Interview
Interview Source:
Work hard always whether you get paid or not. Intern and volunteer as much as you can and don't let people forget you by what you do and how you act. A lot of companies hire from within because they know how that person works and their character, so don't turn down an internship because you want to get paid or think you deserve to get paid. It could easily pay after you show your worth. Always look for areas where you can improve whether that's personally or how the organization can improve. Do the jobs no one wants to do with a smile because people will remember.
- Name of Person: Chelsea Miller
- Title: Assistant Director of Operations
- Organization / Company: Orlando City Soccer Club
- E-Mail or Phone Number: [email protected]
- General Responsibilities: As the Assistant Director of Operations she work directly under the Senior Director of Operations to help with all things operationally for the club. On game day, she runs the field including security, volunteers, locker rooms, interns, and all pre-game (intros), halftime, and post game activities. This also includes all setup and tear down activities for game day. Her department is in charge of all player contracts, visas, player housing, away game travel, and medical needs of the players. They also are the direct liaisons with our league and other teams. They work with their clothing sponsor (Lotto) to order all game kits, gear, and staff gear. She also assist in event operations outside of game day. Basically, they assist in all areas of the club. she is also the General Manager for their PDL U-23 team and do all the same things but on a lower level for them.
- Likes: She enjoys how each day is different with different challenges because it keeps the job interesting. Operations requires a lot of planning and organization, which helps enable her OCD in a lot of ways. She works with amazing people and have incredible interns, so that makes the job a lot better as well.
- Dislikes: As expected in sports you work a lot of hours. Its not a 9-5 job and it requires a lot of sacrifices, but its worth it if you love what you do.
- Hours / Attire: Like mentioned in the previous comment, the job can easily consume your life. We work a lot to push our Club to always be the best, so that requires a lot of hours. The championship week for example was easily 70-80hrs she worked and they worked Labor day to make sure the stadium was ready as well. Attire in the office is business casual, but being in operations and having to move things, gym attire happens as well depending on the to do list that day. Overall, the office is diverse depending on your department for attire. On game day, everyone is either in the Orlando City polo or business casual.
- Pay / Benefits / Perks: People don't get into sports because of the pay and if they did they will be disappointed. Yes you get medical etc, but in the end most people will make it all work because they love the job. You get to work and interact with a range of well known athletes to politicians, so being behind the scenes has its perks for sure. There is many other perks, so that helps too.
- Education: She graduated from University of Central Florida with a B.S. in Psychology and minor from the DeVos Sports Business Management program.
- Related Experience: She worked a lot with University of Central Florida organizing and implementing events the first 2 years of attending. She got involved with Orlando City because she needed volunteer experiences for her minor and she enjoyed it. She interned for a year and that's when she was offered a part-time position. She was offered full-time a month before she graduated from University of Central Florida.
- Salary Range: It really depends on your title, but can easily be from $25,000-75,000. That will change when they begin their time in Major League Soccer.
- Turnover: They don't really experience turnover with full-time staff. Its hard to get a job in the sports industry because of this reason unless they are expanding.
- Opportunity for Advancement: Yes, there is advancement, but it might not be in the club you are in because the people above you are not leaving. You might have to move to another club to advance in your career.
Work hard always whether you get paid or not. Intern and volunteer as much as you can and don't let people forget you by what you do and how you act. A lot of companies hire from within because they know how that person works and their character, so don't turn down an internship because you want to get paid or think you deserve to get paid. It could easily pay after you show your worth. Always look for areas where you can improve whether that's personally or how the organization can improve. Do the jobs no one wants to do with a smile because people will remember.
Interview Source:
Name of Person: Keiana Mitchell
Title: Development & Program Assistant
Organization / Company: Columbus Crew
E-Mail or Phone Number: [email protected]
Personal Information:
· General Responsibilities: She is currently serving as the Development & Program Assistant for the Columbus Crew’s non-profit arm, of the Crew Soccer Foundation. As the only Foundation employee, she is responsible for all of the Foundation’s programs and events, including their soccer programming (they run soccer clinics and a summer league), field development projects, and their golf outing to name a few. You can visit www.crewsoccerfoundation.org to learn more about their programs.
· Likes: Her favorite part about the job is being able to work with and impact youth in the Columbus community. Additionally, because she is the only Foundation employee, she is able to learn about many facets of the job, including Public Relations, marketing, communications etc.
· Dislikes: As the only employee of the Foundation, she is responsible for all of the day to day activities of the Foundation. "When you are a staff of one, it can sometimes be stressful, even if you have assistance from other departments."
· Hours / Attire: Depending on games and events, she works anywhere from 40-65 hours a week.
· Pay / Benefits / Perks: They have activities at work including: wellness activities such as boot camp classes, nutrition classes and staff massages. They also receive employee staff tickets to Crew home games.
· Education: She received her Bachelor of Arts from The Ohio State University (History Major) in 2008 and her MBA with a concentration in sports management from Tiffin University in 2010.
· Related Experience: Interned with the Women’s Sports Foundation (Programs Assistant), University of Minnesota Athletic Department (Assistant to the Director of Annual Fund), and Ohio High School Athletic Association. She has been with the Crew Soccer Foundation for three years in April, 2014.
Industry Information:
· Salary Range: 28,000-40,000
· Turnover: The turnover in the sports industry is high, especially considering that the opportunity to move up is not always available. Many, especially those who are just getting started, are able to improve their opportunity for advancement by getting varied experience at different organizations. Additionally, working in sports requires a lot of nights and weekends, which some grow weary of after working in the industry after a number of years.
· Opportunity for Advancement: See above
Tips for Students Aspiring Towards a Similar Position:
She says some tips would be: getting as much experience as you can while you are in school is very important. That is something that she was not able to take advantage of that she wishes that she had while she was in school. She also said it is important not to limit yourself to one facet of the industry.
Name of Person: Keiana Mitchell
Title: Development & Program Assistant
Organization / Company: Columbus Crew
E-Mail or Phone Number: [email protected]
Personal Information:
· General Responsibilities: She is currently serving as the Development & Program Assistant for the Columbus Crew’s non-profit arm, of the Crew Soccer Foundation. As the only Foundation employee, she is responsible for all of the Foundation’s programs and events, including their soccer programming (they run soccer clinics and a summer league), field development projects, and their golf outing to name a few. You can visit www.crewsoccerfoundation.org to learn more about their programs.
· Likes: Her favorite part about the job is being able to work with and impact youth in the Columbus community. Additionally, because she is the only Foundation employee, she is able to learn about many facets of the job, including Public Relations, marketing, communications etc.
· Dislikes: As the only employee of the Foundation, she is responsible for all of the day to day activities of the Foundation. "When you are a staff of one, it can sometimes be stressful, even if you have assistance from other departments."
· Hours / Attire: Depending on games and events, she works anywhere from 40-65 hours a week.
· Pay / Benefits / Perks: They have activities at work including: wellness activities such as boot camp classes, nutrition classes and staff massages. They also receive employee staff tickets to Crew home games.
· Education: She received her Bachelor of Arts from The Ohio State University (History Major) in 2008 and her MBA with a concentration in sports management from Tiffin University in 2010.
· Related Experience: Interned with the Women’s Sports Foundation (Programs Assistant), University of Minnesota Athletic Department (Assistant to the Director of Annual Fund), and Ohio High School Athletic Association. She has been with the Crew Soccer Foundation for three years in April, 2014.
Industry Information:
· Salary Range: 28,000-40,000
· Turnover: The turnover in the sports industry is high, especially considering that the opportunity to move up is not always available. Many, especially those who are just getting started, are able to improve their opportunity for advancement by getting varied experience at different organizations. Additionally, working in sports requires a lot of nights and weekends, which some grow weary of after working in the industry after a number of years.
· Opportunity for Advancement: See above
Tips for Students Aspiring Towards a Similar Position:
She says some tips would be: getting as much experience as you can while you are in school is very important. That is something that she was not able to take advantage of that she wishes that she had while she was in school. She also said it is important not to limit yourself to one facet of the industry.