WayUp Office Hours: Sports

Twenty lucky interns were chosen to join WayUp in the Red Bulls Stadium and hear the success stories of four incredible panelists who broke into the sports industry (not to mention, everyone got to watch an exciting Red Bulls v. Real Salt Lake game after the panel!). Among the panelists–and die-hard sports fans–were Daniel Marrett, Senior Director of Marketing at NY Red Bulls, Amanda Schutte, Partnership Marketing Manager at IMG College, Ari Mark, Associate Director of Business Development at NBA, and Brittany Boehm, Marketing Manager at ESPN. Here’s what we learned from them.

Internships are extremely important to getting an entry-level position.

Ari, who interned for the Miami Dolphins before landing his job at the NBA, described hiring a recent grad as a “leap of faith” for any company. “Entry-level’s really hard because you’re basically saying, ‘I’m going to pay someone to do something they’ve never done before.’ That’s where I think internships are really important,” he added, saying even if you’ve never worked full-time, you can still point to your internship experience and “present your skill sets.”

Check out some of the cool sports-related internships on WayUp now: Social Media Strategist and Media Buyer Internship at World of Athletes, Sports Lock Rookie Challenge, and Wings Team at Red Bull (Uptown/Bronx).

You will work “overtime,” but if you love your job, the extra hours don’t matter.

Brittany, who enrolled in the Sports Management program at the University of Michigan, interned at the U.S. Open, and worked directly for the Knicks and the Liberty her junior and senior year, emphasized that the grueling work and long hours make sports a “24/7 business.” In fact, all our panelists agreed that there is no such thing as a 9-5 job – especially not in sports. “When I’m watching an NBA finals game, that’s part of my job,” Ari added, explaining that the extra hours can be exciting and demanding at the same time.

The good news? It doesn’t matter when your career is your passion. Daniel, who has been working for Red Bull for over 10 years, has never once thought about tallying the extra hours he puts in. “If you’re passionate about what you do, you don’t care if at 5pm, you’re not closing your phone or your computer,” he said.

Your career is not going to find you – you have to find it.

Amanda, who interned at Madison Square Garden in their Strategic Partnership department, started a Google doc of people she could reach out to during her job search. “I asked for informational interviews: ‘Hey, thinking of you–cool initiative you just did.’ Develop those relationships and keep them going,” she added.

Ari recalled waiting three hours to drop off his resume for a career fair at Madison Square Garden in a line that was 4 blocks down. He knew that wasn’t going to get employers’ attention, so he made a list of cold contacts and started emailing and calling people. He urged students not to wait around: “Go on WayUp. Find whatever you can to get in touch with people – no one is waiting to hire you, you have to go in and get the job.”

Don’t miss incredible insights like these! We have 5 more free events lined up in tech (7/1), health & wellness (7/8), hospitality & food (7/15), non-profit & social good (7/21), and fashion (7/28).