How to (Roughly) Determine Your Odds of Landing a Coveted Position in Nashville

As Metropolitan Nashville recruiters, we’ve spoken with more than 25,000 local job candidates over the last 18 years. And, through those discussions, we’ve learned a great deal. We were recently asked what was the #1 dream job to which Nashvillians aspired – and had no problem providing the answer: “A marketing position with a local professional sports team.”

Over the years, we’ve heard this answer from hundreds of prospective candidates – even from some who have little or no marketing experience. But that doesn’t surprise me, as it seems like it would be a ton of fun. However, how practical is it? Well, let’s look at the numbers:

GREATER NASHVILLE AREA:

Civilian Labor Force .............................................. 1,112,600

Linkedin: “Marketing” in Current Job Title .................?11,000

Marketing jobs with local Pro Sports Teams .....................?14

Predators (5):?VP Level (1);?Dir. Level (1);?Mgr. Level (2);?Coord. Level (1)

Titans (4):?VP Level (1);?Dir. Level (1);?Coord. Level (2)

Nashville Soccer Club (3): Mgr. Level (2);?Coord. Level (1)

Sounds (1):?Dir. Level (1)

That’s right; there are?13?marketing positions with professional sports teams in Nashville. Now, this number does not include positions in media relations, broadcast, ad sales, ticket/suite sales or the handful of graphic and web designers. I’ll leave it to others to argue over what related job titles should fall under a much broader definition of marketing.

My point, here, is not that you should abandon all hopes of pursuing your dream job. Instead, I’m suggesting that all of us balance our desires with a measure of reality.

As we explain to job candidates, a lot of information about your odds of finding a specific position is right at your fingertips. For example, if you lose your unique job in your chosen field of “Consumer Insights” – you can quickly learn, through a Linkedin search, that 22 other people in the Greater Nashville have those words in their job title. Faced with this reality, it might be wise to consider a “Plan B” resume to attract related positions – or positions focused on your secondary skill sets.

Of course, there may be a few others doing consumer insights related work – without it being incorporated into their job title. You can place the words “consumer insights” in the key words section on the Linkedin search page and discover others in Nashville who include this in their profiles. Granted, these two words may not apply to a specific job that candidate has ever held – and the two words might even be out of context – but it’s worth diving in and doing some research. This will help you to develop a local target list of employers who may possibly value your unique skill.

Final thought: Each day we do our best to provide practical, informed and honest advice. On the flip side, we also encourage candidates to follow their dreams, no matter how remote, as long as they have a burning passion and willingness to do whatever it takes - no matter how the odds are stacked against them. However, it’s always smart to have a “Plan B” – as you keep working towards that “dream position”.

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Considering a job change? Need some candid and practical free career and/or resume advice???Just send your resume and availability for a 20-minute phone call to ([email protected]) – and someone will be in touch to schedule a phone conversation.

Note:?We don’t charge for this consultation time and FiveChairs earns 100% of all placement fees from employers. Our interest is in possibly representing you - either confidentially in our TalentRegistry - or through our online TalentPool.

FiveChairs is a Nashville-based recruiting firm, and has been one of the area's top recruiting firms since 2003.