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Leaders offer advice for job seekers: ‘Persist. Never give up.’

A challenging job market awaits graduates of sports business education programs this summer. Sports Business Journal asked a panel of educators, executive search and hiring experts and team human resources executives to share some of the guidance they are offering those seeking a future in sports business in this uncertain time.

Harpreet Basran — Vice President, Human Resources, San Francisco 49ersall courtesy of panelists

What advice do you have for graduates trying to get a job in sports business?

 

Harpreet Basran: Internships are a great way to get your foot in the door. Many of our full-time employees started their career with the 49ers as interns. 

Chad Biagini: Graduates should develop skills, passion and expertise in their trade. Sports organizations seek people who are best-in-class in their function — finance, analytics, sales, brand, HR, etc. Far too many graduates prioritize working in sports over developing their craft. They may end up in roles they don’t enjoy and, frankly, they’re not great at. Careers are long. Your first job doesn’t have to be in sports. Your best choice might be to land a job out of sports for 3-4 years that develops you into a specialist, thus you’ll be in higher demand when you pursue sports later. 

Chad Biagini — President, Nolan Partners

Rick Burton: Make yourself nimble, proactive and persistent. This period of time will be marked by tremendous upheavals, and lifelong learners who are able to adapt quickly (in learning new norms and new skills) will be rewarded. 

Scott Carmichael: Cast a wide net — type of job, particular location, specific sport or level — then narrow your focus down. Be open, as the position may not be what you went to school for or your end goal, but it’s a start. 

Buffy Filippell: It’s now more important to look at how you are presenting yourself on job applications and any social media. There are less face-to-face interaction events. Students need to talk with their teachers and mentors and really get an understanding of their strengths for the workforce. Then they need to display those strengths clearly on their job applications, TeamWork Online profiles, LinkedIn profiles, résumés, etc. All of these should look rather similar. Descriptions of skills in a job should include your overall responsibilities, who did you report to, who did you manage and what accomplishments did you have. Often students bullet-point tasks; instead, bullet-point accomplishments. … There will be a lot more candidates for jobs, so you need to increase your odds by applying for jobs that you really have skills and accomplishments in.

Rick Burton — David B. Falk Professor of Sport Management, Syracuse University

Lee Igel: With your health and safety in check, realize that this turbulent time has changed what sports can and should do in its communities. In this moment, whatever your knowledge, experience and interest, the question is: What can you contribute to the impact that sports has on public health?

Jim Kadlecek: Be patient, realistic, and willing to relocate. Know the job market. Do your homework; only consider organizations that are committed to preparing you for next, growing your career. Don’t chase a logo. Utilize SBJ, podcasts, etc., to better understand the industry.

 

Scott Carmichael — Founder and CEO, Prodigy Search

Ray Ortegaso: Focus on continued learning and fostering any curiosity you have. Continue to learn by asking lots of questions and find out what organizations need in this work-from-home and, eventually, post-COVID world. Organizations will be adapting to the new reality and teams are trying to figure things out, so graduates will have a tremendous opportunity because they will provide new and different perspectives. 

Len Perna: My daughter, Madison, is a recent college graduate trying to break into film and television. It’s very similar to the sports business, meaning supply exceeds demand. It’s important to recognize that there are far more aspirants than entry-level jobs. Recent grads should drop all pretenses, preferences, filters, limitations, etc., and adjust your mindset to being open to all industry opportunities. Full stop. Just get your foot in the door and go from there. And then make sure your résumé, LinkedIn page and other job-seeking materials are as good as they can be. And then network like crazy. Be fearless and expect tons of rejection. Persist. Never give up.

Buffy Filippell — Founder, TeamWork Online

Elizabeth Schepp-Berman: During this period, job seekers who are flexible, open-minded, creative and resourceful will rise to the top. As the industry reopens, part-time roles and summer internship programs may come online first. Use the opportunity to show your value within the organization in the hopes of transitioning to a full-time position. Use your social media platforms to curate your executive persona. If you are actively posting and engaging with industry news, media and executives, you are directly sharing your perspective and interest with future potential employers.

Karen Weaver: Be open to a wide definition of the phrase “sports business.” Look for businesses that want to affiliate with the sports industry and need someone who understands the industry trends.

Lee Igel — Clinical Associate Professor, Tisch Institute for Global Sport, NYU

How should they network?

 

Basran: LinkedIn is an excellent way to connect with leaders in the industry. You never know who might be willing to spend 10-15 minutes over the phone to provide career advice or even share their story of how they got into sports.  

Biagini: The best networkers are not selfish networkers. They aim to help others more than they try to help themselves. Add value to people. Support them, and they’ll be happy to reciprocate.

Burton: Networking is always important but true interdependence is achieved by caring about the people who surround you (like a “cloud of witnesses”). Most students are encouraged to act independently, but that puts them on an island. They must actively care for each other during this transformational period.

Jim Kadlecek — Associate Professor of Sport Business, University of Mount Union

Carmichael: Utilize social media, primarily LinkedIn, but not excluding Twitter. However, social networking should evolve into traditional forms of building relationships. This pandemic has taught us to be much better in connecting with people, more deeply, and through tools like Zoom. Network with your alumni; nothing is more binding than school affinity.

Filippell: The easiest way is to start with alumni. See if you can get on phone calls, Zoom calls, or email with alumni. Most of us are at our computers, so it would be easier to connect. Ask alumni to help you make connections into specific jobs you saw online. Or, to specific companies. Many companies are waiting to see when and how they can operate. When the doors open, it will be crazy. Other things: Create a YouTube video on yourself. Add that link to the cover letter section on your job applications. “Like” our LinkedIn or other social media posts. Then see if you can connect with those employers.

Ray Ortegaso — Vice President of Human Resources, Los Angeles Clippers

Igel: Choose three people in the industry who you feel are doing interesting things. Focus on connecting — not networking — with them, so that you can learn from each other. Build from there.

Kadlecek: Innovatively. Stand out when you reach out. USPS still delivers mail!

Ortegaso: Given the limited opportunities to have in-person meetings, now is a tremendous time to build on the relationships and contacts that have been established while in school. Lean on professors and their networks and try to find ways to connect and develop bonds with these contacts via Teams or Zoom. Many professionals and leaders are finding time to hold these types of interactions due to the stay-at-home orders in various jurisdictions.

Len Perna — President and CEO, Turnkey Sports

Perna: Networking is a skill that takes years to develop. Entry-level job seekers shouldn’t be shy or bashful, but they should be humble. Throw your ego out the window. Respect people’s time by keeping all messages super short and never asking for more than five minutes. It has to be organic and incremental. Look for something, anything, that can be a “hook” to engagement. Don’t hesitate to use whatever connections you can possibly think of to invent that hook.

Schepp-Berman: While it may appear difficult to network during social distancing, you will find that live events and conferences within the industry are still occurring, merely in a virtual setting. Attend these virtual events, connect with conference apps or through social media with speakers or other attendees with thoughtful comments about their perspective. The sports and entertainment industry thrives on personal connection; many executives have taken to social media, LinkedIn or are publishing op-eds in industry outlets to share their vantage point. Use this incredible insight to demonstrate your awareness and maximize your reach out.

Elizabeth Schepp-Berman — Chief Human Resources Officer, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment

Weaver: Since there are so many webinars and virtual conferences available now, sign up and learn! Introduce yourself to the panelists and the host; learn as much as you can from them, and add them to your résumé.

What skills will be more in demand post-pandemic?

 

Basran: I can say from personal experience that our team is spending a lot of time on video calls. Becoming familiar with the different web conference tools will be very helpful as many organizations transition to remote work on a more permanent basis. There are also free or discounted online trainings available in light of the COVID-19 situation that I would encourage graduates to explore. 

Karen Weaver — Associate Clinical Professor, Center for Sport Management, Drexel University

Biagini: The pandemic is prompting many teams to consider significant investments into digital platforms and content. For example, ticket sales, the way it’s done today, is a bit archaic compared to other industries. Reps make 100 calls a day from a list. It works, and it’s effective, but most industries moved on from that style of sales years ago. Better returns may exist in newer methods of digital marketing and targeted campaigns. Consumer behavior is changing. Develop the skills of tomorrow.

Burton: For students who have always imagined working in sports, there are now new sectors that require expertise or skill development. Areas such as fan and player health management (call it bio-security), virtual marketing and engagement, pandemic response, government affairs, esports familiarity, work-from-home fluidity, second-language fluency and other new normal areas that weren’t taught in most college programs. Nimble learners will have an advantage and the leaders who evolve fastest will get picked up or promoted.  

Carmichael: Sales still reigns supreme. There will always be a need for revenue-generators. The most successful ones will think and execute creatively and innovatively. Specific to current and post-pandemic, experience and/or passion for facility hygiene, cleanliness, purification and expertise in ingress and egress from venues will be at a premium.

Filippell: A new skill we think will be important, at least in the short-term, will be public health officials. Anyone who has been in hospital administration or customer service or a doctor or nurse may be in line to enter the sports business. We’ve seen a few of those jobs beginning to get posted. Other general skills? Creativity to solve problems. Many young students are good with tasks. Those who can look at a problem and try to figure out different ways to handle will be in demand.

Igel: We are going to need more people skilled in defining problems than solving problems. And we are still going to need people skilled at effectively organizing and expressing ideas through writing and speaking.

Kadlecek: Evidence of being a self-starter. Work from home is not going away. Need to be technologically nimble. Critical and creative thinking has never been more important. 

Ortegaso: Flexibility and adaptability will be crucial. These skills were always valuable, but given the uncertainty of where things will go, we’ll need individuals who can quickly adapt and apply their skills in various ways to help the business ramp back up. At the Clippers, we challenge ourselves to improve as an organization on a daily basis, and are constantly innovating our business and approach to it. That ability to innovate will be more valuable than ever as the sports industry moves forward. We’ll need creative thinkers with open minds who are willing to think outside of the box.

Perna: A post-COVID sports business could hark back to what is was long ago, i.e., back in the day you had to be a generalist, a jack-of-all-trades. When I started at the Red Wings in the 1980s I did ticket sales; ticket pricing analysis; sponsorship support, then service, then sales; suite sales; at-event promotional activations; team photography; marketing; wrote press releases; performer support for WWE, Globetrotters, Sesame and Disney On Ice; legal documents; risk mitigation; arena operations and more. That was in the first six months. Post-COVID may mean younger staff will need to do multiple jobs in any given day and jettison the idea of being an expert specialist. Perhaps not a bad thing …

Schepp-Berman: Internal communication: Some sectors of the industry may continue working remotely, translating into an increased need for internal communications and business operations managers to keep the organization connected and engaged with co-located staff balancing home and office. Employers will look for strong writers and communicators, as well as those that understand how to leverage technology to keep employees connected with critical information to operate businesses. Operations: As we welcome fans back to venues, higher expectations and practices will be implemented to support fan, player and staff safety. Strong team leaders, effective communicators, and fan-minded service managers will be critical. Digital: Content, activation and interaction will increase, and become more integrated even as live sports come back online.

Weaver: Self-motivation, hungry to learn, and go where the demand is greatest. Have the widest possible vision for considering employment possibilities. 

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