Though playing any sport is fun, it also can be a learning opportunity. You learn the rules. You learn strategies and techniques. You learn to play as a team. All these great lessons can translate into the business environment, whether you land a job in baseball or any other industry. Find and Implement the Best Strategies Just like any sport. Baseball is a game of strategies. As noted by writer Deborah S. Hildebrand in her article, “Business Lessons Learned from Billy Beane and “Moneyball,” some strategies, like those implemented by Billy Beane with the Oakland As, are big picture and life-altering. Others, like when to steal or lay down a bunt, may change the outcome of a single game only. Like most things, the game of baseball has gone through changes over the years, including different cities, changing team names, diversification of players, increased salaries, and updated rules. The same thing is true about looking for a new job. Twenty or thirty years ago, it was all about snagging a copy of the Sunday paper, reading the help wanted section, then sending your resume by snail mail and hoping for the best. Today when you look for a job in baseball, be open to new ways. Searching traditional job websites may work well for some. However, there are other, often better search options, including:
- Websites specifically geared toward sports jobs.
- The career section of sports company websites
- Social media websites such as LinkedIn (especially good for targeted searches)
- On and offline job fairs
Look for the companies where you’d like to work and get the name of those to approach about an opportunity. Armed with this information, create a personalized cover letter that explains why you want to work for the company and how they’d benefit from your skills. Get to Know Who You’re Playing With Baseball is played by a team against another team, all guided by a group of coaches. Quite frankly, there are a lot of people involved. When you play, you don’t operate in a silo. The same should be true with your job search. Talk to people you know. Get out and meet new people at career events, professional associations, or anywhere you can pitch yourself as a candidate. Use your network to your advantage. Some of the best advice comes from career coaches and hiring managers: …the key to pitching yourself well is telling the company exactly how you’d contribute. Whether you’re looking for a job in baseball or in another sport, we can help. We have over 7,000 sports employers that we actively assist in recruitment and a database full of sports jobs and sports internships in every part of the country. Check us out today.
