Video Interviews: How to Approach the Sports Hiring Trend of 2021

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast…

Welcome to February - it is snowing like mad here in Pennsylvania right now -- about 8 inches so far and another 10 expected today, so as you listen to this, picture me pushing a snowblower and shoveling, since that’s what I’ll likely be doing as you listen. 

I’ll likely be listening to someone else’s podcast as I do that because it would be weird if I listened to myself. 

Quick thanks to Grand Canyon University, University or Arkansas, University of Florida and University of Missouri - St Louis who have welcomed me into their classrooms over the past week to share career advice with their sports management students. 

Always a great thrill for me, seriously, I love speaking directly with the students and being able to answer their questions and provide help. If you are listening and you are a professor, don’t be shy, reach out. If you think I can provide value to your students, I want to help. 

As for content -- my speciality -- in January we busted out some amazing episodes - with a theme! Looking forward to hiring trends in the sports industry for 2021 -- Kali Franklin VP of HR at NYCFC, John Ferguson VP of People and Culture at Monumental Sports and Entertainment, Matt Resnick sports talent acquisition executive formerly at Madison Square Garden company … and we tossed in Nigel Eccles Co-founder of Fanduel, because, well, he’s Nigel Eccles.

It’s a great month of content -- if you are new to the show, start there. Then, start looking for your targeted content. You want to work in sales? We have interviews there. Marketing, Partnership Activation, Scouting, Coaching, General Managers, Agents… you name it. We’ve got it.

Alright -- before we get into today’s question, it’s time for the Stat Line - Meredith Johnson’s favorite segment. 

Ok, three stats, data pulls, information -- that will help you understand where we are as a sports industry, right now. We’re giving you context!

Stat #1 - 19,896 active available sports jobs right now. We will pass 20,000 this week. Why is this an important benchmark? Because the last time we were over 20k jobs was in early March of 2020. When Covid first started to become a reality and change the sports world. 

This is huge progress, we are coming back, and that should get you energized for your search.

Just to track january increases so far --

• Week 1 - Sports job total jumped 8%
• Week 2 - Sports job total jumped 6.5%
• Week 3 - Sports job total jumped 4.7%
• Week 4 - Sports job total jumped 6.8%

Total for the month of January, we at WorkInSports.com the leading job board for the sports industry, went from 15,573 active jobs...to 19,896.

That’s what I’m talking about. 

Stat #2 - Over the lasxt week we added 2,865 new fresh jobs to the job board.

Stat #3 - that is an average of over 400 new fresh opportunities every damn day of the week.

Your job is out there, we’ll help you find it. 

Whoa that could be a tagline. Not bad. 

OK, three jobs that are fresh on the job board and interesting! Yes that is subjective, because I alone determine what is considered interesting.  

Job #1 -- The Athletic is hiring a Staff Editor for the NFL. TThe candidate will be involved in all the day-to-day operations, including collaborating with writers, planning, editing and publishing of content. Generate thoughtful, smart and relevant story ideas

• • Line edit stories from start to finish for quality, context, style, and grammar
• Follow best practices on headline writing and SEO optimization
• Knowledge of WordPress and photo editing skills is a plus

Job #2 -- Production Coordintor, Content Production -- Adidas

  The Production Coordinator is responsible for supporting the Content Production Team as an integral part of the in-house creative agency. The role supports the In-House Producers in driving key projects, workflow, and Production Studio operations. The role is responsible for assisting in the execution of photography, video, and social content projects of seasonal campaigns and aligning solutions to efficiently deliver powerful, brand-driven creative communications. 

Job #3 -- Marketing Analytics, Ironman

This is a perfect example of why our job board is so important. 

The Analyst, Marketing Analytics role is focused on leveraging data analytics to gain an in-depth understanding of athlete behaviors and trends. A key goal of this department will be to accelerate the usefulness of data across the business as well as maximizing the affinity, engagement and lifetime value of our endurance athletes around the world. 

Ok that was the stat line…

Question from Mary in Maine:

"Hi Brian, I'm a relatively new listener to the Work in Sports podcast and have really enjoyed your recent interviews with John Ferguson, Kali Franklin, and Matt Resnick.

When John started to talk about the emerging trend in hiring being video interviews I thought I know what he meant. But then he went on to explain the way they implement Video Interviews at Monumental Sports and Entertainment, and I got confused.

And then I listened to your interview with Kali Franklin, and she said the same thing, video interviews are the biggest hiring trend in the sports industry that is here to stay. But I started to get worried that my thinking about what a video interview was, differed from what they were explaining.

Can you help me better understand this hiring trend in the sports industry for 2021?"

Listen in to this Work in Sports podcast episode to learn more about Video interviews and why they are such an important hiring trend for 2021, or want the Work in Sports VODCAST below: