As summer heats up we ask industry executives:
What’s the most memorable summertime job you had during your high school and college years, and why?
This is the final installment of this series. Responses were edited for clarity and brevity
Christopher Erb
VP, brand marketing
EA Sports
“During college, I was a bat boy in the visiting clubhouse for the Seattle Mariners. It was an unbelievable opportunity to see the inner workings of Major League Baseball as well as spend time with some of your heroes growing up.”
• • • • • • • •
Chuck King
Marketing manager
National Academy of Sports Medicine
“My senior year of high school, I noticed that the U.S. Open set aside a few days for ball boy tryouts. Being a big tennis fan (I still consider Andre Agassi to have the biggest impact by one person on a sport), I went for it. I took notice of what others were doing and asked a lot of questions and was offered a position for the ’91 U.S. Open. I was one of the guys that stood in the back, making sure to keep the balls on the side of the server. The job was great! I was outfitted by Fila and Reebok, had the chance to work matches by world-class athletes (Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, David Wheaton) and of course watch the memorable run that Jimmy Connors had that year.
What that experience taught me was to do some research: Ask your peers questions that will provide you an edge in getting the job. If I didn’t ask the question ‘What is a good way to get noticed by the linesmen?’ (who were the ones that graded and recommended you), I never would have been selected.
(In case you were wondering: The answer was to ask them if you could bring them water during the practice sessions.)
• • • • • • • •
Steve Newmark
President
Roush Fenway Racing
“When I was in college, I spent part of a summer working on a construction crew that was building a retirement home in Chapel Hill, N.C. It was quite a contrast to my other summer experiences, which included being an instructor at various sports camps and working on Capitol Hill. During my construction stint, I gained a much greater appreciation for the true meaning of ‘hard work.’ Because of my inexperience (among other things), I was clearly the weakest link on the six-person crew to which I was assigned, but the perspective that it gave me was invaluable. To my knowledge, the retirement home is still standing, so apparently my contribution didn’t have too much of an adverse impact.”
— Compiled by Molly Hogan
