Negosentro|Five Reasons Former Athletes Make Great Employees|Understanding the character of potential employees is a difficult thing to do. You know what characteristics you’re looking for from your employees, but it’s not always easy to find the people that embody them. This is why hiring former athletes can be a great idea – you have a pretty good idea of the values they have and what they will bring to the team.
Perseverance
Elite athletes learn from a young age that no matter what happens one day, you have to come back the next day and give 100%. You don’t become an elite athlete by giving up, or being discouraged, you have to persevere and believe you will eventually come out victorious.
This perseverance and constant drive to succeed is particularly useful in a professional environment, where you can suffer knocks and setbacks just as you do in sport.
Time Management
The students who have received an athletic scholarship with companies like asmscholarships.com have spent their lives balancing school, sports, and personal time. They simply couldn’t make it through college as a student athlete without excellent time management skills.
Many college students think time management is tough, but it’s even more complex as a student athlete. This means that former athletes are particularly well prepared for the hustle and bustle of professional life, where they are responsible for their own productivity.
A Team Mentality
In college, there’s a personal focus on graduating, whereas in a professional setting, there’s is a collective focus on how to best serve the business.
Some students struggle with this, but student athletes are already well versed in this team mentality. They learn to blend personal goals with team goals in order to give their best for the team and this can be invaluable in a professional setting.
Sports Mirrors Business
So much of what happens in business is mirrored on the sports field. You have the highs of victories, lows of defeats, and you’ve got to respond positively to both scenarios. High level sports give students life experiences that can never be taken away from them, and these can come in useful in business.
Ultimately, it’s hard work that gets you through these situations, and the best athletes (no matter how talented they are) know this. It’s the same in the office, and when you recruit an athlete, you can be confident that they understand this.
Accountability
When you’re out on a tennis court, or in the swimming pool, or wherever it might be, and everyone’s eyes are on you, there’s nowhere to hide. Athletes have to learn to be accountable for their mistakes and go away and learn from them.
This mentality is ideal for business. You don’t want people that hide their mistakes and pretend like they didn’t happen. You need people who will accept responsibility for mistakes and go out and fix them. Elite athletes have spent their lives doing this and are most likely going to carry on doing it for your business.
