Getting Your First #sportsbiz Internship
The sports industry is one of the most competitive fields to
get an internship in so make sure you have a way to separate
yourself from the pack.
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What makes you different? What makes you stand out from thousands of other students just like you?
Think long and hard about the answer to these two questions as this is likely the first question you will be asked once you enter your first interview in the sports industry.
Look at yourself now. You're likely a student that has just chosen the career path of working in the sports and entertainment industry and are looking for an internship to kick-start your career. Let's just say you live in the Greater Toronto Area, so naturally, you aspire to work for the parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs or Toronto Raptors - Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.
The issue is: I can take that exact same description and apply it to roughly 1,000 aspiring sports business professionals in your surrounding area. That's your competition. It's not just four dozen candidates applying for a job it's more like thousands of individuals that have made it there life long dream to work in sports and entertainment.
So again, I'll ask you - what makes you different? What makes you stand out from thousands of other students just like you?
I assure you I am not trying to be Scrooge McDuck in any manner, I'm here to help you differentiate yourself from the crowd. I have been through this entire sports internship process before, I'm with you on this. During my post grad at George Brown College, I had a span of three days that I affectionately called "three days to decide my future" in which I had five interviews in the industry all jumbled up. I had that interview everyone wants to get - Global Partnerships at MLSE (and I assure you the experience of just walking into that office was incredible for me) - along with multiple other S&E companies including the company that I got my life changing internship, Wasserman Media Group. Out of that I gained two incredible mentors and really began to shape my career path. So again, I've been there and the intention of this all is to help you get in that stressful situation as well.
Peter Widdis - this man was my incredible sports sponsorship professor at George Brown College that taught me a wealth about how to carry myself in the industry. Most of the insights I am going to share with you are essentially a rephrasing of what he taught me as I found it incredibly beneficial.
So let's get started.
Interviewers don't care that you're the biggest <insert team name here> fan ever.
I mean it's nice and all. They really do value their fan base but this isn't the time to use this as your key differentiating factor.
At this stage in your career, majority of the candidates you are up against all have similar work experience and educational backgrounds. Some of you may have specialized in marketing or sports management or took the extra step and went into a specialized post graduate program. Along with that, most of you have part-time or full-time work experience in a related field.
So where can you differentiate yourself? This is the most important time to start your "personal brand building process". Start creating an image around yourself that you believe individuals in the industry would deem favourable. Start being more active on social media (in a positive way) by providing your own industry insights. Start a blog (or join a blog *wink wink nudge nudge*) that emphasizes on industry news and your own personal concepts and philosophies. Try starting up your own sports marketing networking group in your program. Trust me, this may seem simple but I always have my blog on my resume and my interviewer will always ask if they can see it and give it a read over. It's a conversation starter and shows your passionate about what you're doing.
Your network is your industry wealth.
"Be persistent. Be patient. Be respectful." - Peter Widdis
Networking is now the most important thing in your life. Update your LinkedIn, make it look professional and start trying to open doors for yourself. The sports industry is a very small, tight-knit group so pretty much everyone knows everyone. This can be a good and bad thing for career development but you must grasp this as an opportunity to get into the industry.
Your network in the industry right now is likely quite small and you're going to be actively seeking to expand it. If you chose to go about blind e-mailing particular individuals in the industry please do it in an effective manner that makes you stand out. When you're sending your resume/CV emphasize in the body of your paragraph that you know what you're talking about and have done your research on the company. Asking for lunch is generally a no-go in my mind as these people are very limited on time. Try asking for a brief 15-minute phone call, if they are interested they will likely have more time to do this and this could even evolve into an in-person lunch meeting down the road. You might get a response. You might get ignored. The important thing is not to get discouraged.
When you do get that phone call do your best to show your industry knowledge and talents without making the call all about you and come off as an advertisement. Ask questions. Absorb their wealth of knowledge. If they like you, maybe this happens again (wow, this sounds like dating).
Down the line, your network will grow and you can begin assembling your own personal board of directors. These are individuals you trust the opinions of in the industry and are comfortable relaying information off of. Every opportunity that I have come across in the industry, I run it by the board. "Is this a good opportunity?". "Does this fit with my career goals?"."Do you think I have a window to succeed?".
Build your resume in the image of your dream job.
Don't have a universal resume that you use for every application. Each resume and cover letter needs to be hand-crafted to each job and company. These two pieces should speak volumes of you as a professional.
Research the in's and out's of the company that you want to work for. Research everything about the them. Know their mission statements and what they value in their employees so you can fine tune your resume to reflect that. Majority of these organizations will have all of this on their website so it is highly accessible, it is just up to you to use it.
Once you have this info you now know what the company you want to work for prides itself on. You can begin to build your resume and your work experience in the image of this company. The best piece of advise I can give you is to build your work experience in the image of your end goal in the industry. Think of yourself as a prospect in the NHL draft - you want to have all the desirable pieces (hockey IQ, skating, clapper, physicality) and experience (memorial cup, world junior gold) to get recognized by your dream team and get drafted in the first round.
Rock the interview.
You've made it this far. You're interviewing for your dream internship in the sports industry and you couldn't be a more perfect combination of stressed, excited, and nervous. These are all good emotions.
Go over some sample interview questions the day before the interview and make sure you have a good answer to all of them. Don't think you're going to get a bunch of sports related questions as interviewers are more interested in figuring out you're work ethic, personal habits, and if you're going to be a good fit for their company. You're a young professional now there is plenty of time to have an inner fan freak out the first day you walk through those office doors as a newly hired intern.
Be confident, not cocky. Show you know your stuff. Engage in conversation with the interviewers. At the end of the day this is an internship and these professionals would ideally like someone that they could see themselves enjoying working with over the next four or so months.
I certainly hope this article has helped you even in the slightest to approaching working in the industry. The more information at your disposal the more likely you are going to succeed in the application process.
Most importantly, don't ever give up. This process can certainly get tough but never give up on your dream of working in the sports industry. It's incredibly rewarding in the end and nothing beats that inner sense of gratification of getting your dream internship!
Until next time!
