“The Real World”

This week I was lucky enough to be asked to join The PCA and speak at their Transition Conference. This conference is designed to help current and ex professional cricketers’ transition into what we call “The Real World”

When playing professional sport, you naturally have to live and breathe it so when it’s all over and the boots get hung up the thought of what next is often a frightening one. I met a number of cricketers on Wednesday, 3 of which have played internationally on the biggest stage of all but even with all that self-brief and confidence “the real world” seemed a scary place to live.

We covered a range of topics but for me I came away with 5 key points which I wish I had done when I was playing to help me with this tricky transition.

Planning

It seemed silly but not too many of the lads had a life after cricket plan, however I bet if I had asked them what new skill they wanted to perfect over the winter they would all know, slower ball, reverse sweep etc etc. They would have known what to do, how to do it, the training required in skills and fitness and also may have spoken with a coach or even better someone who has already mastered that skill and is a top performer. Taking that approach into the real world seemed obvious to me and I now hope obvious to them.

Asking for help

One of the guys when asked “what job do you see yourself doing after cricket” replied with “no idea I just see a blank”. Asking for help was the 2nd major point I picked up on. Asking for help can be seen as a sign of weakness but these guys aren’t weak they are professional cricketers, physically fit, skinny jeans on and ready to go, so asking for guidance was foreign territory. The key part was they didn’t know what to ask, we spoke about some simple questioning and using open questions when meeting people whether that be sponsors, people at golf days, people they know or even ex-players. Questions like, What do you do? How did you get into it? What qualification would I need? What’s the career progression like? What’s my earning potential? And could I come and do work experience with you? This is where the PCA come in and have a raft of client and contacts that the guys can call to ask for that much needed leg up or help.

Networking

We all talk about it but only a few of us do it, I’m actually sat on the train to Paddington now off to a Compliance Conference run by PRG for the Lloyds of London market. It’s part of my job but I love it and as they say “people buy from people” and the positive thing for cricketers is that they have a good story to tell. Yes at the right time they will need to get their game face on and talk shop but by and large most people are fascinated by the experience we as cricketers have of playing professional sport. The opportunity to build rapport is strengthened by this common ground or interest and allows a potential employer to see past skills experience, in some cases skills can be learned and the focus is more on your ability and how you may fit in with the team. After all, all professional sports people have a winning mind set and who doesn’t want that in their organisation. 

Get smart

This isn’t about your IQ or how fast you can do the fiendish sudoku but more about once you have tested the water with a few options and you know what you want to do, then do it. If you want to stay in cricket and become a coach then get your Level 4 and be an expert. If you want to move into the corporate world understand what courses will help when interviewing, like a Prince 2 for Project Management. Or if you want to become a plumber, get on a course and call up a few local plumbers to see if you can help them out in the winter when in pre-season mode. Having a project working alongside cricket is proven to improve your cricket so max out your time and be proactive to the transition and not reactive.

Face your fear

After playing on the biggest stage of all, its frightening to think you might have to go back to being on trial and learn something all over again. The key part here is to make it happen, no one can do it for you but with the support of the PCA every cricketer has a fantastic opportunity, more than most to tackle this transition head on and be successful. Life after cricket can be equally rewarding as life in cricket.

For me I never did any of the above and got lucky, but then again someone once said, “you make your own luck in life” so I hope by sharing my experience of my transition it will help a few not to make the same mistakes I made. I also hope it gave them the confidence that if I can do it so can they, and finally learn from what I didn’t do and use that to help make their transition as smooth as possible.

Now that I am in the world of recruitment day to day we talk with candidates who are making a move whether that be for a career progression, a sector change or even just for a higher salary. Whatever the driver for the candidate its imperative that we as recruitment consultants at PRG understand transition is a scary time for everyone. But if there is a solid process, a plan of actions which ultimately result in a better job, or work life balance then it’s our duty as the experts to help navigate the people we represent in the market through this wonderful maze we call the “Real World”