The Job Search as Played Out Through Sports!
Museum Antiquity in Paestum, Italy of ancient chariot racing - Photo by Gloria Schramm

The Job Search as Played Out Through Sports!

Think of your job search as a new sport.  What, you say? Job loss and reemployment is serious stuff. 

But the world of sports is a lot like looking for work. If we compare job search to games like baseball, soccer, bowling, wrestling and chess, we see the similarities and how we can dodge balls, improve our positioning, change moves or take corrective action—much like we do when meeting obstacles at bat, on the turf, in the lanes, at the board—or in the ring! So get your game head on, take a look and see how many plays you’ve made!

Warm Up

The time it takes to realize the work world has changed and one needs to accelerate one’s efforts and pull out all the stops to find work no matter the game field.

Baseball

Curveball – You’ve been thrown one of these when you are laid off your job, suddenly asked to pack your things on a Friday afternoon and are escorted by a coworker or security down the elevator and out the front door.

Left Field – Job loss resulting in feelings of displacement, alienation, fear, loneliness, loss of self-esteem and total disorientation. Layoffs often feel as if they’ve come out of left field. Also, when you have been interviewed and are on the brink of getting the offer, the company decides not to hire due to budget review and pulls the job or changes the game rules (job description).

Fast Ball – Your defensive motion when you hear the rumors around the office water cooler of a company takeover, merger or general smoke about profit loss or other threats to stability and status. You start discreetly networking, putting out “feelers” and planting seeds for other possibilities in case the company closes or does a major reorganization/downsizing.

Foul Ball – Applying for jobs unsuitable for you or sending out a poorly-constructed resume with typos that reads like a grocery list without substance, qualifiers, and achievements. Or bad-mouthing your previous boss or company in an interview. (Maybe they sucked but don’t you let on!)

Walk –The easy break you get when a colleague or former boss knows somebody hiring somewhere else and recommends you and facilitates your ushering into an interview. The interviewer spends much of the interview talking about your mutual contact or friend. The ice is cracked before you even got there, warm n’ fuzzy feelings abound and the air is electrifying sort of like an exciting first date. Just the formalities need to be worked out. Serendipity. You’re in!

Pitch – Putting your branded self and aiming your presentation in job interviews, at networking events, job fairs, in elevators, on paper, in Starbucks and out there anywhere – to get a job ASAP.

Strike – When you get the job!

Home Run—When you get several job offers simultaneously!

Bunt – What you do to stall the salary negotiation and buy yourself time to remain in the driver’s seat once you receive a job offer.

Soccer

Goalie – The position you play as jobseeker avoiding pitfalls and winning the job offer.

Goal – A new job!

Kick – Your best shot! Give it a good kick.

Dribble – What companies do when they maintain the “upper hand” by stalling and dragging their feet in calling in applicants for interviews, buying themselves time due to corporate culture, financial worries, favoritism, EEO demands and maintaining an image.

Bowling

Strike – Bingo! Bowled over! You got the job. Advance to title, paycheck and benefits on the work board.

Spare – When you get lazy in your job search, ride out your unemployment and fall back on your spouse’s generous salary. Spare everyone the trouble of hearing you cry the blues!

Alley Ball – Uh-oh. Back to the drawing boards.

Pin – follow through and follow up with all job lead applications, personal contacts, Linkedin contacts.

Wrestling

KO’d – Knock out—What you feel with underhanded layoffs, being “set-up,” false promises by interviewers for prospective jobs. Get up, dust yourself off and get back in the ring!

Left Hook – You didn’t see it coming. Any of it.

Chess

High level sophisticated job search incorporating strategy, stealth, scheming, intellectual and intelligence savvy. If you manage your contacts and ferret out hidden leads, you won’t be a mere pawn on the chessboard!

Blindfold – An expert player who plays one or more opponents – overcoming objections by skittish employers—and maintains such vision and out-of-the-box thinking – without sight of the board (necessarily). Combines Machiavellian tendencies, love of adventure, boldness, risk-taking – and sometimes makes the FORBES list of wealthiest businesspeople in the world—with a little bit o’ luck.

Think of your job search like you do your favorite sport. 

Be aggressive, stay on your heels and move forward.

Calling all sports lovers:  Get in the game!  What corrective actions have you taken since your layoff? Let us hear from you sporting more game talk! Maybe you putt on the driving range or shoot baskets? What are your scenarios and experiences? It’s your turn at bat. Play the game well.

You’re ON!

Article originally published in The 405 Club online.



















 

Gloria J. Schramm

Career Counselor and Coach/Playwright/Equine Volunteer

2y

Sports are part of life and the job search!

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Gloria J. Schramm

Career Counselor and Coach/Playwright/Equine Volunteer

2y

Let the games begin!

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Patricia Masi

Marketing Professional, NYCPS, NYCRC, Literacy Tutor, Art Therapist

2y

Score! On the money, Gloria! 

Frank Pomata

Workforce Development*Mental Wellness Advocate/Speaker/Trainer* NonProfit & Volunteer Mgmt Consultant*Author

2y

Love it, Gloria! Great analogies to illustrate the various up's, down's and sideways experiences of the job search process. Keep the pearls of wisdom coming. 😎

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