Different Paths into Sports After Graduating with your Bachelor Degree

By: Kolby Castillo

Congratulations or early congratulations for graduating with your Bachelors Degree. You are ready to enter the sports industry. For years, you have worked to be prepared for this transition period. The big question everyone is asking and you are asking yourself is what’s next? Yet, no matter how much you prepared it still feels unsettling. We can never truly be prepared for a moment, just well equipped to handle what comes our way. You have applied for jobs, internships, and grad schools. You spend your time researching opportunities and waiting for a reply back. With everything going on, it has been extra stressful for all of you newly graduates. 

I remember the stress I felt graduating last year. I prepared as much as I could before graduation day. I did the internships, volunteer work, networking, and everything else people say you have to do to get into the sports industry. Gratefully, I was able to get a full-time position working as an Assistant Event Management and Intramural Coordinator. Since last year, I started Sports As a Job where we interview professionals across the sports industry. I have been fortunate enough to hear the stories and the journeys of people we aspire to be like. To help you out, I want to share the different paths you can now take. To ease the burden, here are some options. 

Full-Time Position in Sports

Right off the bat you can look for full-time positions in the sports industry. Be self-aware of who you are, your experiences, and what you are applying for. Sure, many will say it never hurts to apply for everything but make sure you know what you are applying for. A random call may come at any time and if you are not familiar with the position they are talking about that YOU applied for, it will hurt your chances. Another misconception is to get into sales. If you know that sales is not your strong suit, think about what will happen if you get a sales job? Sure you get your foot in the door but that door will close on you quick if you do not produce results.

One point we want to make is to not ignore the opportunities that are not with big name teams, schools, brands, or leagues. It is not a knock to those opportunities but many people overlook the other opportunities that are there. Take a look at the openings with Minor League Baseball, smaller schools, and the less known leagues. 

Read this story about Taylor Fisher the Director of Sales with the Nashville Sounds.
Listen to this podcast about Harold M. Watson NAIA Athletic Director, found that smaller schools were the fit for him. 

Full-Time jobs outside of sports

One thing I always assumed is that you must get a job in sports right away or you will never be able to work in sports. My assumption could not have been proved wrong enough these past couple months. If there are certain job opportunities that arise outside of the sports industry, do not feel that you cannot entertain the opportunity. At the end of the day, you are hired for your skills. If you are constantly gaining and improving skills then you will always be able to transition back into sports. Look for opportunities related to what you want to do in the sports industry. 

Keith Stoeckeler the VP at MKTG and Derek Peterson the Senior Vice President of Operations at Opendorse showed that you can spend years outside of sports. They both have a combined total of nearly 20 years outside of the sports industry. 

Listen toKeith’s story here or Derek’s story here. 

Graduate Assistant

A popular option is being a graduate assistant. All across the country there are College Athletic Departments that are looking for graduate assistants. You would serve in a supporting role,  while completing post-graduate studies. Some GA positions will offer both tuition waiver and a stipend on top of that. There are GA positions in different aspects from marketing to being an assistant coach. One tip is to ensure that if you are looking at certain schools, you will need to take the GRE for some graduate programs. On our Twitter community there are so may current GA's, find us on Twitter to connect. 

Internships

Internships are not just for people in college. While internships typically have an end date, it provides many opportunity. First, you will gain industry related experience. Secondly, it will allow you to network and build relationships. Your foot is in the door now it is up to you make the most out of it. This opportunity can lead to the full-time position you want. An example is, Justin Gaard a radio producer and host where an internship led to a full-time job. 

Entrepreneur

An option outside of the normal is entrepreneurship. Sports As a Job is fortunate enough to have a few guests that decided to start their own business. This is an option that will take a lot of work, it may lead to a successful business or the experience that will assist you in getting a full-time sports position. 

Examples of entrepreneurs are Adam White the Founder/CEO of Front Office Sports. You can read his story here or listen to the podcast here. Jacolby Gilliam is a former student-athlete that started 9ine Point magazine and he still works a full-time job. One of the early guests on the podcasts was Malia Bates. She has started a business of her own called High Key Sport. 

It is important to remember that there is no set path to achieving the goals you set. As you can see through our stories of the people in sports, they all have different paths. Take a look at all the options out there, jobsinsports.com is a great resource that have job posts at the high school sports level all the way to the professional level. Realize that there are many options out there, choose the one that best fits you. These may not be all the options, if there is any we are missing please leave in the comments below what another option is. There is no set path so don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself to stick to one path.