If you competed in a sport in college, you may have heard at some point that you shouldn’t list your student-athlete career on your resume. Or perhaps someone told you it should only be listed in a “hobbies and interests” section.
It’s possible that this is useful advice for a number of “traditional” jobs or companies. However, in most cases, leaving out your student-athlete experience could mean missing out on a huge opportunity–the opportunity to showcase many of the skills that you have…and that employers are looking for.
Whether or not you’ve considered how the skills you developed on the court, in the pool, or on the field can lead to success in an office or job environment, this post is for you. We’ll discuss some of those skills and how to translate them effectively in a resume or job interview.
Table of Contents
What professional skills does a student-athlete career develop?
To succeed in college, student-athletes must grow certain skills for on-field success. In addition, student-athletes balance athletic commitments, with the rest of student life, including a full-time academic course load.
Athletic Skills
To be a successful student-athlete, particularly at a Division 1 level, you need to have developed many of these skills. They just so happen to be some of the skills prized by employers.
- Teamwork: very few jobs rely on an everyone-for-themselves approach, so knowing how to effectively work with other people is a sought-after “soft skill,” in the huddle or in the office.
- Communication: Employers want team members who know can receive and provide clear expectations. To be successful on a team, you know how to speak up about challenges, and clearly communicate adjustments along the way.
- Leadership: Whether in an official role as a manager (or captain) or in an informal role, leadership attributes such as optimism, integrity, and a drive to develop others can lead to both early and sustained success.
- Resilience: Resilience plays a critical role in bouncing back from a tough loss, a failed sales pitch, or a tough career lesson growing out of a not-great decision.
- Quick thinking and Flexibility: The ability to react quickly and effectively to changing circumstances will serve you well in any setting.
Off-Field Life Skills
Off the court, these skills and others help balance your student-athlete commitments with the other demands of college life:
- Time Management and Organization: Almost all employers look for the skills that you have shown balancing a full courseload with the demands of training, travel, and competitions.
- Prioritization: Knowing about what’s most important and focusing on those tasks are key to balancing student life. Knowing when to ask a coach or a manager to talk through competing priorities will serve you well in any setting.
- Dedication and Loyalty: Sticking to a goal–and sticking with a team–through the good times and bad are good indications that you will approach a job or an organization in the same way.
Example: Expectations and Setbacks
Julie Grauert, a broadcast journalist and former Division 1 volleyball player, recalls:
I was heavily recruited and awarded a scholarship, only to ride the bench freshman year because upperclassmen were stronger. Facing this situation, I talked to my coach about how to improve, pivoted to a different position, and put in extra time outside of practice to then become a starter my sophomore year.
Later, I found myself in a similar situation in my career: a station hired me to anchor a top newscast and then moved me to another newscast to honor seniority of other anchors. I was devestated. In that challenging professional moment, I drew strength from the resilience and hard work that I learned as a college athlete to bounce back from the bench and become member of the starting squad.
How and when should I bring up my student-athlete career in a job search?
The skills you developed in your student-athlete career can and should be a benefit when speaking with employers. However, it’s important to think through some of these questions before deciding where and how to feature these skills and anecdotes.
What kind of organization am I applying to?
The kind of organization and the kind of job that you’re applying to make a difference in how you should present your varsity experience.
Some relevant questions to ask yourself:
- Is this a job that will feature primarily individual work? If so, think about examples of how you persevered through a challenge, or how you employed focus and determination to build on a particular skill or strength.
- Is this a job that requires working with a team? If so, try to focus on examples of communication, building trust, and flexibility, or how the team came together to improve or achieve a goal.
- Is this a job that’s directly related to sports? If so, you’ll want to make your athletic experience more prominent. If it’s not, think about how your student-athlete experience can support the overall story you’re telling.
- Did your student-athlete experience include leadership? If so, be sure to highlight how that impacted your approach to the role, from being a role model, to helping develop others’ skills, to communicating with team members, particulary in times of challenge.
There are some organizations that may still not want to hear much about a student-athlete experience, either due to implicit biases or a particular approach. (For example, some accounting or finance firms aren’t as interested in any experiences that aren’t directly related to their subject matter).
So it’s good to do some research–one way to do so is by informational interviewing. Before you get into the formal application cycle, it’s good to connect with individuals at a company or organization you’re interested in and have an informational interview.
Related: How to Informational Interview Like a Pro
What other experiences can I share on my resume or in an interview?
While the skills built in a student-athlete career are strengths on a resume or job application, it’s important to balance that with other experiences. And the demands of athletic training and competition can make it difficult to fit as many jobs or internships into a college career as some other graduates might have done.
If you weren’t able to fit in many paid jobs or internships during your college years, think about including some of the following in your resume or cover letter:
- Participation or leadership in student clubs.
- Volunteer work.
- Participation in a SAAC or other student-athlete leadership organizations.
- Academic coursework related to the job or organization you’re applying to. (This would typically be highlighted in the Education section of a resume, rather than the Experience section).
As with all “experience” items, aim to write bullets about what you accomplished (ideally with examples and/or numbers), not just what your title or responsibilities were.
Where should I list my student-athlete experience on a resume?
As you build your resume or write a cover letter, try to put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager, and think about where they would like to see your athletic experience versus other experiences. Where–and how prominently–to list your student-athlete experience depends in part on the rest of your resume and on how closely these experiences relate to the jobs you’re seeking. In some cases, you may want to just
Resume bullets:
If you’re choosing 3 bullets to describe your student-athlete career, aim to include pieces that strengthen the overall story you’re telling. This could mean using these to fill in skill gaps that aren’t addressed in your other experiences, or highlighting additional examples of your strengths. Some hypothetical examples follow:
- Balanced 20+ hours of weekly athletic commitments with a rigorous academic course load, achieiving a 3.5 GPA while achieving a role in the starting lineup.
- Persevered through injuries, undergoing rehab and developing skills to earn Most Improved Player award in 2022.
- Demonstrated leadership as a team captain in senior year, serving as a role model on and off the field, working with 5 younger teammates on skill development, and effectively communicating and inspiring team spirit, resulting in a 3-win improvement from previous season.
- Dedicated additional hours each week to individual training in addition to team and academic commitments, building pitching skills and resulting in placement on all-conference second team.
- Adapted to changes in training environment during a challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic, showing personal responsibility and diligence in individual training, and coming together as a team to build camaraderie despite limits on physical gathering.
Related: A Great Resume is Like a Movie Trailer, Not a Catalog
Preparing for an interview
As you get ready for interviews, think about the skills you learned from your time as a student-athlete, and work to prepare an example or anecdote for each of the key skills.
Remember that your accolades and accomplishments are not what will set you apart:
When preparing for interviews after graduation, don’t make a list of all your athletic successes. Make a list of your challenges and failures, and how you responded to them. Your ability to be flexible and adapt under pressure in unanticipated circumstances will be what sets you apart from other candidates and impresses your future employer.
Julie Grauert, broadcast journalist, communications professional, and former Division 1 volleyball player
Additional Resources:
- Search out your network for alumni or other contacts who can share their experiences (and connections) as you explore potential career fields. Coaches and your college’s alumni network can be great resources, as can LinkedIn. [Related: Why Join LinkedIn? It’s Your Homepage on the Web].
- The NCAA’s After the Game job website includes thousands of jobs from employers who have specifically decided they’re looking for applicants with the skills and experiences of student-athletes.
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