Phone Interviews Masterclass – Work In Sports podcast

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… Hey everybody -- it was a stressful week last week, so I completely understand if you didn’t yet listen to our Wednesday podcast with Joan Lynch from WorkingNation -- but you have to go back and listen to it.  We are highly focused on the future of employment, the trends, the ideas, the analysis -- Joan is incredible, she was a VP and Executive producer at ESPN, instrumental in the 30 for 30 series and over the last few years has been more focused on the data and content behind employment.  She is awesome. Make sure you listen.  Alright -- before our question this week on phone interviews, let’s get into the stat line… Three data points helping you understand the health of today’s sports employment market #1 Total number of sports jobs on WorkInSports.com the leading job board for the sports industry since 1999…. 17,285. Now, this number has been flat since right around the 12th of October -- meaning we’ve been hovering around 17,100-17,400 active jobs for the last month. #2 We added 1,792 new jobs during the past week.. Again, week over week flat. And #3 -- that is an average of 256 new sports jobs added to our job board every day of the week. Before you let this worry you, the fact numbers are flat, that growth has stopped and we aren’t picking up new jobs, this is all very easily explained by seasonality. In fact, I will warn you, these numbers will likely decrease for the coming weeks, only to rebound in January.  Think about it logically -- do you want to be hiring someone new at your organization as you approach thanksgiving break, holiday distractions et all? It’s hard enough to integrate new staff remotely, now do it during the holidays. The bottom line, don’t panic over the active job number. Keep up your job-seeking activities and be prepared for all that might come your way. Ok, three cool jobs I found this week. Shout out to the University of Missouri Saint Louis students I spoke with last week -- I heard from their professor, Dr. Karen Boleska, that they really like this segment, and I hope you do too… Job #1 -- Social and Community Manager for St Louis FC - if you didn’t know, St Louis FC will be the 28th team added to MLS and is majority female-owned, and female-led. Pretty cool. Now, why do I love this job -- first off, the idea of being the one to set and develop the social media and community strategy for a new team and organization, is so, so, so intriguing. Secondarily -- their job description, and I’ll link to it in the show notes, is a perfect example of why I tell you all to make a list of the skills that are in demand, see how you stack up, and then adjust your decision. So, if you are one of the UMSL students I spoke to last week -- take a look at this job, understand what skills they are demanding and make a plan for yourself to acquire these skills.That’s how you stay market relevant. Job #2 -   Video Coordinator - Milwaukee Herd the g-league team for the Milwaukee Bucks -- look, I love game video. My wife jokes that she could sit in a room analyzing spreadsheets all day long, and I say, I could do the same with game film. If you are into coaching or scouting, OR even the other direction, content, and analysis -- working in the video room for a team is a great place to start and learn. Job #3 -- Email Marketing Coordinator - Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment -- the owners of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils - I bring up this job for a couple of reasons.  1: People tell me all the time they want to work in sports marketing -- and if you are one of those people, marketing is a very broad term so consider learning some specifics. Email marketing is a specific aspect of sports marketing and has different requirements and knowledge than other roles.