personal trainer

camp counselor

assistant teacher

teacher

senior custodian

YMCA of the North

Working for the Ymca customer service was bitter sweet but more bitter than sweet. The management was awful, management has their favorites aka favoritism! The people who train you need to be re-trained themselves. You will literally sit there & not know what to do, until you get behind your own computer and you’re learning everything as you take calls. You will also be rushed through training. And if you’re not learning fast enough expect to have that “Is this the right job for you?” Conversation. If you’re not a fast learner this is not the position for you. People who were hired after you will get promoted before you. Your hard work goes unnoticed, customers would give the managers good feed back about you & the managers wouldn’t even say “Great work” it would be more of a “oh ok” type of response. The only thing good about this job is the pay & if you like to workout the membership. If you can speak a different language you’ll get a few cents more but not much. Also, if you have kids & want to register your child/children you will pay for the registration fee of $50.00 for each child & will only get 20%-40% off regular programs. Lastly, don’t get sick with the flu or something in that nature or have an family emergency, management will make you feel like you have to choose between yourself/family & your job! All they care about is numbers. NOT YOU OR YOUR WELL-BEING! So If you’re ok with people playing with your hours & money & could careless about you as a human be my guess and join the Y’s customer service team!

The staff within the branch I work at are wonderful. This varies, however, from branch to branch. The struggle is that most of the association executive have been around for too long without working directly in-branch, so they make decisions that are either out of date or completely disconnected to what is needed in individual branches (for the sake of consistency). This is a major issue because of how diverse both the branches and the membership demographics are. 
They also "restructure" all the time, laying people off, changing job responsibilities, and moving staff into roles they aren't even totally sure what they are supposed to be doing. 
The CEO is one of the highest paid in the non-profit sector but they don't pay their part-time employees competitively, offering barely $1.50 more an hour to someone with over 10 years of experience in an area compared to a newly hired high school student. Most staff stay because they like working with the members and enjoy their co-workers, not because their is much chance for advancement or pay increases. 
As a career, I wouldn't recommend, but it isn't a bad stepping stone if you need experience in a field or a job to pay the bills. 

Overall, It's not a bad place to work. There are pros and cons with every job of course. To name few things about working at the Y, I wouldn't suggest making a career out of the Y, but it's not a bad gig, especially with what you have to do to survive these days. You just can't live off what they pay, unless you come from a wealthy background or are in a leadership/management role. What really bothers me though is that the reason for low pay is "nonprofit", but why is the CEO, head of building and etc. getting paid a normal livable wage, but everyone else suffers? That speaks for itself. Not to mention the free membership is a plus, however can an employee really afford it without it being free? That would be a no. I've noticed that staff are usually there for a very long time that make their way into leadership roles or management or they stay for a very short time. Retention rates can be high, so people are constantly coming and going. The uniform is comfortable and reasonable. The span of hours can be nice, but also terrible. The members can also really make or break the job.

The YMCA is a wonderful work environment, until you don't follow their rules. You are recruited to be their minion and if not, you are fired. Good luck having an option or opinion about youth development & healthy living or advocate for youth development, You will be fired. They only follow their rules and ideas and no one elses. I had PTSD, and still gave my all to they Y and was triggered when filling for a job description that was not mine. FYI- when working at the YMCA greater twin cities, you have numerous job responsibilities, I had basically 4 jobs I was doing and still had to stay in my 40 hours, so I didn't get yelled at...overtime was not an option. I literally worked 60 hours a week not to get yelled at for doing my job. The YMCA, is full of lies, I've learned the Y only cares about money and themselves. They don't care about the community or their employees. If you care about helping people...don't support the YMCA of THE GREATER TWIN CITIES. They have forgotten how to use their Christian principles to care and support others.

Great mission but culture at branch locations still very hierarchical.  Retail nature of branch locations also make the work challenging if you have a family because the hours cater to high traffic  hours like late afternoon and early evening.  Benefits are generous but if you want to work traditional hours working at a branch is not a good choice. If you are considering an exempt position with the Y at a branch location the work life balance is tough to maintain.  Overall the leadership looks the other way if you have to put in lots of overtime and never have I heard them say to take time off if as an exempt employee you’ve had to work lots of overtime. Culture is still heavy white male in leadership and slightly patriarchal. Hierarchical culture especially in branch locations and top leadership makes decisions very unconnected to and unaware of branch culture. 

My time with the Enough program at the YMCA of the North, I received almost no meaningful training or direction from leadership. Despite asking multiple times for guidance, I was left to navigate the work on my own, often feeling isolated from the rest of the team.
There was a consistent lack of professionalism and follow-through from management. Concerns about cultural respect, equity, and misuse of power were raised and not taken seriously. As an Indigenous employee, I often felt that my perspective and identity were dismissed instead of valued.
The culture at this branch does not live up to the organization’s stated mission or values around inclusion, integrity, and social justice. The disconnect between what the YMCA claims to stand for and what actually happens internally is disheartening.

Limited support from management and a challenging work culture made this a difficult role. I often took on responsibilities beyond my position, including supervisory-level tasks during busy seasons, while also helping peers stay organized and informed.

The workload is demanding, with typical weeks of 45–55 hours and peak seasons reaching 60–70 hours. Efforts to implement necessary improvements—especially around safety—were not always supported, which added to the overall stress of the role.

This position comes with high expectations and pressure, and may not be a good fit for those seeking a well-supported or balanced work environment.

I was a lead teacher in the Harding High School daycare apart of the Eastside YMCA.  Day was with the school day, 6:30-2:30.  Kids in class were children of the high school students there.  It was a tough group with little guidance and behavior issues; parents didn't pay any attention and hard to talk to.  Not many resources for lesson planning or decorating classroom - no computer or copier to use even.  Didn't always have an assistant, so it was a long day with 7 toddlers.  Best part of day was nap, they usually slept 2 hours and had to be woken. Nice it was a short 8 hour day and got out early.  Not much interaction among coworkers.

Failure of management to understand the difference of equity and equality.   This company should take a serious look at their mission statement.   For a company that espouses all are welcome and all should thrive - it is just not true.   

Business journals speak of a crisis of leadership, the Y is definitely in a crisis of leadership.   The buck stops with the top-of-the-line. Senior management chooses not understand what is happening at the base level.   

The Y is definitely not growing leaders, this Y has a level of people who cannot lead, cannot engage and train up new leaders.  Senior management chooses to not be agile enough to support the branches.

Extremely poor leadership team. Do NOT donate money to this organization. It will not be used in any way to help the kids, programs or facilities.  

The organization is extremely top heavy. Sr. VP's , Sr. Directors, Sr. Executive Directors, Sr. Executive VP's, pick your silly job title. All seeking to hire more people, manage more people, do less work themselves and pad their inflated 6 figure salary.  The most important thing is to hire and build your army. 

Consequently, financial aid, front line staff and lower level employees bear the consequences. If you think this management group cares at all about kids living in poverty, teaching kids to swim or sending kids to camp, think again.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Personal trainer 42 salaries reported	$32.50 per hour
Camp counselor 32 salaries reported	$16.25 per hour
Assistant teacher 3 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Teacher 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour
Senior custodian 59 salaries reported	$16.67 per hour

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