More Than a Career Plan

Why athletes need a system for building a career after sport.

Someone asked me this week what the fundamental question is on the mind of every athlete, parent, and coach when it comes to athlete transition.

We can try and dress it up and make the language pretty but the truth…

Will I (or my athlete) be able to get a job?

Some athletes have been asking this question and taking steps towards that goal for awhile, others have been asking that question but haven’t really done anything productive to answer it because they didn’t know what to do.

Finally, some will still be blindsided by it when sport ends. Not because they are irresponsible and not because no one told them but because of something that helped them succeed in sport.

Focus.

One of the very things that made us successful in sport can make this transition more difficult. We were taught to lock in on the next practice, the next game, the next season.

Thinking too much about life after sport often feels like a distraction from the goal right in front of us. We were taught to give our full attention to the task in front of us.

No matter how many people outside our heads said, you need to prepare. Our heads kept screaming, later… Right now we need to focus….

Then it is over and we are left nothing else to focus on and it hits us…

How do I get a “big kid” job?

How do I build a career outside of sport?

What do I want to be when I grow up?

When we are forced to embrace these questions and try to figure out the answers. There is one thing I am not sure that anyone really tells us….

You are entering an environment with a completely different set of rules than the one you are used to. And I’m not just talking about the work environment.

Right now, I am talking specifically about the job search environment.

Not only is it a different environment than the one you were used to in sport, but the rules of the job search game have changed significantly over time.

As you leave a system you know well, you’re expected to navigate one that feels unfamiliar and, at times, incredibly complicated.

I’ve spent six years in the middle of this helping athletes and high performers navigate it and here’s what I’ve observed. The old plan was build a resume, apply, interview and get hired.

Today’s job search reality is more complicated:

There is more competition.

There is more uncertainty around how opportunities are found.

Networking matters more.

Self-awareness matters more.

And career paths are often less linear than they were 10, 15, or 20 years ago.

Before the question used to be, what’s your plan after sport?

Now, I think the question to set yourself up for job search success should be….

What is your system for getting either your first job out or a building a career that is aligned with who you are?

You notice that I didn’t say plan… that was intentional.

Plan implies that we know what the steps exactly are and what the outcome will be. And while for some that still may be the case, people who want to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. For these types of roles, there is still often and step by step plan that you follow with a sequence of goals to get you there.

This was the plan that I was on. I was going to graduate and be a Certified Athletic Trainer. There were clearly defined steps to make that happen. So when I was asked what my plan was after playing, I had one. And I did execute it and what happen next is a story for another day….

But now, many careers don't follow a clearly defined path. There is no step by step laid out career path. Careers have become more flexible. More opportunities exist than ever before. But that freedom comes with uncertainty.

Things may have never been so exciting and so confusing at the same time.

All of this can be very overwhelming. So I go back to systems. What’s going to be your system to figure out this job search environment that is continuing to evolve?

What do you know about the current landscape?

What resources do you have?

What resources do you need?

Where are you doing things well and where does your system need some work?

Start there. Because the true first step in the athlete transition may not be getting a job. Right now, it’s learning how to navigate a new environment with a completely different set of rules. And giving ourselves every chance to be successful.

The question “Will I be able to get a job?” is usually where athlete transition begins.

But it rarely ends there.

Eventually the questions become:

How do I network?

What kind of work fits me?

How do I use my athletic experience in an interview?

How do I perform without a coach, a team, or a scoreboard?

Will I be good at my job?

Those are different questions for a different day.

But the first step is creating a system for navigating the first new environment: the job hunt.

The good news is that you do not have to figure it all out today. Every former athlete I’ve worked with has started somewhere.

The goal isn’t to have your entire career mapped out.

The goal is to start asking better questions and building a system that helps you move forward from where you are right now.

Cheering you on,

Jill