Happy Spring from Voice of the Box

by Leave a Comment

Spring has arrived! This is the time of year we often find ourselves cleaning out our closets, making room for new opportunities, and asking ourselves how to refresh our lives and perspectives. We at Voice of the Box truly enjoy helping people alter their careers and start anew. Coaching our clients to success is our commitment.

In the spirit of Spring time cleaning and starting anew we wanted to share how we can help you enhance and bolster your career search process.

First, and most important,  it starts with having a strategy…nothing can happen unless you have a solid plan in place and that is where we start with all our coaching clients.  We help you create a game plan that you can go out and execute.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BREAK INTO A CAREER IN SPORTS…

All it takes is 3 things:

1) Proven strategies,

2) Dedication

3) And a little personal attention from someone who has already gotten the results you’re after.

I’m here to help you “Get in the Game.”

Matt

Founder of Voice of the Box, LLC

What Not to Say in a Thank You Letter

by Leave a Comment

You know it’s a good idea to write a thank-you note after an interview, but a lot of people fail to take this basic step. While unlikely to make an employer totally reverse an opinion about you, when done well, thank-you notes can help you stand out from a crowd of applicants. Consider that a lot of employers interview numerous candidates, many of whom gave similar answers to a series of basic questions. If you want hiring managers to remember you favorably, write a knockout thank-you note; it may make a difference.

Be mindful, though: some follow-up notes leave employers cold and less likely to pursue candidates. For example, if your letter is too generic, too short, or if it sounds like a template or scripted message, you probably won’t win any points. Other red flags for the employer: Were you in too much of a hurry when you wrote your message? Are there mistakes or typos? Does your follow up cause the reader to doubt your interest in the job? If you can’t sound invested in the position and take the time necessary to write an interesting note, you may be wasting your time.

FULL STORY

Game Plan For Success

by Leave a Comment

The new book by Career Coach Matt Crevin – Get In The Game – is on sale now! Buy it here.

As is the case with most endeavors, there is rarely one magic bullet, one piece of advice or one thing to share in terms of what would help others break into the sports industry. For the most part it is a series of events that must take place and an action plan put in place (and implemented) that will help secure the job of anyone’s dreams.

There is so much that goes into an effective career search for any dream job that is very tough to narrow it down to one suggestion.  Here is what I would suggest to anyone:

It is one answer broken down into several parts

Have a game plan:

Successful teams as well as businesses have strategies in place to achieve goals, in both the short and the long-term. Job searching and networking is no different.

  • Combine your passion with a specific technical aptitude to find your niche.
  • Make sure you position yourself and your message to the specific market(s) you are going after.
  • Surround yourself with people you can learn from and be available to return the favor in the years ahead.
  • Continually build an industry specific network and leverage your network effectively to eventually have your own “advisory board” that you can rely on and utilize for years to come.

A big key is to be seen. Like successful marketing plans and branding strategies there needs to be a differentiation aspect to you as a person and a professional. What is it that seperates YOU from EVERYONE else??? A skill, a degree, an experience? Whatever it is, it must be not only improved on daily, but also perfected.

If you really pushed me to provide one thing that would ensure anyone to have a successful career search…BE AUTHENTIC

What does that mean?

It means to go about your career search with passion, integrity and professionalism but first and foremost be yourself and let that be your guiding principle. Too many people try too hard to be someone they are not and get caught eventually.

Why not show your true colors and be genuine right from the start. It will help you differentiate yourself and also it will set realistic expectations because at the end of the day, people hire people.  Sure you need all the traditional information to support your case (resume, cover letter, (positioning statement) but when given the opportunity to meet/interview with someone, be authentic!

The new book by Career Coach Matt Crevin – Get In The Game – is on sale now! Buy it here.

How To Win In Your Job Interview

by Leave a Comment

Whether I am on college campuses or talking on the phone with coaching clients, I’m asked for advice on how to break into the sports industry all the time. I really enjoy when some little bit of advice really resonates for someone and makes a difference in his or her search –

The consistently best bit of advice I offer, that has come back to me time and again, is this:

When it gets to that part of the live interview with your future boss where they ask, “well, do you have any questions for me?”, say yes, and ask:

“How do I help YOU get a great review next year?”

This bit of advice has helped more people in more interviews than any other bit of advice I’ve shared over the years.

Why?

Well, the interview process lends itself to self-absorption. We spend so much of the time talking about ourselves that we forget that we sound like one of those people who only talks about themselves.

People typically ask all sorts of questions about the job and reporting structure and how it fits in with the company’s five-year plan and so on. We get so obsessed with the details of the job that we forget about the work.

Working together and being a good addition to the team means being concerned with how you are making the team successful. And that means being concerned with how much you are helping to make your boss successful.

Asking this question shows that you have empathy. It shows that you have an interest in your boss’ career and future success. It shows that you are not just a self-absorbed “what’s-in-it-for-me” kind of person. And it shows that you know you are there to “give” as much as you are there to “get”.

The “get a great review” question is an easy tip to implement in your job search: it’s easy to do, easy to understand, and it’s easy to measure.

And that makes it my best bit of career advice ever.

Are you ready to get in the game?

The new book by Career Coach Matt Crevin – Get In The Game – is on sale now! Buy it here.

Meet Dave Rahn

by Leave a Comment

This week on Beyond The Game our Sports Insider Series features Dave Rahn, Road Manager for Sheryl Crow, Lionel Richie and former NFL Operations Director.

Dave is a man of many hats, who else has won three Super Bowl rings and has rubbed elbows with Sheryl Crow and Barbara Streisand all in a matter of 16 years.  Listen now as Dave gives out tons of inside information of everything needed to be handled going into the Super Bowl weekend.

Beyond The Game is a weekly sports talk broadcast that can be heard online or various outlets across North America.  Join us each Tuesday night at 9PM EST and go BEYOND THE GAME!  Listener Call In Lines:  (866) 417-4359 or (646) 716-8609.

[button link=”http://www.spreaker.com/show/beyond_the_game_sports_talk” newwindow=”yes”] Podcast[/button]

From Student-Athlete To Student

by Leave a Comment

I hope my first post resonated with more than a few of you and brought you back for more.  Moving forward, I intend to share my journey from high school, junior college, and NCAA athlete to a career in greater detail.  However, I’d first like to share my transition from student-athlete to student.

Over the past few weeks, I have begun to acclimate to life after college baseball.  Going into the new school year, I was nervous about the fact that I wouldn’t be around my teammates anymore, wouldn’t have a group of friends, and that I simply would hate being away at school without baseball.  However, since I arrived on Liberty’s campus in late August, my experience has been the exact opposite.  School without baseball is great!

I never realized how big the time commitment of a college sport really is.  Over the course of a week I would be at school from around 9 am to around 7 pm, my day filled with class, practice, weights and conditioning, meetings, and a whole lot of sitting around waiting for the aforementioned to start.  Many times, these events soured my love for the game, but the game itself always seemed to erase those negative thoughts.   I played the game because I still loved it.  When you’re pigeonholed into activities on the field or in the weight room that don’t produce results, or when you have to wait around for a practice or meeting to start, there is an opportunity cost associated with that time burn which could be spent doing much more productive activities. Only in hindsight has this become clear to me.  I guess until recently, I never realized, or I flat out denied, just how frustrating this process can be.

Without having to attend team mandated practices, study halls, and whatever else is on the agenda, I have found and feel anew sense of freedom.  I can now lift weights the way I want, put more time into my academics (much easier now that I’m not exhausted from a full day’s worth of class and baseball), and pursue other opportunities (I think most non-athletes call this “having a life”).  So far, I’ve been able to put time and effort into my Voice of the Box internship (by writing this blog), vastly improve my résumé (I strongly recommend you go to your school’s career center if it has one), attend various clubs centered around my degree and what I’d like to do in the future, and captain an intramural flag football team.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve quickly come to the realization that life is not all about a sport.  You need to have a back up plan, you need to make time for other things even if it’s only a small amount of time, and you need to find balance.  Even if you are a phenom, everyone’s career comes to an end at a fairly young age. What are you going to do after sports?  19, not 29, is the age to plan for this.

While I still have a long way to go to get where I want to be, taking steps in the right direction is definitely an invigorating feeling.  So far, life without baseball has been a success, but staying motivated to continue bettering myself will be an ongoing process.  In my next few posts, I plan on sharing some lessons learned through my athletic career.

Stay tuned!

Jacob Kemmerer

More on Jacob: The Journey Begins / Jacob Joins VOTB / @kemmerer11