Guest Post by Chris Jessup

So here I am, 10 months after graduating from University. A day I will never forget, as me and my friends were awarded our degrees which we had worked so hard for. The pursuit of your ‘dream job’ is the motivation behind most students who chose to enter higher education; but three years and £18,000 later,  I, like thousands of other students, am struggling to find any job…..let alone a dream one!

As a massive sports fan, there was only one route for me when deciding what type of course to do at University. I saw myself as the next Ian Stafford or John Motson, or at least one of those people on Sky Sports News! This was the rationale I chose when deciding to study ‘sport, media and culture’.  Sport has always been my biggest passion; I am an avid football, golf, boxing and athletics fan but I also played football for what seemed the majority of my childhood and teen years, until a cruel injury meant my retirement from the game had come already at the tender age of 21. This fuelled my desire for a job in sport, preferably in either PR or media.

Since graduating it has been a frustrating time for everyone, well I assume I am not the only graduate struggling to find a job?! I have decided to take the route of taking part in work placements and internships, as I was tired of hearing ‘sorry you don’t have enough experience’. Whilst these jobs have been brilliant in expanding my skills and learning new ones, they have also enhanced my CV and given me an impressive list of contacts. They have been, however, only short-term, which has left me heavily frustrated and in desperate need of some motivation to keep searching for that ‘dream job’ (or the first job in sport that comes along!).

One site that has been very helpful in my search is www.football-jobs.com. This site has a vast variety of different types of football jobs and an impressive client base, which means there are new football jobs added every week.  So I have decided to try and give fellow football job searchers a list of the different types of work available in the world of the beautiful game, in the hope that it will help you identify the areas that you want to work in, so you can keep aiming for your goals and finally put that degree to use!

Executive and Board room roles:

Key boardroom and executive roles usually mean making the big decisions at football clubs, and they usually have a wealth of business experience. It is unrealistic that a graduate would have the required experience to become a board member or executive at any football club…..well not yet anyway!

Accounting, Admin and Finance:

Accounting, finance and admin roles are usually things like club accountant, club secretary, general admin jobs etc which will involve looking after the clubs’ money, sorting out finances and finding sources of funding etc. Would suit people with articulate degree’s or backgrounds.

Marketing and Sponsorship:

Marketing executives and managers are responsible for devising and outlining marketing plan appropriate to the club’s needs. Sponsorship sectors are used to publicise the club in any way possible, and to find funding and fund-raising opportunities.  Sports marketing students will be perfect for such roles.

Media, Communciations and PR:

Media, Communications and PR roles will involve producing content for club websites, blogs and official websites, as well as managing and distributing content or coverage for and from the media. People with a passion for media or journalism apply here.

Sales & Commercial:

Sales roles typically including duties such as identifying new business opportunities, establishing new target markets, proactively promoting the clubs products and or services;  as well as cold calling and hitting monthly targets. Roles would be ideal for a confident graduate with a business degree and sales experience.

Match Day Staff:

Jobs need doing on match days, and it can be anything from bar work, clubs shop work, stewarding to programme selling.  This is a good way of getting to see live football and earning money, but isn’t really thought of as a graduate career, unless done for the love of the game etc.

Facility Management:

A new area, mixed with some old areas. Jobs will include more traditional roles, such as stadium operation and maintenance and property management (a rather fancy term for groundskeeper etc!) and new roles such as support services, environmental management and telecommunication. Usually football clubs employ companies who will run these areas, so it may be easier to apply with external companies.

Coaching:

Needs no real explanation, although football clubs have loads of different levels of coaching. These can range from soccer schools (domestically and overseas), centres of excellence, community projects, academies, all the way up to under-18s etc. The minimum training you will need is your FA Level 1 badges and would suit those with coaching experience and relevant sports degree.

About the Author: Chris Jessup graduated from The University of Bedfordshire with a 2.1 in Bachelor of Arts with Honors in ‘Sport, Media and Culture’ in 2009.