Kickstarting Your Career… The Right Way
Through the eyes of an early career stage practitioner.
Leaving university as a graduate can be a scary thought for many young individuals. If you are a young practitioner like myself or want to work as a performance practitioner in sport then kickstarting your career in the best way possible can give you a head start on other potential graduates!
I have been incredibly lucky to have been guided by some great mentors and coaches so far, which have given me great advice over the last 12-18 months. I plan on sharing some of my early experiences and nuggets of advice that I’ve gained from others throughout this article. These don’t necessarily have to relate to performance sport but, can be applied throughout the entirety of your life.
Thinking About Your Values
Sport can be an extremely demanding environment, with long days and weekends usually the norm in many professional environments (many university lectures don’t prepare you for this). Having spoken with Josh, he explained that it was rather common for practitioners to get burnout out.
Wants vs. Needs
I strongly advise you to start by writing down some of your wants & your needs as you begin to apply for jobs. Your needs are what you need to survive, and your wants are what you desire. These may be in the example of: I want a nice car; I want a nice house or I need to be able to spend time with my family & friends away from my career. This list will really begin to open your eyes to shaping a career around what you need to feel a sense of fulfilment.
Non-Negotiables
Your needs are what you call your ‘non-negotiables’. These are what resonate deep as values. Start to begin to shape your career around your non-negotiables. As a student or young practitioner these may vary from someone who has a family and 10+ years of experience. These are completely unique to each individual and are the ‘rules’ to starting your career. As your life evolves, these core values can change, such as the introduction of a family or financially more secure.
For me, personally I want to have the ability to practically be able to help and improve individuals & athletes as this gives me a sense of fulfilment and joy, while also being able to have the ability to spend time with my friends and family members on weekends and evenings.
The Power of Being Active
Trying to grow a network as a young practitioner might be a daunting and stressful thought. However, the current 21st century means that we have access to almost anybody from around the work. These include both potential athletes, practitioners or future employers!
Online Influence
Utilising apps such as Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn can help boost your image with the help of a few simple steps! There are plenty of great ‘influencers’ in the ways of practitioners, whom tweet and post some really helpful insights into the world of sport! Setting up an account and dropping them a follow and even engaging in a few posts in a great way to improve your knowledge. Below are a few of my personal favourites:
Wellbeing:
Josh Fletcher (Twitter @coachblueprint1 Instagram @careerblueprint)
Richard Husseiny (Twitter @richardhusseiny)
Mentorship:
Dan Howells (Twitter @HowellsDan & @collab_sports Instagram @collaborate_sports)
Podcasts:
Rob Pacey (Instagram @sportsmithhq)
Meaningful Connections
Setting up a LinkedIn account is an efficient way of connecting with other practitioners, and a great place to find relevant information to implement into your career. The Covid 19 pandemic created the realm of zoom/teams meetings, however, creating a real in-person connection by offering them a quick coffee or grab lunch is a great (and cheaper) way to invest in your network. This could be coaches at a local professional club or even some of your lecturers if you are still in university.
Early Mentorship
There are many great mentors in the field who are really producing some great content and advice. I reached out to Dan Howells back in August 2021 as I was struggling to find any relevant work experience in sport at the time and I didn’t know where or how to start.
After chatting with Dan, he gave me the prompt to connect with some local practitioners. I later began his interactive personal development (IPD) mentorship while finishing my final year at university. This is where I met Josh and many other like-minded coaches whom were 3+ years ahead of where I was at as a practitioner. I cannot stress just how much of a good idea signing up to this was for my growth as an individual.
Dan stressed to me the importance of using my spare time to educate and complete certifications/ coaching courses. University certainly doesn’t teach you the importance of doing your research in the job market. Most employers require you to have certain qualifications (first aid, UKSCA, BASES, coaching badges etc). The best way to see what employers are looking for is to look directly at the job descriptions of jobs that interest you. Begin to highlight the key essential and desirable qualifications that you have/don’t have and then begin researching them.
Getting Some Extra Help
Without realising it, some of your university lecturers are incredible respected and majorly experienced practitioners! Simply sending a quick 5-minute email asking for guidance or offering to buy them a quick coffee for an exchange to chat can go a long way. You may not think it but I am a product of this.
Take my situation for example, I was an overwhelmed 3rd year student due to the number of postgraduate options there was, so I emailed my strength & conditioning university lecturer to ask about what potential MSc universities he would recommend. This simple email took me from an overwhelmed 3rd year student to an intern coach within the space of two weeks. They didn’t have to but, I was given a chance! This later on lead me to the role as an S&C coach at a cricket academy and now to my current role in a school environment.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Learning How to Switch Off
As practitioners we are all aware of the terms microcycle, mesocycle and macrocycle for periodisation for athletes. But, how many of us coaches periodise ourselves to stop ourselves from burning out? I cannot take the credit for these ideas, but Josh and I spoke about what micro, meso and macro changes can we use to reduce us burning out.
Micro
- Switching your phone onto aeroplane mode (at dinner or after certain time)
- Consistent sleep routine
- Cold Shower & breath work/meditation
- A walk without your phone
Micro
- A day in nature or a day off
- No phone for a day
- Steam/sauna room session
- Creating and maintaining a real connection
Micro
- Cutting away negative influences
- Learning to say no to things which you don’t want/need
- Changing professional environment
- Consistent mentoring
My Final Advice
Think about what you want vs. what you need; start bridging the gap between yourself and other practitioners by looking at the essentials/desirables of the job descriptions. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Take your time and start with a good solid plan!
It’s important that you’re proactive and seek to improve your own personal development- after all, nobody will do it for you! Don’t wait for an opportunity to come to you; message other coaches asking if they would like help or if you could potentially shadow them or other staff members. At the end of the day, just get coaching.
Isaac Hopkins
stay up to date on the career development and well-being advice.
Enter Details Below
