Most athletes know that their career ending is inevitable. Some athletes know what they want to do after their playing days, and are ready. On the other hand, there are those who have not given an alternate career thought. Here are a couple of steps on how to prepare for an alternate career after your athletic career is finished.

1. Think.

• Think about what career you can see yourself having if you didn’t become a professional athlete. Think about activities that you like doing.

2. Join clubs as a kid. 

• During the years of elementary, middle, and high school join school clubs, and activities that interest you.
• Doing this will allow you to develop a craft, and find what your niche is.

3. Research the qualifications of your desired career. 

• Think about the career that you want.
• Once you figure out what you can see yourself doing, research the requirements and qualifications for that job.
• If you want to look at the outlook of the job you’re interested in go on to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to get information on the job.

4. Consider universities/degrees.

• Before you begin applying to colleges, or accepting a scholarship, research universities, and four-year colleges that have a degree in the field that you’re interested in, and that is used for the career that you want.
• Try to find multiple schools so you can have options if one doesn’t work out.

5. Intern. 

• When applying for a job, companies look for a candidate who has experience in the field, or a person who has interned for them.
• Look up companies that hold the career you want and reach out to them to see if you can get an internship.
• While in school reach out to the department of your degree, they might have an internship available, or they can help you in obtaining one.
• During your internship use the opportunity to gain experience, and make a positive impression on your supervisor, the people who work at the company, the interns you will work with, and anyone else you will meet.

6. Make connections.

• Sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
• While in college start networking, try to create relationships with people who have similar goals as you, people who have accomplished goals that you are trying to reach, people who may know important people, your professors, your supervisors, etc.
• Whatever position you hold make a positive impression on the people you meet so they have a hard time forgetting about you.
• Get the phone numbers of all the people you meet, you might need to get in contact with them in the future.

7. Create a résumé.

• A résumé is a document that tells a story about your professional career. While in college start working on creating a résumé. You will have to create several. If you are trying to apply for an internship, they usually ask for one. If you are applying for a job they definitely ask for one.
• Depending on the position that you are applying for you will have to alter your résumé so it matches the requirements and qualifications of the position you are trying to get.
• Colleges normally have an office that will aid you in creating, or fixing your résumé.

8. Start applying for positions.

• Start looking online for available job positions that you’re interested in once you believe you meet the criteria.
• Use websites such as onetonline, and ziprecruiter to find job openings in your field of interest.
• Once you find a position that you want send off your résumé, your cover letter, and your portfolio to the employer you’re interested in working for.
• Reach out to the potential employer by email or phone.
• Depending on the amount of experience that you have obtaining a position might be easy or stressful. You might not get the first job that you apply for, patience is a must the process for obtaining a job is different for every person.
• If you can’t find the position that you want go on to websites such as careerbuilder, and monster to post your résumé, and allow jobs to reach out to you.

In conclusion, if you follow these eight steps: think, join clubs as a kid, research the qualifications of your desired career, consider universities/degrees, intern, make connections, create a résumé, and start applying for positions transitioning from an athletic career to an alternate career will become an easier process for you.

Tips

The preparation that you take in your athletic career is similar to preparing for any career, it’s a process. There are certain things that you have to complete first to get to the next step. During the process of preparing for an alternate career take your time with each step, do not rush because you will not be pleased with the outcome.

Sources and Citations

http://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/home.htm

http://www.careerbuilder.com

http://www.monster.com

http://www.onetonline.org

https://www.ziprecruiter.com