How Volunteering Can Lead to a Job in the Sports Industry

Volunteering can have personal benefits, such as boosting your self-esteem and providing a positive vibe about making the world a better place.

But it can also help you set yourself apart from other applicants in the sports industry. Volunteering will help you gain new skills and make new contacts in your desired field.

To get the most out of your volunteering, do things that are out of your comfort zone.

Employers prefer to interview candidates who are employed in some capacity, so listing a volunteer job under current employment will prevent a hiring manager from thinking you are jobless. A volunteer position can help you stay informed about the sports industry and make you a more compelling candidate to employers.

There are a variety of places to volunteer both in your local community and with national sporting events.

If you want to be a coach, look at local youth sport organizations and volunteer to help. You can get hands-on job experience and learn new coaching techniques. Most groups are constantly looking for volunteers to help engage and motivate the next generation.

Outside of your local community, you can volunteer at professional sporting events such as the Super Bowl and Olympic games. These events are more competitive and thousands of applicants apply. Plus they tend to look for volunteers more than a year in advance, so plan ahead if you want a spot.

With these events, you also have to pay for all costs associated with volunteering like travel, your room and food, but there is more variety in the type of job you can volunteer doing.

Either opportunity volunteering can lead to jobs and listed below are four ways how.



Often jobs in the highly competitive sports industry are obtained by someone you know, not necessarily what you know.

By volunteering you get to interact with people you may not have otherwise met, which creates opportunities to develop positive relationships outside of the typical work environment.

Not only can these people point you in the direction of new opportunities or even be the one to hire you, but they can be references to your character in job interviews.

Many non-profit organizations pull from their volunteers to fill open paid positions in their business. You never know where your next job will come from.

According to a 2015 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 38.8 percent of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher volunteered.

Your chance of meeting professionals are good especially if you volunteer in an organization related to your target job. This will help you meet more people with similar interests.



A good resource to help you connect with like-minded individuals and people you have met in your industry is LinkedIn.

This online networking tool helps employers find potential job candidates. Adding a volunteer position to your profile can make you look more qualified and make the hiring manager want to meet you in person.

This simple profile update can help you link with others associated with your volunteer organization. You can then network with them for potential job openings.

It's a win-win!



With so many places and ways to volunteer, you can learn new skills to help you in your job search.

As a volunteer, you can get training in areas that your previous job didn’t teach. You can learn leadership skills by organizing events or fundraising details and how to manage that team.

While some volunteer work will include menial tasks you will also get a chance to be creative and learn new business techniques, while honing the skills you already have by using them in a different way.

If a lack of experience is keeping you from getting your dream job, then think outside the box and find somewhere to volunteer.

If you want to be a sports writer try to get an internship with a newspaper. If that doesn’t work then volunteer with a college sports team or look for a non-profit organization to write press releases for.

Volunteering can give you a positive outlook in your career field and help you acquire new skills as well as new contacts. Just remember to put the volunteer work on your resume and LinkedIn profile to showcase your work ethic to potential employers.