Unpaid Internships

When I was an undergrad, I was involved in almost every business group on campus (I majored in Business, not Sports Administration). Each one of the organizations, at some point, would have someone come in and talk about resumes/internships/job interviewing/etc. Often it was staff from the Career Resource Center or recruiters from companies interviewing on campus. Over and over I heard people say that if we had taken an unpaid internship, we should note on our resume that it was unpaid. They said that an unpaid internship was impressive because it showed that we were dedicated. They told us that it showed them we valued the key learnings that we would get from an organization (such as IBM) if we were willing to work for free. Fourteen years and one week removed from my college graduation day, I'm calling BULLSHIT!

There are some pretty big name organizations out there that still won't pay interns. I don't understand this. For years, Nike and other companies got hammered for paying low wages to international workers. Why and how is offering unpaid internships in this country still OK? Yes, interns are receiving training from top-notch organizations, but they're also doing work for them and contributing to the company.

I often tell people to volunteer for events to break into the sports business and start developing their network, and I still firmly believe that they should. The difference is that volunteering is done for the one or two days for a few hours a day. An internship is usually several months for ten and twelve hours a day, sometimes six or seven days a week.

In my last posting, I advised people to find organizations with name recognition for their internship. I'm still holding to that. Here's the amendment, though. If they're unpaid internships, think twice. I'll even change that to flat out say don't take them. They should pay something. They don't have to pay the equivalent of an executive salary, but interns do provide value and should be compensated for it. Graduate interns are just a few short months away from being the same people these companies will hire.

Thank goodness that I encountered the voices of sanity when I got to graduate school. I know what the stance was of the SAFM program with Dr. Kreutzer and Dr. Higgins at Ohio, and I'm pretty sure it's still the same. They never told anyone that they couldn't take an unpaid internship, but they sure didn't support it. They advised us to think long and hard about that decision.

If you're in a graduate program, what is your program's stance? Do they have one? It might be a good question to ask if you're interviewing to get into a program to see just how much value they put on your talents coming out of their program.

Finding Sports Internships

There are a lot of internships out there for sports students. Some of them are pretty obvious--university athletic departments, professional sports teams and leagues, sporting goods companies. If you know that's the type of work you want, those are easy enough to find posted on the organizations' job boards.

I had a friend the other day tell me that he advises students to try to get their internship with an organization that is well-known and has name recognition in sports. I hadn't thought about it before, but the more we talked, the more I agreed with him. When you search for your first job, it's sometimes a different story (subject of a future blog), but it makes a lot of sense in looking for internships. When future employers see Disney or NFL or Nike or University of Florida or Octagon or USOC on a resume, they know what they are. They also have some pre-conceived ideas that go with those names that can work to your advantage. When I see names like that on a resume, I immediately start thinking some of the following:

- They understand customer service. I won't have to re-train them on going the extra mile. They may even rub off on some of my employees.
- That's a hard internship to get. This person must be pretty solid.
- They have to have seen, and now understand, the business side of sports.
- They've seen the details and intricacies of running a sports business. They understand it's about more than just being a fan.

Right, wrong, or indifferent, landing those types of internships gives people a leg up. Look for them and see what you can find. Every website has a jobs section somewhere on it. It may be down at the bottom or off to one side. If it's not blatantly listed as Jobs or Careers or Employment, try the About Us section. If you still can't find it, search within their website or Google "jobs at _______."

References Available Upon Request

I've been working with a few of the students as they start to pursue sports internships for the summer. The next several posts will relate to areas of job/internship searches, resumes, interviewing, etc.

References available upon request. This is a common phrase that people put at the bottom of their resumes. I don't remember who gave me this advice, but I remember someone once told me that I shouldn't put that phrase on my resume. Instead, I should automatically include a list of references as my last page. The idea is that if I want this person to hire me, why make them work any harder than they have to by contacting me for additional information? I should make it as easy as possible for them to get as much information on me as they want.

For years now, I've done this. I've also passed this advice on to others. I now look for this, too, on all the resumes I receive for jobs. If I don't have to call and ask for a list of references, it also helps speed up the interview process. I will often call references before I even interview candidates. In some cases, it's helped people get on my interview list who wouldn't have been on it if all I had was their resume to review. Again, it all comes back to, and is related to, the professional network a person has. Make sure you have strong references who know you well and can speak about your talents.

It's a little thing, but it's often little things that make a big difference.

Competition vs. Cooperation

I've been searching on the Internet to find out who first said that youth is wasted on the young. According to thinkexist.com, it was George Bernard Shaw. I guessed Mark Twain. Seemed like something he would have said. It was 100% true with me and I'm seeing that it is still holding true.

I absolutely LOVE being around a college campus again and working with students. I definitely want to get my PhD and teach, even if I only teach part-time and pursue other options full-time. There are certain things about being around students, though, that are really tough for me. I now understand the frustration that my mentors went through with me.

With two or three exceptions, the students I've come across this year don't fully grasp that the people in their class are going to be their network for the rest of their professional lives and not their competitors. They could do themselves a huge favor by eliminating the internal competition and focusing on cooperation. It's not as if they don't like one another or don't get along, because they do. It's just that they're ultra competitive with one another. I've seen it firsthand, this weekend being the most recent example. One of the students was incredibly secretive and evasive when asked what internship she was applying for when another student was giving her an update on some reference information.

They're so worried about other students going head-to-head with them for opportunities. They don't want to tell others who are interested in the same line of work where they're applying. In contrast, if they helped one another through the process and made sure that at least someone in their network gets the internship if they don't, they'd be so much better off. They'd have someone they know in that area who could help them out in the future! It's not the easiest thing for competitive people to do, but by helping one another, by being happy when one person does well, by accepting competition for internships, and by being willing to let their merits go head-to-head against anyone, it would solidify their reputation within their class as someone who's willing to help others reach their goals. Yet, they're secretive and they hide information.

The greatest example I've come across of what people would ideally be like when working with those who are also competing with them was the description of Lincoln in Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Lincoln took the idea of cooperation to levels I can't even fathom. I think it's one of the things that made him such a great leader. He chose four men whom he beat out for the presidency for major positions in his cabinet, any/all of whom were expected to be elected over Lincoln. He was continually back-stabbed by people in his cabinet, yet he knew that they had the best talents for the jobs. And even though they treated him that way, he never reciprocated. He chose these men because although they were competitors, he wanted them around him because they had the best talents for the jobs.

Again, cooperating with people you view as competitors isn't easy. It's really damned hard, because that behavior may not be returned! I can scream about it until I'm blue in the face, but like almost everyone through time, there are life lessons that we only learn through our own experiences, and not from others trying to teach us. Just be open to the idea of cooperation instead of competition.

Referrals

In one of the summer seminar classes for the MBA/MSA students here at Ohio University, the instructor talks about the importance of referrals to the sales process. Referrals can be referrals for selling sponsorships/tickets/etc. and even referrals to other people in the industry to help you sell yourself in order to get a job/internship. One of the things he hits on is the importance of following-up with those people who gave you the referral. It’s important just to update them on what happened with their referral and let them know the status. You don’t have to give them constant updates. It can be as simple as “I contacted “x” and we have a follow-up call scheduled for next week. Thanks again for the contact.” I have to say that in the last several weeks I've experienced this firsthand.

One of the students in the class of 2009 is a close friend. Several weeks ago, one of her classmates asked me to help him out in pursing contacts in the pro sport of his choice. I was happy to do it. Helping students find and build their network is actually one of the things I really enjoy doing. I have two classmates in the sport of his choice. I contacted them personally, gave them info on this student, and then asked if he could schedule some time to talk to them. Both of them took time out of their schedule to talk to him. (That's part of the beauty of the OU SAFM network. Almost everyone is willing to help out fellow SAFM people.)

I've yet to hear another word from this student. Last week at an SAFM event I saw him and asked him how the conversations went. He told me that they went well and that one of my classmates gave him a suggestion that could lead to an internship. Great news! I’m really happy for this guy, but it would have been nice to hear this several weeks ago when it happened. None of us in the industry who help students are asking them to grovel at our feet or kiss our asses, but basic courtesies go a long way. I’m not saying that I absolutely won’t help this guy again if he asks, but I’m honestly not sure how much effort I’ll put forth on his behalf. I’ll think twice about it before I make a final decision, that’s for certain.

Delegating

I just came back from working the ING New York City Marathon. One of the things that I think is hardest for people to learn is how to delegate to the other people, whether people who report directly to them or people who are reporting to them only on a specific project. This came out loud and clear with some of my former colleagues at the marathon. A leader’s job is to lay out the plan and overall vision for a project and then delegate areas of that project to her direct reports. There will be areas that she will manage, and she should know what is happening in all of the areas her direct reports are managing.

I saw a situation occur this weekend where a leader kept such tight control of an event that on the day of the event, his direct reports told a colleague of mine that none of them knew what they were supposed to do for the event (what their responsibilities were) because their leader, who was managing the event, was supposed to give them their assignments, but he never got around to telling them. This was scary to see because there was a lot that needed to be done, yet one person was the only one who knew the plan and he and was trying to complete it alone.

Too many people want to hang on to their areas of responsibility. I think it stems from a couple of issues: thinking that no one can do it better than they can and fear that someone else will be doing their job, and hence, taking away their spotlight. What they don’t realize is that they’re not doing themselves or their direct reports any type of justice by doing this. Good leaders understand and follow the mantra that in order to move up, you’ve got to give up, meaning that in order to grow and climb the ladder of an organization, you have to give up specific control of areas. This doesn’t mean that you give up responsibility for something, but rather that you give up the detailed control. You still oversee an area and are ultimately responsible for it, but you’re not the one hashing out the details. As a leader, you assign new areas to your staff and guide them through the minefield. They walk through the minefield on their own, but you as their leader never allow them to even get close enough to a land mine to cause any damage. One of the keys is to have regular (weekly) meetings with them to review their projects and guide them through the problem areas. A leader should understand all of the areas that report to him and know what is happening in them by way of regular updates from his staff. Giving up the specific tasks allows a leader to take on broader responsibilities and create future leaders by developing their talents. Good leaders lead managers. Great leaders develop and lead other leaders.

Books

I love books. If I could have one thing free for the rest of my life, it would be books. I can drop a fortune in Barnes & Noble or on Amazon.com in a New York Minute. I'll go in spurts where I'll read several books a week. I just like to know what information is out there and how other people look at things. I'm always curious to see what people are reading or talk to them about the latest book they've read. In order to continue your growth once you leave school, try to read a least a few books each year, preferably more. Take a look occasionally at the best seller list, the business best seller list, or the business section at your local Barnes & Noble. Try out a couple of books and find an author you like. There are certain ones I love, others I can't stand, and some I liked to start out, but grew out of. You'll always learn something from every book you read, even if it's as simple as the fact that you don't like that author's writing style and that you'll never torture a reader like that with your own writing. To quote Tom Peters (one of my favorite business authors), "If I read a book that cost me $20 and I get one good idea, I have gotten one of the great bargains of all time."

Let me know what some of your favorite books are.