out a form and submit your resume + certificates. I received an email invite for their audition. First off… they specifically refer their audition as “Open Casting Call”. The email came with a form to confirm participation along with the details such as location, duration, and what to expect. The audition is 2 hours long and all applicants are expected to prepare “90 sec” demo to best show their teaching style and basically impress the panelists. The audition is round robin style and everyone is expected to stay for the full two hours. We were instructed to bring a current “headshot”. The confirmation link was really another open form that anyone could sign up for as long as they have the link.
During the day of audition… As we went down the hall, each one of us filled out a form that asked for our contact info, availability, and “Instagram handle”. Our headshot was taken and clipped to the form and we were given a sticker name tag with a number. The number was for reference and also the order we were going to take turns to teach. The number of applicants kept coming and there were a total of 85 people auditioning. Some have auditioned before. We were split off in two rooms. First 45 goes in room A and the rest goes in room B. We were given a prompt to cue for breath and drishti, as well as give some energy. The panelists were most of upper management and they were direct about saying that they are not specifically yoga people. They just manage the group fitness classes and facilities.
The audition started shortly as soon as everyone got into the room with their mats. The main panelist held a stopwatch and kept time. They were very strict on the 90 sec time. As soon as the time is up, they’d cut the person auditioning with a “thank you, next person please”. The room had no AC. It wasnt a heated room but I felt like slowly suffocating. Even the panelists were sweating profusely (you can notice from their shirts stained with sweat). Everyone brought their own character to stand out. There were different styles. After the last person finished, they announced that the audition is officially ended and that certain people will be called back for a 2nd round. Then everyone just dispersed.
2 business days later, I received an email saying that if we did not receive a separate invitation to come back, then it means they will not continue with our application at this time… But! They attached an offer to enroll in their in-house “instructor training program”. I kinda had a feeling that was what was going to happen. To sell hopefuls another opportunity or “pay to play with an advantage”. Because it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll get you the job. It just means they’ll teach you their style and gain some guidance but you’d still have to go through the audition process again.
I met some really great people and wonderful instructors I’ve kept in touch with. Majority of them did not receive an invite back but I did hear about 1 person that got a 2nd round invite for a later date. And this time the group will be smaller and each person will get 3 mins to audition. If you pass the 2nd audition, you get an invite for a 3rd audition which is the final stage.
It was a very interesting experience. Again, just wanted to share this with others who are curious to hear about audition processes and styles.