Does being a former athlete make you a better hiring candidate?

Looking past the awards and the accolades.

Aug 26, 2024

It’s not always what you know

A study from Harvard Business School found that former college athletes tend to secure higher-level jobs and better pay compared to their peers - (Layne, 2024).

“Can being an athlete improve my chances of getting a job?” I get this question a lot. If only people knew how slowly I run the mile since retirement, maybe they’d stop asking me.

As someone who’s self-employed, this isn’t something I’ve experienced to the same extent as a lot of folks going through recruiting cycles in major job sectors. However, I had a short stint at job interviews, and have dozens of friends and fellow-athletes (tennis and other) who’ve been caught in the hamster wheel. I’ve witnessed friends walk into jobs they’re immensely under-qualified for because the director shares the same hobby, but likewise I’ve seen athletes from leading universities, boasting credible degrees and work experience, seem unemployable.

Broadly, I’ve experienced a positive correlation with former athletes and their ability to be resilient to challenging working conditions, be open to feedback as well as working well with a broader team. But how sustainable that is in the long term, is never guaranteed. So the reality is hard to quantify, but breaking the ice in an interview is one of the most challenging steps and having a few team caps on your resume, definitely helps.

Athletes (can) have an attitude problem

“The concept of catharsis—emotional release—is crucial for athletes who experience extreme pressure. However, it’s important that this release is managed healthily to avoid negative consequences like reinforced aggression” - (Psych.Today).

In my experience, while athletes often display a mix of arrogance and confidence that drives their competitive nature in latter life, this can sometimes lead to friction with teammates and employers. Their academic qualifications sometimes suffer as athletics take priority, leaving them underprepared academically. Complacency comes as a side effect for the naturally talented, and social challenges emerge from those who have spent their lives homeschooled or full-time.

Especially with NIL, where collegiate athletes have the right to be paid, (which I discussed in an earlier post), the next-gen sportsmen and women will be paid more in college than the job offer they receive when graduating. So, while athletes carry a war chest of attributes and skills that theoretically can be applied to working life, this doesn’t guarantee them better at the job. If the differentiator in the hiring process is “well this candidate played college sport and this candidate does not” then you’re being naive and need to do a little more digging.

I’m a firm believer that you can display the same qualities of teamwork, compatibility, leadership, curiosity and more, by excelling in other areas of life outside of athletics. If you’re as driven towards academia, as an athlete is in their sport, are you at a disadvantage? I certainly don’t believe so.

There’s athletes and then there’s athletes

Firstly, all athletes put “team captain” on their CV, and claim to be “all-conference, all-academic, all-first team and all-beer pong champion” if they could. Most of the time it’s not true. Athletes are given accolades and merits just for turning up to class and proving to your lecturer you have the cognitive ability to open a book.

As a point of hire, you have to look past their resume and try to gauge where their personality and character sets them apart from their peers and how their profile compares to the broader pool of candidates. How open are they to learning and starting at the lower levels? How resilient will they be to intense working conditions? Are they client facing compatible? Will they be open to feedback? As a recruiter it’s a hard task to execute on the above. Why?

Athletes come in all shapes and sizes. I’m not saying endomorphs are harder to hire than mesomorphs, I mean mentally and psychologically people are unique, and athletes are by no means deities of mental toughness. In tennis, like other sports, you have various levels of competition, various levels of skill (often categorised by your division), a players spot in the line-up and a team you’re surrounded by. You’d much rather hire the guy who plays 6 in the line-up, who’s an awesome team player, with a great attitude, than the player who leads the line-up but doesn’t care about his team mates, has a spoilt attitude, but just happens to be gifted in his craft.

Athletes are all very different from each other, and spending time understanding where and what makes each candidate best for the job is too time consuming for most. But there’s one thing that’s undervalued and rarely actioned.

Call Coach

The best thing a recruiting director can do is to contact their coach. Start by researching the coach and the program, looking for any notable information (bribing players with strippers would be a prime example). Then, give the coach a call. A player’s attitude towards teammates, mindset in training, and morals often reflect the ethos of the program in which they were trained. While it’s not always the case, the apple often doesn’t fall far from the tree!