Jul

31

Job Opening: Homestead-Miami Speedway Public Relations Internship

Filed Under Career, Job Openings | 1 Comment

Homestead-Miami Speedway (Miami, FL) wants to hire a PR intern and it could be you. For more info or to apply, please visit this website. Good luck!

Key responsibilities include assisting in PR initiatives tied to the promotion and ticket sales of the Speedway’s major events, highlighted by: Ford Championship Weekend (Nov. 20-22), the Championship finales of the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series; and the NextEra Resources SpeedJam Championships Weekend (Oct. 9-10), featuring the Championship finale races of the IndyCar, Firestone Indy Lights and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

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Jul

30

Career Tips: Why you should do informational interviews

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SPRB’s Career Help 101 Series continues today as we discuss the importance of informational interviews and why you should do them if you’re a student, job seeker, or interested in changing professions.

What is an informational interview?

It’s a way for you to learn from someone with firsthand knowledge about the industry. It is not a place for you to hand over a resume and ask for a job or ask about any open positions. Think of it as a research opportunity — it’s simply a networking technique that lets you grasp a better understanding about the industry and/or company you want to work with.

It may help you with a job search as you make more connections, but please do not think of it as an equivalent to a job interview because it’s not. That being said, I would bring a copy of your resume in case they ask for it. You can bring it up, but only to ask for advice on how to improve the resume (either with the text/design of the resume or by work experiences you should gain).

You can do an informational interview over the phone or in person, but unlike a job interview you are the one primarily asking questions.

Why should you do an informational interview?

  • Provides you with more information about your interested career field and helps you confirm that this is what you want to do
  • Lets you know the types of qualifications and responsibilities that come with jobs in that particular aspect of the industry
  • Builds your network and allows you to make connections with someone in the field
  • Bolsters your self-confidence when it comes to interviews because it gives you a chance to interact with someone on an interview level without having to worry about getting a job or not

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Jul

30

Job Opening: Springfield Armor Director of Marketing & Public Relations

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Springfield Armor is looking to hire a Director of Marketing and Public Relations. If you would like to apply, check out this website. Good luck!

Objective/Description:
The Springfield Armor is seeking a passionate, energetic, and committed professional to handle all marketing, media relations, community relations and in-game entertainment for the team. Under the guidance of the General Manager, this position will have a significant influence on the direction and success of the franchise.

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Jul

29

Job Opening: Club Deportivo Chivas USA Communications Director

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Club Deportivo Chivas USA wants to hire a Communications Director. If you are interested, you can visit this website for more info or to apply.

Summary
The Communications Director oversees all broadcasting and media relations initiatives for Chivas USA in both Spanish and English, while also playing a key role in the organization’s messaging, publications and new media strategy. As head of the department, this position advises executives, supports the various functional areas and acts as club spokesperson to the media. This position is based in Carson (Los Angeles County), California.

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Jul

29

Career Tips: How to create an online portfolio

Filed Under Career, Tips | 5 Comments

SPRB’s Career Help 101 Series continues today with a how-to post for creating an online portfolio. As I mentioned yesterday, an online portfolio can help you in your job search for a few of reasons.

  • Showcases your work experiences with actual samples & allows you to offer more in-depth info than what you can include in a one-page resume
  • Demonstrates your understanding of the digital world
  • Helps protect your personal brand by showing up high in search engines if a potential employer were to Google your name

So how do you go about creating an online portfolio? Here’s how you can do it in eight steps:

1. Buy a domain name.

Sure you can put your digital portfolio on a website like wix.com, but it’s not going to help you as much in search results and it won’t come off quite as professional. Use your name as the domain name. For example, my portfolio is at ChristyHammond.com. If your first and last name are not available, add a middle initial. If that’s not available, do the entire middle name. If you don’t have that option either, find something else that sounds professional but conveys the purpose of this website.

You can purchase the domain name through whatever hosting site you will use. Personally, I use Site5.com. I’ve never run into any problems with them — quick with customer service and reliable. But I also host quite a few other websites there so you may not need as good of a hosting site. There are other cheaper ones including GoDaddy, but do your research and figure out which service would be the best for you and your needs.

2. Figure out a design.

Before you can actually start adding content to the online portfolio, you need to figure out how you want it to look. If you decide to use Wordpress, you can install any Wordpress template you find and use that. I think that Wordpress themes are fantastic for blogs, but not necessarily so great for online portfolios so I went around searching for website templates. I came across this free, open source website template website and modified the HTML and CSS to fit how I wanted my website to look. However if you don’t know any HTML and don’t know how FTP works, going the Wordpress route is probably the best. Just take some time to find a template that really works as a portfolio.

A professor who teaches PR at Auburn University requires all of his students in one of his courses to create their own digital portfolios and that’s what actually inspired me to create my own. Anyways, you can see a list of his Spring 2009 students and their portfolios to see the different website designs each of them used for their portfolio. You can check out even more of his students, dating back over the years at PRProspects.com.

To find pictures for the portfolio, you can visit iStockPhoto for low-priced images or search for photos under the Creative Commons license at Flickr or Google. Of course you can include your own photo if there’s one that fits. I took a photo off of Navy Pier in Chicago in the bitter month of February, capturing an icy Lake Michigan as the sun set and used that image as the head photo for my portfolio.

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Jul

28

5 ways to help your job search

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Image Credit: danieljohnsonjrv

Looking for a job or internship? Here are five ways to help get you started in your search:

1. Research.

Before you can start applying, figure out where you want to work and what you want to do. Do you only want to work on the east coast? Just have your eyes on the NFL? However please note that the sports industry is a tough one to break into, you may very well need to be willing to move outside of your ideal geographic area or start your career with a league or team other than your top choice. So it wouldn’t hurt you to research other locations or sports that may be of interest even if they aren’t your top choice.

Once you know your goal, start researching. Learn where you can find about job openings. Research what it takes to get a job or internship in the field. Find people you can start networking with to help break into the industry. As I mentioned in this post about landing your dream internship, I never would have gotten my internship with the Wings if I had not researched in advance what it took to get one and made connections with people who could help get my foot in the door.

To get my sport internships with the Plymouth Whalers (OHL), Detroit Red Wings, and University of Michigan, I personally contacted the appropriate individuals (after doing plenty of research) and thus landed an interview when they were ready to hire an intern. Searching through job postings is still very valuable so I’m not discounting that avenue. Afterall, I got an offer for a media relations internship with USA Swimming last summer by following that route. I ended up interning elsewhere, but you can still land a job or internship by applying via an online job posting. I’m simply stressing how valuable it is to make a connection with someone already working at the company you want to be at. You can find those right people by taking the time to research.

2. Create an online portfolio.

Not only does an online portfolio/resume showcase your work and skill sets, but it also demonstrates that you understand this digital world that we live in. I find that it gives me an opportunity to provide more details about what I did with my past positions than what you could provide on a one-page resume. I also get to show off examples of my work, which you can’t provide when applying to some of those online job postings. Plus, you may find potential employers contact you after they come across your work.

Make sure that your resume and portfolio are up-to-date. Obviously some adjustments will need to be made for varying positions, but you want to have a solid foundation that is good to go when needed. Tomorrow, SPRB will show you how to go about creating that online portfolio.

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Jul

28

Job Opening: Houston Aeros Communications Manager

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The Houston Aeros (AHL) are looking for a Communications Manager. Think you have what it takes? Check out this website for more info or to apply.

Position Summary: This position manages the day-to-day media relations for the team including servicing the media and handling all hockey related media inquiries in a professional, timely and effective manner. This position promotes all aspects of the organization including the team’s players, coaches, and management. The position also handles limited basic hockey administrative duties, upon request, by Aeros General Manager.

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Jul

27

Interview with Ryan Knapp of NPSL

Filed Under Career, Interviews | 1 Comment

Ryan Knapp of the National Premiere Soccer League took the time to answer some questions about his position and sports PR, including blogger relations, with SPRB. I thought his career-related responses were a great fit for this week’s Career Help 101 Series so I wanted to use it as a kick off for the rest of the series.

1) According to your LinkedIn profile, you started a soccer blog entitled Center Holds It that eventually led to your current position as director for the National Premiere Soccer League. What made you decide to start the blog and how did that get you into the PR side of soccer?

I started the blog upon moving back to the US from living a year abroad in Spain. I realized (and still do) that there is a lack of quality La Liga (Spanish First Division) coverage in the US, especially in English.  So, I decided to fill that void and start Center Holds It, along with two amazing writers, Jeff Bull and Breton Bonnette.  We wrote for about one year, and then CHI moved over to BigSoccer, where it remains today in Breton’s hands.As I started to write, it soon dawned on me that I wanted to make this into a career.  I quickly looked for an internship with a professional soccer club, and found a NPSL club in my hometown of Buffalo, NY.  With only writing experience to back me up I contacted Christopher Keem, who was GM of Queen City FC.  We talked, and I was made Director of Media Relations for Queen City, as a volunteer position.  Volunteer or not, the position sucked me in 100% and I found myself completely engaged, and loving what I was doing.

After my first season with QCFC, the executives at the club decided to fold it.  I took it upon myself to become Pres/GM and resurrect the club. I did just that - turning the club over to a new owner and renaming the club, Buffalo City FC.

With the transition complete in Buffalo, I had already taken a seat on the Executive Committee of the NPSL as Secretary and continued to be involved with the league.  In March, the NPSL created a Director of PR position, and I applied and was lucky enough to be granted the opportunity with the league.

2) You have a wide-ranging list of responsibilities with your current post, including media relations tasks (e.g. writing press releases, transcribing quotes, etc.) and maintaining the website (e.g. writing content, producing podcasts and video, etc.). What prepared you to handle all of these responsibilities and do you find it challenging to balance all of them?

Planning is absolutely key.  After the NPSL decided to hire a Director of Public Relations, I was quickly thrown into a whirlwind of ideas, thoughts, jobs and planning for a season that began before I even knew it.  The classic mistake is stretching yourself too thin and starting 100 tasks without completing one, so I started out small and attempted to keep my ideas in check, at least until the season is over.

It was extremely difficult to come into the position two weeks before the season began, as I played/am playing catch-up throughout the entire season.  As the season ends August 1st, I cannot wait to sit down and chart out a plan for the next year.

On a personal level, my key to focusing and handling loads of responsibilities is to meditate. 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night allows my body and my mind to sort through whatever is clouding my ability to work to my fullest potential.  It helps me to maintain focus throughout the day when it might be easy for your mind to stray.

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Jul

26

Career Help 101 Series

Filed Under Career, Tips | 8 Comments

Thanks to the success of my Sports Blogging 101 Series, I have decided to try and crank out a couple more series before classes and my internships start back up in late August. Over the next week and a half, SPRB will host a Career Help 101 Series.

While there are plenty of SPRB readers who already work in the sport industry, there are a lot of us trying to break into it whether it’s with an internship or full-time position. When I asked SPRB readers what type of posts they would like to see this summer, career help was near the top of the list.

This series will aim to help those individuals trying to join this fairly exclusive club. Most of the advice can be applied to anyone looking for a job, but I will do my best to apply it to the sport world. Even if you do have a job in sports, it doesn’t hurt to work on some of the things I’ll be discussing this week.

Due to being out of town this weekend, this series’ schedule is not definite like it was during the Sports Blogging 101 Series but here is a rough estimate (subject to change):

Monday – Interview with Ryan Knapp (Director of PR for National Premier Soccer League)

Tuesday – 5 ways to help your job search

Wednesday – How to create an online portfolio

Thursday – Why you should do informational interviews

Saturday – The importance of internships

Sunday – 11 resume and cover letter tips

Next Monday – Do you have a brag bag or elevator pitch?

Next Tuesday – 7 tips to help you network

Next Wednesday – 25 blogs & books to help your job search

Next Thursday – 50 frequently asked interview questions

If this series goes well, I plan on running another similar series to help PR practitioners develop their skill sets so that you’re well-qualified for a job opening or to help you climb the ladder if you already have a job. If you have any suggestions for the above topics or something you’d like to see, please feel free to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail (see my contact page for more info).

Jul

24

Beckham faces a tough return to MLS

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Image Credit: NorthofAuckland

In 2007, David Beckham signed with LA Galaxy and was immediately heralded as the MLS savior by many. Two years later, the soccer star returned to America after going on a five-month loan to AC Milan. He played on the road against the New York Red Bulls in front of 23,238 fans, who apparently booed him at his every touch. In the past two seasons, Beckham helped attract 45,000+ fans in his two appearances at the Meadowlands.

He then played in front of his home crowd this week in a friendly against (who else) AC Milan. Let’s just say there were some fans who weren’t too pleased to see Beckham back in LA.

Beckham tried to extend his loan with AC Milan and let’s just say that wasn’t a great PR move in the eyes of MLS soccer fans or at least opposing team’s fans. Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl also recently published a book entitled The Beckham Experiment and the publicity blitz doesn’t help Beckham’s image.

What do you think Beckham can do to improve his image after the stint in Italy? I think he just needs to show that he truly is committed to growing soccer here in the U.S. and building the MLS. His wavering commitment doesn’t do much to help his image — one minute he says he wants to go back to Milan right now and the next it’s that he is committed to helping the MLS.

Someone asked Beckham, who has missed half of the Galaxy’s M.L.S. games the previous two seasons and the first 17 this year, if he might be spreading himself too thin — with commitments to different teams and public-relations appearances. Had he lost sight of the source of his blessings, soccer?

“My career and my whole life has been about soccer,” he said. “Nothing else. Yeah, I have the advertising and the appearances, but not once in my whole 17-year career have I let anything get in the way. So not once have I stepped out of that zone of my first job as a soccer player. Nothing else.”

Some may be concerned that the public appearances may distract Beckham from his game, but if he truly does mean to stay in the U.S. (and I personally doubt that) he must continue to reach out to the American public and help bring back those fans that had attended MLS games two years ago. While he can’t lose sight of his play, he needs to continue those appearances.

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