SEC Career Tour Provides Professional Development Opportunities
A pair of senior South Carolina student-athletes recently took advantage of a unique professional development opportunity by attending the Southeastern Conference’s annual Career Tour in Atlanta. Jack Smith with the swimming and diving team and Shannon Williams from beach volleyball were among the 28 student-athletes from SEC’s 14 schools who participated in the three-day event during Thanksgiving break.
“We toured two different companies each day,” Williams said. “We spoke to different people who worked there. The whole point of it was to give us a chance to network. We were able to meet a lot of influential people at each of those companies. It also showed me how many jobs are actually available at large corporations like those. There were a wide variety of jobs within each company.”
“We talked a lot about resume-building, networking, and a lot of other skills to help with our professional profiles,” Smith said.
The goal of the SEC Career Tour is to provide exposure for student-athletes to various career opportunities, and this year’s tour gave them the opportunity to visit the headquarters and meet with executives at several corporations in the Atlanta area including UPS, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, The Home Depot and the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
“We met with talent and acquisition teams or recruiters from different departments,” Smith said. “There were networking seminars where we could talk to different groups. All the facilities were incredible, and we were able to hand out resumes at some places.
“The way some of the headquarters were set up, they definitely catered to our generation. It was really cool. We went through the Atlanta Hawks’ sales department. They had projection mapping that made you feel like you were in a suite or room within the arena.”
“I was pretty blown away by Home Depot’s corporate office,” Williams said. “It was super-modern and very nice. All the employees wear the Home Depot apron. They had a Starbucks and a pharmacy inside their building and a huge gym with a daycare attached to it. That was really cool to see that.”
“It was very eye-opening.”
– Jack Smith, Swimming and Diving
Williams is studying risk management and insurance with a minor in sport management, and she is leaning towards a career in the sports industry, while Smith is studying public health and has an interest in marketing.
“I haven’t quite figured it all out yet,” Williams said. “I just want a work culture where it’s like a team and a family. I’ve been on a team for so long, so I want to work somewhere where that culture is strong. I’ve gone through interviews before where it felt very individualistic and you might be able to travel a bunch, but I want to work in a place that is more of a community.”
“When I first heard about it during the summer, I thought that any opportunity to grow my network would be important and would give me a better idea of what I want to do in the future. What I got out of it is how important it is to take advantage of these opportunities to make connections.”
Shannon Williams, Greg Sankey, Jack Smith
“I want to work for a company similar to the ones we toured,” Smith said. “I’d like to work in their creative marketing areas. I went into this not knowing what to expect, but I met some really awesome people.”
A huge takeaway for Williams and Smith was in learning how many employers seek out student-athletes because of skills necessary to succeed in the classroom as well as in their sport.
“Everyone there said they want to hire athletes,” Smith said. “It was very eye-opening. I’ve stared at a black line at the bottom of the pool the last 15 years and have very little job experience, but a lot of people said they want athletes because of our work ethic. There were student-athletes on a lot of panels of the places we toured.”
“A lot of people we spoke to were athletes, or they were people who love athletics,” Williams said. “They said that they understand the grind and the time commitment it takes to be a student-athlete. There are many traits we have from being on a team and being coached that employers look for.”
“Each place was set up a little differently, but we were able to have one-on-one time and there were a bunch of panels where we could all ask questions. All these companies partnered with the SEC for the event and they made it clear that they want student-athletes. It was pretty reassuring, so I want to apply to all of the places we went to and send in my resume.”
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, Josh Foliart, a former Arkansas football student-athlete and co-founder and CEO of the MULTIPLi Global, and Randy Hain, founder and president of Serviam Partners also hosted presentations for the student-athletes, while former Auburn swimming and diving student-athlete Beatriz Travalon and former Georgia women’s basketball student-athlete Haley Clark served as panelists for a discussion on how the SEC Career Tour helped them during their job search process.
Smith and Williams are members of South Carolina’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and participated in the Athletics Department’s Beyond Sports Professional Development and Summer Internship program last summer. When their final season of competing is over, both feel they are prepared to start a career in something other than sports.
“I definitely feel like I’ve been professionally developed here,” Williams said. “I haven’t pinpointed exactly what I want to do, but I’ve tried a lot of different things on purpose. I do feel ready and confident with all the extra things I have been a part of.”
“100 percent,” Smith said. “I definitely feel more confident in being able to acquire a job. The opportunities I’ve had this year have definitely given me a leg up.”
