The sports industry environment
In the current environment, hundreds of sports professionals are looking and applying to the same jobs. We see this at GlobalSportsJobs where the average application rate is 273 applications per job. Competition is fierce and you must not be surprised when you are not offered the job at the end of what can be a lengthy selection process.
Keep yourself focused
Do not be discouraged because you were rejected for a role that you thought you would excel in. There are many reasons why you might not be successful some of which can be outside of your control. It is important to learn from rejection and a good rule of thumb is to walk away with something that you can work and develop, ready for the next interview. It is personally important and accepted to ask where you did not meet expectations to an interviewer. This way you can learn from your experiences and make progress.
Show your knowledge and skills
Suppose you were interviewed for a role as Social Media Manager for a big Football Club and at the interview you are told that although you are a strong candidate because your experience interacting with football fans and your Facebook savviness; however, according to them you lack in quantitative data analysis experience needed for this particular role. A positive way to move on from the initial rejection is to write a letter to the person that interviewed you and ask them to give you the chance to prove that you have the data analysis knowledge and will be happy to be tested on it. It could be the case that the company might send you a set of data or excel for you to analyse and share the conclusions with them. If this is the case, it is a good opportunity to show your skills and expertise even though you were rejected.
Work on your weaknesses
If you have been rejected by a big sporting brand after two consecutive interviews because they feel that you do not have enough project management experience. You should consider updating your skills by undertaking the right course or degree to get you back into the current sports industry demands (Social Media, Project Management, Sponsorship & Commercial experience among others).
Practise makes perfect
You should look at interviews as experiences to improve the way you present yourself to prospective employees. Each interview can add value to your profile if you take with you some learnings from them. Therefore, a good preparation before the interview should be followed by a even stronger analysis after the interview to understand what went wrong and what should be improved next time.
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