Showing posts with label career path. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career path. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
10 Seems to Be the Magic Number
Where you are after ten years seems to be indicative of where you're headed. In the last two weeks, this idea has popped up in several conversations with various, and independent, people. The premise from each of them seems to be that the first ten years is about doing the work, paying your dues, taking on projects to get yourself noticed, learning new areas, and creating your network. After those first ten years is when you start to see the financial gains and the title changes that could eventually lead to a climb to the top of the mountain. The first ten years will establish your foundation and set the pace for where you go after that.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
No Single Career Path
I'm working on a book for which I came up with the idea in 2004. (I finally convinced a former professor to join me in writing it.) As part of the research, I'm interviewing quite a few successful people in the sports industry. I recently interviewed a classmate and he brought up a very good point that I think is worth writing about here, especially considering the emails I get asking how to break into the sports industry.
If you want to be a doctor or an accountant or a teacher, it's pretty clear what steps you need to take to get there. Even when you're in junior high or high school, you have an idea of what you need to do. At that same age, you may know that you enjoy sports and want to work in the sports industry, but what's the career path? The answer is that there's not one clear career path. There may be similarities, but there aren't any hard core specific paths.
My classmate's advice, and I agree with him, is to start early in volunteering. He talked about how he didn't do this, but wished he would have, and wished that someone would have given him that advice. He noted that it might have cut down on the number of internships (four) that he had to take before getting a permanent job. I can say that I was the same way in not doing as much work in sports early on as I could/should have. It didn't occur to either one of us and neither of us is sure why.
There is ALWAYS a sports organization that needs volunteer help. It could be a youth team, a university athletic department, a national or regional governing body, the local sports commission, a sports event that is coming to town, or any number of things. Interestingly, he has not been the only one to give this advice. Another associate in a prominent sports position mentioned that she advises young people with whom she speaks to volunteer with an organization or team in an athletic department that has nearly zero funding. This is a way to get experience, make your mark, and/or gain some resume credibility.
Even if the area where you're volunteering isn't an area that you think is your ultimate career dream, you'll still learn something from the experience. Seek out those opportunities and gradually take on more responsibilities as you feel comfortable. It will give you experience and also build up your personal network.
If you want to be a doctor or an accountant or a teacher, it's pretty clear what steps you need to take to get there. Even when you're in junior high or high school, you have an idea of what you need to do. At that same age, you may know that you enjoy sports and want to work in the sports industry, but what's the career path? The answer is that there's not one clear career path. There may be similarities, but there aren't any hard core specific paths.
My classmate's advice, and I agree with him, is to start early in volunteering. He talked about how he didn't do this, but wished he would have, and wished that someone would have given him that advice. He noted that it might have cut down on the number of internships (four) that he had to take before getting a permanent job. I can say that I was the same way in not doing as much work in sports early on as I could/should have. It didn't occur to either one of us and neither of us is sure why.
There is ALWAYS a sports organization that needs volunteer help. It could be a youth team, a university athletic department, a national or regional governing body, the local sports commission, a sports event that is coming to town, or any number of things. Interestingly, he has not been the only one to give this advice. Another associate in a prominent sports position mentioned that she advises young people with whom she speaks to volunteer with an organization or team in an athletic department that has nearly zero funding. This is a way to get experience, make your mark, and/or gain some resume credibility.
Even if the area where you're volunteering isn't an area that you think is your ultimate career dream, you'll still learn something from the experience. Seek out those opportunities and gradually take on more responsibilities as you feel comfortable. It will give you experience and also build up your personal network.
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