How to Show Off Your Skills on Your Resume - 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…

First Super Bowl Monday in a long time that I’m not hungover, so thanks to that. 

Quick take before we get into the stat line, and today’s fan question. So far 42 emails, texts, and DM’s all asking me how I feel about Brady and Gronk winning a Super Bowl as non-Patriots. 

For those of you not in the know, I’m from Boston, a big Patriots fan, and a lover of all things Gronk. 

Well, not the GRONK branded football that doubles as a bluetooth speaker -- that was one of the dumbest inventions I’ve ever seen -- you’re playing music in your football, and then you throw it away from you… not well thought through. 

Don’t believe me -- search Gronkball on amazon. You’ll see what I’m talking about. It also proves review can be manipulated since it has a 4.4 out of 5. Seriously, a $90 football Bluetooth speaker with Gronk’s name on it.

Off track.

So how do I feel? Thrilled to be honest.  

Look, there is always context needed. I wanted the Pats to keep Brady for his entire career, but in a way that was selfish, and no one expected that to happen. From 2014-2019 the Patriots have had terrible draft classes. Terrible. This means their current roster is depleted of talent and depth. 

They were not built to win, even with Brady. If you go back and look at the 2018 season, there is no way that teams should have won a Super Bowl. They were 3-5 on the road that year, 11-5 overall, lacked any punch, looked old...and then dialed it up in the playoffs.

2019 - lack of talent, 12-4, incredibly weak schedule - lose in the wild card round vs the titans. 

This roster didn’t make sense to keep Brady. If you sign him to a multi-year deal, it delays the fact you really need to rebuild the roster from scratch… and you still aren’t good enough to really win. Brady makes you way better than Cam Newton, but not Super Bowl good. 

It made sense for him to move on. Both sides needed this. Forget all the tough love, personalities, and drama -- they were no longer made for each other from a football sense. 

As for Gronk - the Patriots tried to trade him to the Lions prior to the 2018 season, so they already sent the message they no longer valued him. He helped them win the 2018 super bowl and retires. Took a year off, a different team values him more than the Pats did, he could play in his comfort zone with Tom. Deal.

Bottom line, I hold no grudge against either. I wish it would have worked out better -- but if the Pats had developed a better supporting team around Brady over the previous 5 seasons… it may have. If they still valued Gronk, it may have. This is just people making football decisions that make sense all around.

In 100 years we’lll talk about Brady like we talk about Babe Ruth… and I got to see a whole hell of a lot of him playing. Pretty cool. Congrats Goat.

Ok, the stat line…

Three stats to keep you updated and in the know on sports employment -- provided by workinsports.com the leading job board for the sports industry. I’m also laying in pieces of advice and strategy for your job search throughout this segment so don’t you dare skip oover it.

#1 -- 19,971 active sports jobs on WorkInSports.com -- now, I promised you last week we’d eclipse 20k, and we did earlier in the week, Right now we are at 19971 which is pretty flat week over week. And that includes a little over 300 active sports jobs in florida right now -- once you are done celebrating. 

#2 - WorkInSports.com added 2,828 sports jobs over the last week, which is pretty much flat...

#3 But means we added 404 sports jobs on average every day of the last week -- that’s a lot of opportunity.

OK, now three jobs that stood out for all the right reasons...to me.

Job #1 

Corporate Communications Coordinator for Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment -- if you are wondering who in the heck is Harris Blitzer, they own the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils, the Prudential Center, NewMeta Entertainment (eSports), Elevate Sports Ventures, The Delaware Blue Coats, Binghamton Devils and more…

Power brand in sports. 

Now, Corporate Communications Coordinator -- you hear coordinator, and you should be trained by now to realize that leans toward entry level. 

I have linked to this job in the show notes of this episode - they list the job requirements, which explains what you will do as part of this job. Read them, I don’t care if you are a college freshman, or a 34 year old accountant who wants to transition to sports. Read them, see if they spark a feeling inside of you. Does this sound like fun?

Then - they list 9 qualifications they are looking for… 

If this job sounds like fun, and you have 6-7 of the skills they want and need, you should be going for this role. 

That’s the process people. Now if you are a college student not ready for this role yet - but you read this and thought, oh my gosh this sounds amazing. Well, now you know what you have to do. Learn the skills they are demanding. Become a master. Have all 9 skills before you graduate. And keep researching more roles like this to see how you fit. 

Job #2 -- 

Brand Video Content Creator (Golf) at Adidas -- I love jobs at big brands, because you can grow from within forever. You start as a Brand Video Content Creator and some day you could be the CMO. There is so much growth potential, training, best practices and more you’ll be exposed to. 

Again, another job where they clearly, very clearly outline demands of the role. Check it out, see if it’s a match for your skill sets now, or somewhere you want to see yourself.

First line of requirements -- Create and develop multimedia (audio/video) content for customer stories, internal company videos, product marketing videos, external digital and social videos

Right there, I’m hooked… because I’m a content guy. If you’re feeling it, go for it.

Job #3 -- 

The Marketing Arm is hiring an Assistant Account Executive in their Dallas or Chicago office. The Marketing Arm is an agency specializing in entertainment, sports, cause, event, and digital marketing.

Now there is a very specific reason I brought this one up -- it’s cool job, again, I’ll link to it in the show notes… but really it’s because of one line in the job description. 

• Proficient in project management tools. 

Now, I want you to read job descriptions with curiosity and I hope by bnow you are starting to do that. I read this, and say to myself this is a skill I need. I need to know project management tools -- and if I don’t know what they are or what they mean, I better find out. 

Now the good news is, most tools within a vertical are similar, with variations and features that make each one unique. But if you know one, you can manage the rest. Hubspot’s CRM, isn’t all that different from Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics. If you know non-linear editing on Adobe Premiere Pro, you can easily learn Avid and Final Cut Pro. 

So, if you see a job title that interests you and it says something like “profieicnet in project management tools” I’d do some research starting now. 

I’d check out ProofHub, I’d check out Rally, I’d check out Jira or Asana or Basecamp - these are all project management tools. Watch some videos, do a tutorial, get familiar. Learning the tools that are in demand is how you build confidence and industry strength. Now the next time yoou see a job that says a requirement is “knowledgeable of project management tools like Jira” you’ll be a step ahead of where you are now.

It’s all about building yourself. 

Ok - that’s the stat line…

On to today’s question from Mike S. in Seattle

“Hey Brian, I think you need to have someone on your show from the Seattle Kraken, everyone here in the region is super excited about their addition to the NHL, and we can’t get enough Kraken talk especially as it rellates to jobs with the Seattle Kraken. Please have someone from the Kraken on the Work in Sports podcast!

[MIke, duly noted, I will make that happen]

On to my question -- I’ve been struggling some with my resume and I’m guessing others have too. You talk a lot about having the skills that are in demand for my industry...but how do I display them? Do I just add a skill section of my resume, does that work? Or is there some other method you suggest for displaying my talents? Thanks, love the show!”

Mike -- really good question. 

Skills are a wildly important part of your resume - it is literally how you will get noticed for roles, so let's explain how you get them best displayed on your resume!

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