The Work in Sports Podcast - Insider Advice for Sports Careers

What strategy should you use to get your dream sports job? We have a few ideas on that concept, and we explore it in this short video: WIS internal candidates // Video Transcript for "The Secret to Getting Your Dream Sports Job" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: I've spent the majority of my career as a journalist, so it should come as no surprise that one of my favorite things to do is ask intelligent questions of people. I attended the recent Team USA Career Development forum and what was great about this forum is that they had large Q&A panels after their breakout sessions, where you could ask various questions of the Team USA executive staff. I had a chance to speak with the VP of Human Resources and I asked him - when you are hiring, do you have a preference for internal candidates or external candidates? His response made perfect sense. What he said was, sometimes you like to hire an internal candidate because it shows the rest of the staff that if they work hard they can be promoted, plus they already know the system so there is less training involved. He took it a step further saying, sometimes you like to hire external candidates because they bring fresh ideas, experience form somewhere else, ideas on process, creativity or how to achieve goals. His conclusion - each individual situation is different. Well, even though that is a logical and well articulated response - I'd like to take it one step further. If you are in the building, if you are one of those internal candidates, you've had a chance to show who you are, you've had a chance to impress hiring managers, to demonstrate your skill set. These other external candidates haven't had that benefit. The external candidates may be competing against 100 other people just to get noticed, but you, if you are already working in some capacity in the building, have the chance to get noticed every day. My advice to you, and the secret that hiring managers know but don't always share, is that your chances of getting promoted or escalating into your dream sports job are greatly increased by already being in the building. Always find a company you really want to work at and grow in, get your foot in the door and start impressing and knocking the socks off of everyone around you. That will lead to your dream sports job.

The fact that employers in the sports industry expect you to have a versatile and diverse skill set comes as no surprise - but how do you show them you have what it takes? We have an idea you need to incorporate into your next cover letter: WIS demonstrate versatility // Video Transcript for "How to Use Your Cover Letter to Tell the Right Story" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: In today's job market employers are looking for candidates that are versatile. They want people that have a wide array of skills and can accomplish many goals and tasks, rather than a person with a singular skill or a few that they have gone really deep on. Lets use sports marketing as an example: If you are applying for an opening and you are a really good writer, you've enhanced this skill, you've worked on it tirelessly and are a very strong copywriter. The other person applying for this job is a good copywriter, maybe not as strong as you, but they are good enough. They also have a digital portfolio, mastered Photoshop, run advertising campaigns, they've successfully managed people. they understand a CMS system - now all of a sudden, that person can fill many roles at a company and is considered a more valuable hire. So now the question becomes how do you show the hiring manager that you are versatile and have numerous skills? There are two things, obviously you need to include all of your skills on your resume, it's your list of all the things you can do and have done. But what I really want you to do is to turn your cover letter into a story about a time you ran a project and had to multitask executing on many various skills towards a singular goal. Show off how you used your skills! Focus on making your cover letter into an accomplishment story, something you have done that shows you can multitask and be versatile. That will help you stand out to employers.

A recent study regarding job interview techniques adds fresh perspective on how you should prepare for your big day. WorkinSports.com Director of Content Brian Clapp explains: WIS 4th interview // Video Transcript for "The Most Important Part of Your Job interview" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: Transcript coming soon!

On the WorkinSports blog we spend a great deal of time discussing how to land your first job in the sports industry, but in this video we're going one step deeper to discuss what you should do after you land your first job! WIS Secret to Advancing in Sports Careers // Video Transcript for "The Secret to Advancing in Your Sports Career" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: On the Work in Sports blog we often share pieces of advice for getting your first job in the sports industry. That makes sense to us, because the first one is absolutely the hardest one to get...but that is not what we are going to discuss today. Today we're talking about how to advance your sports career after you get that first opportunity. When I first started at CNN, I still remember being this crazy bundle of energy, just so excited to show up to work everyday and show my badge to the security guard like, "I'm allowed to go in here, they are going to let me in here, I work...here!" I was just so proud. I remember approaching one of our lead anchors, a guy by the name of Bob Lorenz, and asking him what advice he had for someone like me, just starting their sports career and looking to make the right name for myself. I still remember to this day exactly what he said to me, and it's one of the greatest pieces of advice I've ever been given: "You have to bring the same level of focus and dedication to the little tasks you are assigned, like running teleprompter, as you would to the big tasks you are assigned, like helping to cover some breaking news story." That advice has resonated with me to this day, the concept of bringing a consistent level of performance to every task, every day. That is what will make managers notice you and know you are reliable no mater what the assignment. That is the secret that will get you noticed, and help you advance far in your sports career.

Applicant Tracking Systems are the bane of many existences, filtering out viable candidates based on keywords rather than expertise - but they are getting better and that is a very good thing: How applicant tracking systems have improved // Video Transcript for "How Applicant Tracking Systems Have Improved and Why That is a Good Thing" Brian Clapp, Director of Content WorkinSports.com: Transcript coming soon

You probably aren't going to love this career advice - but even if it may seem painful, it will definitely be helpful: WIS dream job // Video Transcript for "Why You Should Forget About Your Dream Sports Job (For Now)" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: Let’s imagine for a second that you have just graduated and are looking to break into sports… or you are in a dead end job and you want to transition to a sports career. I want you to take that dream job you have in mind, the one where you are the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox, and I want you to put it away…far, far away. Dissapointed? We’re already advising you to give up on your dreams – what a sham! Slow down. You aren’t giving up on the dream, matter of fact you need to hold on to it tight, because in the initial stages of your career you are going to be nowhere close to it. Most people who find great success in sports business started out ridiculously small, oftentimes volunteering or interning for little or no pay. In studying baseball general managers career paths, it’s amazing how many started in the business world, but as they transitioned to sports had to start over again in some unpaid scouting/video analyst role. No matter what you want to do eventually you have a path to climb to get there. Don’t let the dream cloud your vision for the beginning. If you want to be a sports anchor, you may need to start as a cameraman or production assistant first. If you be the general manager of a sports radio station, you may begin in sales, if you want to work as a sports marketing executive you may start out as a low level social media coordinator. The point is, don’t let your dream job make you too picky or fill you up with too many false expectations – get started and then craft your way to the top.

It's hard being a job seeker, but it's not easy being the person on the other side of the interview in charge of picking the right person either. Hiring managers are a bit paranoid, knowing if they hire the wrong person it can affect the entire business. You can use that pressure to your advantage, here's how: WIS hiring managers trick // Video Transcript for "How to Leverage the Pressure on Hiring Managers to Your Advantage" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content:  One of the things I find very effective when I'm trying to write an article or prepare a strong argument, is to put myself in someone else's shoes. I put myself in the shoes of a hiring manager sometimes and better try to understand their pain points, this strategy helps me relate information to our job seekers. For example, picture yourself as a hiring manager, you get a stack of resumes for an opening you may have and you are trying to decide from this stack of papers who is a good candidate. Here is the problem - PEOPLE LIE ON THEIR RESUMES!' You can't necessarily trust what someone has put down on paper to be an actual representation of who they are. Let's say someone puts on their resume, "I am proficient in AVID non-linear editing" well, does that live up to my expectation of what proficient is, or did they just find that power verb in an ebook they downloaded on how to write their resume. As the person in charge of hiring, I have a problem. I don't know whether to trust the piece of paper, I also don't know if the person attached to this resume will be a cultural fit in my work environment. So what do I do? Most hiring managers, when in doubt, fall back on hiring someone they know and promote from within. That is the secret - hiring managers are more likely to hire from within, to promote someone that is already in the building or to hire an intern on full-time, because they know that person's skill level and can trust it. They know if the candidate is a cultural fit and can trust it. How do you use that secret to your advantage? For one, while in college intern at places you think you may want to work. If that means you need to live in Bristol Connecticut for the summer to intern at ESPN or some other big business in San Francisco or Chicago, do it, because it's your opportunity to make a positive impression and eventually get hired. Take that internship seriously, express who you really are and show people that you are a cultural fit and have the necessary skills. Also, your strategy for entry level jobs should be to explore opportunities at big businesses wherever you can get one, don't be overly picky. Being at a big business like NBC Sports, Nike or Octagon will provide career opportunities and an ability to grow inside the company by working your way up the ladder. By being in the building you are going to be more likely to impress people, to show them what skills you have, to learn what skills you need to advance, to make friends in management and eventually grow your way up. When I've been in charge of hiring I've always been fearful of hiring the wrong person because when you do it's at least a wasted 6 month to a year period. If I hire the wrong person and I train them, integrate them in the staff,

It's the dream of many to become a sports journalist, tasked with writing compelling sports stories for newspapers, magazines and digital media outlets. But the role has changed, there are new skills and responsibilities you need to be aware of if you want a job as a sports journalist. We explain in this short video: sports journalist get camera training // Video Transcript for "Want to be a Sports Journalist? Better Learn This Skill" Brian Clapp, Director of Content WorkinSports.com: Years ago being a sports journalist meant that you just wrote about sports. Now it doesn't. Blow that out of your mind, change your thoughts. Guys like Rick Reilly, Skip Bayless, Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser - these guys were sports writers who worked for newspapers and won awards for their writing, and now they are all media personalities. They are all on camera. Take it even down to a lower level, analysts on regional sports networks used to be pure sports writers and are now analysts talking on camera, doing reports and performing stand ups. Why do I bring this all up? Because if you want to be a sports journalist, start your on camera training now. That is the versatility that stations and networks are looking for. You wil be expected to write for a newspaper, magazine or web site...and be able to go on a local network and talk about the game, and be on Youtube doing a segment on your local sports scene. Sports journalists need to be able to look at a camera, present information and be concise and clear. The last part is a hard thing for writers who are used to creating in a long form manner, on TV they need to be more condensed with their thoughts and articulate quickly. If you want to be a sports journalist this is a skill you need to work on now. If you want to pursure a career as a sports journalist, don't just work on the written word, work on how you present yourself on camera too because that will be a facet of your career.

Finding a sports job can be a monotonous process - find a job, apply for a job, wait to hear something...rinse...repeat. Even if it may not seem it, someone is going to want to interview you at some point and when they do you can't afford to be unprepared or full of anxiety. Follow these simple tips to help make your sports job interview something they won't forget. job search interview plan // Video Transcript for "Tips to Help You Prepare for a Sports Job Interview" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: When you are in job search mode, sometimes things can start to get a little bit repetitive. You are looking for jobs, you find a job, your tailor your resume and cover letter to that job, you send it out to them, you wait. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat. It's the same process over and over again. Then all of a sudden one day someone calls back and says, "We'd like to have you in for a job interview." Immediately the anxiety perks up, and you have to shift from delivering resumes to preparing for a sports job interview interview. It's a complete shift in your frame of mind. The first thing you need to do to get ready for your sports job interview is to start researching. You need to know things like: * How does this business make money? * What are all the different sources of revenue they generate? * Who are their biggest clients? * How long have they had these clients? * How many people work at the company? The more research you can do to figure out the little nitty-gritty statistics and facts, the more your anxiety will start to go away because you have confidence you understand their business. Next, you need to ask yourself the question, " What do I bring to the table that will make this company better?" That is how you will sell yourself during your sports job interview. You need to know what you can do to strengthen this business. The guys and gals asking the questions are hoping you'll be able to sell them on why you are the right candidate, if you can't do it, no one else is going to do it for you. You have to know what you bring to the table. Finally, be prepared to handle anything on your resume that may be a red flag - your interviewers are going to ask you about it, so prepare how you will respond. Maybe you were at a company for only three months and that seems fishy to them - they are going to ask you about it. Maybe you took a few years off to raise a child and you have a blank section of your resume - they are going to ask you about it. The idea here is to prepare yourself for all the negative questions that may come up, the positive things you want to sell about yourself and doing deep research - that will allow you to exude confidence when it come to sports job interview day.

Our sports jobs in focus column takes a deep dive into a specific role in the sports industry, this week we share some tips on being a top notch sports reporter. Enjoy! Sports Jobs in Focus: Sports Reporter // Video Transcript for "Sports Jobs in Focus: Tips for Being a Sports Reporter" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content:  Our sports jobs in focus column does a deep dive each week into a specific position in the sports industry. We explain the role, responsibilities and some tactics you can employ to really thrive in a specific sports career. We believe these columns will help you decide if a certain career is a match for you. This week we are going to discuss being a sports reporter, I don't think you need me to explain the role and responsibilities of that job, anyone interested in the sports industry should understand what it means to be a sports reporter. What we want to do is dig deeper into some tactics, some things you need to master in order to be one of the best sports reporters and really thrive in the sports industry. The first skill necessary for sports reporters is mastering the art of asking questions. Sports reporters need to be able to ask questions that coax answers out of people. If you phrase questions in a manner, especially to athletes who can often act like politicians, that allow for a 'yes' or 'no' or a really cliche answer, they will take it every time and you are left with very little to work with. The most effective way to improve your questioning is by studying the best sports reporters and how they do it. Good questions lead to good answers which leads to good stories. Bottom line. The next skill you have to master as a sports reporter is to be really good at listening. I see this huge problem especially among young sports reporters. So often, young sports reporters have a rigid thought process regarding what questions they are going to ask. After they ask their first question they stop listening to the answer and start mentally preparing how they will ask question #2. What you miss when you do that is the ability to follow up based on what the person said. If you were listening you might shift your questions completely when the interview subject starts to lead you down a different, more interesting path. If you are not listening, you'll never know that opportunity existed. Also, I've seen sports reporters ask questions that their subject just answered, but since they weren't listening they didn't realize and they end up looking foolish. Work on your listening and it will help your storytelling. Also, you have to be really adaptable as a sports reporter. You'll probably enter every situation with a thought process on a story angle, which is smart, but if you are too rigid in that concept you could fail miserably. Envision this scenario - the game ends, you have a few story ideas in mind but once you ask questions in the locker room, the story line doesn't materialize. So what do you do? Your idea just fell apart,

I've written a great deal on preparing for sports job interviews, but I've never discussed how to handle the anxiety or nerves leading up to an interview. This short video will provide three tips that anyone can use to help calm their nerves before their next sports job interview! introverts dilemna // Video Transcript for "Job Interviewing Tips: Dealing with Nerves and Anxiety" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: I've written a bunch of articles on the work in sports blog about interviewing for sports jobs, little tips, little tricks, things to expect. But today we're going to encompass something a little broader - job interviewing tips based around how you feel leading up to sports job interview, and how to get your emotions and anxieties in check to show your true best self. Let's say you are an introvert and you have a sports job interview coming up in another day or so, you are probably as nervous as can be. The whole process is sending shivers down your spine, you can't sleep at night, you've got all these anxious feelings. Let's be honest, even if you are not an introvert you may be feeling a lot of these same anxiety symptoms. We're going to talk about a few tips and tricks you can do to help calm yourself down and make yourself ready to show your true and best self during a sports job interview. Job Interviewing Tip #1 A lot of introverts or nervous people try to script things out. They memorize responses to questions they think may be asked. This is actually a bad mistake. If you try to script out your answers, you never sound natural or confident in what you are saying, plus if you have any stutter, or get a little out of your mental script - then it all falls apart, the anxiety crashes in and everything snowballs. You never get to show who you truly are. The game plan you should go in with, is maybe you write some things down because it helps trigger memories in your mind and keep it sharp, but don't memorize. You need to know information from your heart and your soul, trust in your education, your experience and let that come through. If you go scripted it's not going to work well. Job Interviewing Tip #2 Load up your schedule with other things in advance of your interview. It sounds kind of contradictory, but lets say you have a sports job interview tomorrow, schedule yourself for as much stuff to do as you can possibly jam in today and even the morning before your sports job interview. Book your schedule. The reason is, the more downtime you have the more chance you have to build anxiety in yourself and the more stressed out you become. Then you are not going to do a great job. What you need to do is keep your mind busy, and have a lot of other things scheduled so you go into your reactive mode, where you are just going through your daily motions, not taking a lot of downtime to stress about your up coming sports job interview. Then, when the job interview comes, you can be a little more mellow and prepared because you haven't built up an inordinate amount of tension. Job Interviewing Tip #3 I'll be honest, I'm an extrovert, this sort of thing is very natural to me, interviewing is natural to me and it's sort of my comfort zone. I reached out to a friend who is an executive who presents all the time to large crowds and I know she battles anxiety prior to each speech.

There is a disconnect for many people as they consider their career ambitions - we want to clear something up, to be your best your career and your passion should intertwine: WIS sports can be work // Video Transcript for "Why Work and Play Should Be One and the Same" Brian Clapp, Director of Content, WorkinSports.com: I talk to many High School and College aged students and there is a very common disconnect they all go through when it comes to deciding a career. They have been brainwashed into thinking work is work and play is play, the two things are not meant to touch. It’s as if they are staring a plate of food and yelling at it “eeewwwee, you aren't supposed to touch that’s gross you carrots stay over there and you mashed potatoes go back to your corner” But nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to your career. So many of us have a blind spot and don’t see how sports can be a bigger part of our lives than just entertainment. When people ask me for career advice I ask them simple questions like - what do you love? What do you actually like to study? What doesn’t feel like work? If someone says Football they usually say it like a joke …like telling your parents your favorite class is recess. But the truth is, that is a great answer – because it’s honest and if you are into something and not just going through the motions you are way more likely to not only succeed but to be happy! So here’s the big takeaway, sports can be your work, so stop dismissing that burning desire inside of you and start figuring out how. Maybe it’s as a trainer for a football team, maybe it’s in operations or ticket sales or marketing or PR, or turf management – these are all careers that put you right next to your love of sports and this is just a few jobs off the top of my head there are countless more!

Yet another video version of our Sports Jobs Q&A column where you submit the question and we give you our expert opinion. This weeks question comes from Anna in Alpharetta, Georgia who wants to know if she should add some personality and creativity to her resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile...here's our take: WIS qa resume personality.MTS // _ // ]]> Video Transcript: "Sports Jobs Q&A - Should You Add Personality to Your Professional Profile?" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: Anna from Alpharetta, Georgia has our featured question in our Sports Jobs Q&A column this week. Anna wants to know if it's OK for her to inject some personality and creativity into her resume, cover letter and Linked In profile. She's been asking some of her friends and they all seem to be kind of stodgy and boring - they are advising her to keep everything cold and professional, while she feels like she should add in some creativity. She wants to know what we think and I think it's very simple Anna, it all depends on what type of a job you are applying for. If you are applying for something that requires you to do a lot of creative writing, a TV producer or even in sales where you have to show an ability to connect with clients - it's very important to show creativity and personality because they are attributes for those jobs. So it's up for you to decide, does this job require creativity and personality? If it does, absolutely include those in your personal portfolio. Just remember, being creative does not mean printing out your resume on pink paper so that it stands out from the stack. Creativity is something much different than that - it should show your true self rather than be some gimmick to get noticed. If you are wondering if you have gone too far, I think you have already gone too far. Just make sure you stay in a comfortable zone and that the creativity you display represents you to the best of your ability. Thanks for your question Anna - if you have a question you want answered for our next Sports Jobs Q&A column just add them below in the comments!

Catchy title right? Before you go off thinking this is some advice to help you work less hours and make more money - it's not (although that would be cool). This video is targeted towards those people who want to grow at work and yet keep travelling the wrong route to do so. Enjoy! WIS Mitch Richmond.MTS // Video Transcript for "How to Make Yourself a Better Employee Without Working Harder" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: (transcript coming soon)

Careers in sports marketing are some of the most sought after opportunities on WorkinSports.com, so how can you make yourself stand out from the competition? One way is to understand what employers really want, our Director of Content Brian Clapp has some insider knowledge that can really assist you! WIS Sports Marketing.MTS // Video Transcript for "How to Stand out for a Sports Marketing Career" Brian Clapp, WorkinSports.com Director of Content: It's fair to say that sports marketing and sports sales comprise a really high percentage of the jobs available on WorkinSports.com. I read this quote recently from a marketing executive and I think it applied really well to the sports industry. If I remembered who the marketing executive was, I'd give them credit, tell you how smart they are - but I don't. So I'm just going to steal the quote and pretend that it's mine - well, not really. The quote goes like this - "Marketing is 10% ideas and 90% execution". I think this is genius because I've worked at companies where we have had these great off-site meetings where we sit around and brainstorm and come up with this incredible outline of ideas. So many people are creative, but there is a dearth of people who are executors. We've made these boards, and filled them up with ideas - but so many of these great ideas end up falling flat or never happening, never getting legs. So what does this mean for you? What it means is you need to focus on how you are an executor. I think this is a great technique to bring to the table in an interview. If you want to work in sports marketing you may be asked to explain your great ideas during an interview - but what the hiring manager really wants to hear is how you made them happen. How you took them from the idea phase to the execution phase. If you can show those things on your resume and in the interview process, that will be the thing that makes you stand out for sports marketing careers. I've never been at a company that had a dearth of ideas - but we have all had a problem with execution, myself included. So focus on that in your resume and interview process and you may be able to stand out in the sports marketing field.