My experience was a little different. I did get an outside certification before I applied at 24 Hour because the fitness manager at the club near me said to get certified then he'd talk to me. Then 24hr puts you through their own cert, which is 4 days (32) hours of instruction based on NASM and a test at the end (watered down version of NASM). That is the in-house cert, only good in house, but mandatory no matter what you come in with.
The only way 24Hr pays for the NASM cert is if you earn with sales. If you have $5,000 in PT sales, service x sessions and sell x in supplements, you earn the NASM cert. I was lucky in that respect because while I never had sales like that, they were having a special promotion and all I had to do was service 10 Biggest Loser agreements within a two month period. So, I hold the NASM now because they paid for it. A place like 24HR is a good take-off point. Even though my experience there ended with me being fired after nearly 1-1/2 yrs. for not meeting my sales quota, I'm glad I did it to get the training under my belt.
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