Leaving Your Mark: Search Firms Filling Head Coaching Vacancies

In a few different posts on this blog over the years, I have referenced recruiters and search firms in the sports and entertainment industry.  As some of you know, I worked at Turnkey Sports and Entertainment as a Senior Execuitive Recruiter for three years.  I completed searches from the Director-level up to C-level in the four major sports, MLS, motorsports, and collegiate marketing properties.  All of these positions were on the "business" side with no direct tie-in to the field or court.  

 

Leaving Your Mark: Random Job Search Facts

I’ll admit it- I am somewhat of a nerd when it comes to the job search process.  It is sort of like a game…a puzzle, if you will.  In today’s economy (whether you are you searching in sports or not), you have to be a smart, proactive, and aggressive job seeker.  The “smart” aspect is what I am going to focus on for the purposes of this “random facts” blog.  I want you to be a savvier job-seeker.

·         Using the Sports Business Journal, review the Executive Transactions and Classifieds sections every day.   Try to wrap your head around why a person might be leaving one place for another.  Put yourself in their shoes.  Aside from personal reasons or more money, why leave team x to go to team y?

·         When reading articles, be on the lookout for teams, franchises, or leagues that are experiencing growth/success and decline/failure.  If you notice that a team had record profits, they may be hiring.  If they are opening up new offices or expanding their headquarters, they may be hiring.  If you see that a league is folding (WPS) or is hemorrhaging money, you may not want to apply for a job there.

·         Look for those teams that might be going through an ownership change or relocation.  Take a look at the 76ers; when their new owners took over in late 2011, they made it clear that they were re-thinking the way that they did things in the past from a business perspective.  Since they weren’t under the Comcast Spectacor umbrella, CEO and Co-Owner Adam Aron wanted to implement his own vision.  (Read: bring in his own people.)

·         Look for a connection or a relationship that might get your foot in the door.  Did the Manager of Ticket Sales at the Philadelphia Eagles go to your high school (for me, yes!)?  Is there a Drexel alum working at the Philadelphia Phillies (also yes!)?  Did your best friend or roommate work for a team that you want to do your Co-op at or work for after graduation?

·         When applying for jobs in Teamworkonline.com or any other job board, review the job posting with a fine-tooth comb; try to match up what the description calls for with your resume.  Pay attention to keywords and phrases.  If there is an HR software in place, it will pick up on them.

·         Pay attention to other non-SBJ resources like the ESPN Playbook and MSNBC Sports Biz.  Also, non-sports resources like The Wall Street Journal may provide clues that can help in your job search; they periodically will provide intel on a sports franchise from the financial perspective.

Be an educated job seeker and you will be rewarded!

By: Mark Gress

Job search: avoid extremes!

As if you didn’t know this already, the sports industry is a unique one…as are our degrees, whether they be in Sport Management or Sports Marketing (or some variation of that).  This is especially true as it relates to one’s career in sports.  With a Sport Management/Marketing degree, you could, in theory, do marketing, sales, operations, HR, and service, among many other possible disciplines.  You could do these things at any level whether it be at a college, minor league team, professional organization, agency, or anywhere in between.  However, as a job seeker, the question you should consider is: do I cast a wide net and be open to any and all opportunities?  Or should I have a very specific and targeted job search?  These are two VERY different things.

If you decide that you want to cast a wide net and consider almost any job that comes your way in sports, there are some positives and negatives to be associated with this.  On the positive end, you are being flexible and are not being narrow-minded.  On the negative side, you may come across as not being focused or not being especially strong in one particular area.  Think “jack of all trades, master of none”.  In the end, more opportunities will be available to you with this mindset.  Just be careful in answering the (interview) question of what do you want to do after you graduate/where do you see yourself in five years by saying “I’ll do anything”. 

If you decide to be more specific and targeted in your job search, likewise, there are some plusses and minuses.  On the plus side, you know what you want to do.  You carved out your niche and claim to be an expert or at least have some skills and interest in a particular area.  Your job search is going to be very narrow but could be effective especially when it comes to networking.  On the negative side, you are limiting your opportunities.  If you only want to work in the NFL doing marketing, you must prepare yourself mentally that there are only 32 opportunities.  This isn’t even taking into account location…which brings us to our next point.

One final thing to keep in mind is that location also plays a role in this conversation.  Being open to relocating anywhere in the world or being tied to a 10 mile radius from your home also concern me as a career counselor and would concern most HR people and recruiters.  Being open to anywhere and everywhere could bring into question your stability while being hunkered down at your home base makes people believe you are sheltered and not willing to take risks.

The moral of this whole story is to avoid extremes.  As a job seeker, avoid extremes on both ends and consider more of a middle ground.  It is ok to want to and have a preference to work in a certain sector of the sports industry (pro, college, etc.) doing specific tasks (marketing, sales, etc.) but it would behoove you to be open to exploring opportunities in similar or closely-related fields.  It is also ok to say that you prefer to work in the Northeast part of the country but that you are open to the East Coast and would explore opportunities elsewhere if they were the right fit and if the timing was right.

Have your job search preferences and best-case scenarios front of mind but be flexible enough to consider alternatives or back-up plans.  Otherwise, the search could take more patience than you have to offer…