Sports industry networking and growth tips

Updated 12/12/2020

As some of you may know, I have the honor to serve as an adjunct professor for Canisius College. Before the final exam each semester, I like to dedicate some time to discuss career planning and share networking and growth tips that are specific to the sports industry.

With the COVID-19 epidemic disrupting class schedules and the job market, I felt it was important to share this advice with a broader audience in the event it could help graduating seniors that have been impacted by the crisis or interns that may have had their experience cut short due to this awful virus.

I've made a few adjustments and added a few items to make this a better fit for the LinkedIn audience, but if you have advice you would like to share, feel free to do so in the comments. You never know what will resonate with someone and help inspire them to continue pursuing an opportunity or fighting for their chance.

• The sports industry is SMALL! Everybody knows everybody (I cannot stress this enough) – so reputation and proper networking are the best ways to work your way in. It’s cliché, but the industry is very much about “who you know."
• Reputation matters! Your personal social media is a major part of that reputation, whether you like it or not. Think carefully about what you share on twitter and Instagram - but also about how these platforms can be used as an asset to help you interact with the right people to help land the job you want. (I have reviewed resumes where the applicant was critical of my employer in their twitter bio)
• Sports industry professionals congregate on Twitter and LinkedIn. Follow the hashthags #smsports and #sportsbiz and find ways to respectfully interact with the community in order to become a familiar face in the landscape. Praise work that resonates with you. Ask questions about why someone approached a campaign a specific way. The sports industry community is friendly, helpful and welcoming, but you have to contribute to the community to be part of it.
• Contact industry executives that inspire you – but let them know why you are reaching out and be prepared to ask insightful, well-researched questions about their role and background. Don’t ask for a job out of the gate. That is the fastest way to get written off. Don’t ask if there are openings. That is information that is super easy to find on your own.
• Don't just focus on networking with senior executives. Young professionals who have a few years of experience can offer you great advice and may have insights that may be more relevant at this stage in your career. Everyone has a different path, but we all have advice to offer.
• Don't start networking when it is time to get a job after graduation. Networking should begin as early in your college career as possible. 
• Networking is an opportunity to build meaningful relationships. This is about quality, not quantity. It's not about amassing the largest network possible, you want to connect with people who will be able to mentor and guide you through this very unique landscape.
• Take networking seriously, but don't overdo it. You want to show others that you can be a reliable and insightful professional that is easy to work with. That means you should not reach out to 10 people at the same organization or get overly aggressive with contacting industry professionals. We all talk. This industry is so small and social media has only made it smaller.
• Reach out at the right time! For example, not during a game or on the first day of free agency. There are few "slow times" in sports, but anyone with an understanding of the industry should be able to identify a less busy period. Be thoughtful about your approach always.
• Need experience? Contact your college athletics department ASAP. You may be able to gain practical experience and begin building relationships and the staff often has connections to others in the industry.
• Start looking at job postings for your goal positions now. Not for the purpose of applying for that job, but for getting a better understanding of the expectations associated with the position and the skills you should focus on learning. It will also give you a clearer picture of just how rare your perfect position is.
• If you plan on using Teamwork Online or other similar sites to apply for jobs, make sure your profile is optimized and you use a current resume in PDF format. If you are a creative, make sure your portfolio is easy to find. Sports teams get hundreds of resumes and if it takes more than five minutes to find your portfolio, there's a good chance your resume will be passed over.
• When applying for a job, your task is not complete once you hit send on the application. Use your research skills and determine if there is a way you can leverage your network to get an interview or stand out among the others applying for that job. LinkedIn is great for this, which means you need to invest time and energy in the platform.
• Diversify your internship experience! It's always better to figure out what you like/don't like at the start of your career. If you stick with the same job or internship every summer, you won't grow and learn at the same rate - or meet new people. 
• The NHL and NFL have positions called RTCs or LSCs that capture social content on behalf of the league and each team playing – keep an eye on Teamwork Online for these postings. This is a great way to gain valuable experience while connecting with every team in the respective league.
• I will rarely advocate working for free, but if there is a volunteer opportunity that can give you additional relevant experience - pursue it if you are able to handle it from a financial standpoint.
• When it comes to volunteering, think outside the box. If you can provide a valuable contribution, take the risk of reaching out and offering your services. There might be a local wooden bat college baseball league that needs an extra set of hands on their Instagram account on Thursday nights during the summer.
• The sports industry is broad - and new opportunities and positions are created often. It's not just about working for pro teams or Division I athletic departments. Working on the agency side, or with a publisher - or even with a consumer goods company that markets through sports can be a way you can build a career that intersects with something you love.
• Just because you are not able to get a call back from an employer out of the gate, it does not mean you'll never get your foot in the door. Don't be in a rush to get to the finish line, it will take years to find the position you want. Enjoy the journey and use that time to build relationships and skills - no matter where you are. Always be planning and moving towards your goal.

For seniors who are graduating this spring and hope to work on the marketing side of sports, there are plenty of free online courses that can help bolster your understanding of the digital landscape.

• Hubspot Academy has a ton of free social and digital media marketing classes
• Google Digital Garage offers free courses on SEM, analytics and more
• Facebook Blueprint offers a free (and challenging!) class on social advertising. Be sure to check out the case studies for the sports industry too.
• Code Academy - tons of free classes to help you learn programming (and other things)
• Have a library card? You can get LYNDA.com / LinkedIn Learning for free. 

I would also recommend checking out edX, Coursera, Kahn Academy, etc. YouTube also has some great tutorials that can help you get more comfortable with the Adobe Creative Suite.

Pay close attention to what other sports teams and brands are doing on social and digital. Save the links to your bookmarks and evaluate everything they do as critically as possible multiple times per day. Try to figure out the reason and strategy behind their approach. Look at the creative, the message, the level of interaction, the time of day it was posted, was there a sponsor? The more time you spend paying attention to the work, the easier it will be to understand.

Lastly, stay aware of industry news. There are some great websites like Front Office Sports, Hashtag Sports, Forbes, Sports Techie , Sportico and Sports Business Daily . Review those sites daily and immerse yourself in the industry. Sign up for the e-mail newsletters and listen to the podcasts to get a deeper understanding of the landscape. The sports industry is quite broad once you really dive in.

Once you land an internship or job, work to be as organized, proactive and solutions-based as you can. My best interns and entry-level hires have been those who take initiative, communicate clearly and are a positive influence on the established culture. 

While talent, skills and experience are always valuable - the best way to make an impact in this industry and grow in your career is to contribute to organizational culture in a positive way. Be positive, helpful, solutions-based and respectful. Nobody actually wants to work with a bunch of jerks.