A sport-related degree gives graduates a fantastic base to kick-start a career in the sports industry. It also sets you up with some valuable skills that can be transferred to various business and management careers.
Thanks to your sports course, you should now possess these skills:
Think about what you consider to be your greatest strengths and which aspects of the course you enjoyed the most. Ideally, you will want to be able to use these in whatever career path you decide to take.
Many sports graduates don’t actually end up in a sport-related role, instead making the most of their transferable skills. The table below gives you a break down of the types of roles your fellow graduates have gone into.
| Type of work | Percentage |
| Marketing, PR and sales | 18 |
| Technicians and other professionals | 17.8 |
| Retail, catering and bar work | 15.6 |
| Managers | 9.9 |
| Other | 38.7 |
Source: https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/what-do-graduates-do
With so many graduate jobs available and so many doors open to you, it’s hard to know which career path to choose. However, this is a decision that only you can make. It has to be based on what sort of tasks you enjoy doing, what your long-term goals are, how you like to work and your personality.
If you’re in need of a helping hand, take a look at the job profiles of some of the most popular choices for sports graduates.
Sales can be a lucrative and rewarding career for the right person and there are plenty of opportunities out there to choose from. To succeed in sales, you need to be self-motivated, competitive, a natural influencer and target-driven – qualities that many sports graduates possess.
It isn’t for everyone due to the pressurised, fast-paced and dynamic nature of the role. Whereas for others, the generous salaries, bonuses and progression opportunities, not to mention the overall thrill of the job, makes a career in sales the perfect choice.
Find out more about sales careers here >
Many sports graduates choose to continue their studies to qualify as secondary school teachers. If you like working with children, are passionate about your subject and have excellent communication skills, teaching could be a great option for you.
Unless you have some pretty impressive work experience, it’s unlikely that you’ll stroll straight into a managerial role after finishing your studies. However, management graduate schemes are a popular choice for driven, ambitious and hardworking sports graduates.
If you have fantastic leadership skills, you’re great with people and have the confidence and independence to make it as a manager, these schemes are great! They offer you excellent training, allowing you to understand the business and develop the necessary skills for leadership.
TOP TIP: When considering management roles, bear in mind that you will have to work your way up and develop your own specialisms along the way. Telling employers that you want to work in management is a bit vague and doesn’t demonstrate a passion for their industry.
Marketing is an extremely popular career choice for graduates. There is a vast range of opportunities available for creative individuals with strong communication and digital skills. You’ll also need the determination to keep up with ever-changing trends and developments.
If you want to incorporate your passion for sports, you can specifically look for roles in sports marketing too!
Find out more about marketing careers here >
There are plenty of other sport-related professions that you may want to research and consider. These include:
If you’re still unsure about what types of roles would best suit you, we recommend taking a career personality test. This should give you some pointers about your natural strengths and what careers would be a good fit for you.
There are plenty of career options out there for sports graduates and it’s completely down to you whether you want to stick with the sports route or branch out and put your transferable skills to good use.
While securing a graduate job will require some time and effort on your part, a sports degree will only work to your advantage!
At Bridgewater Graduates, we offer commercial graduate roles with market-leading businesses. Search our graduate jobs here >
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