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Entry 7 - Reflections

This subject has certainly been an interesting one, and one that has assisted me greatly as I come to the end of the degree.

When we began, I think that I had a good base resume, and a good base understanding of how to apply for and prepare for an interview, and then attend the interview itself. My LinkedIn profile was competent, and everything was at an acceptable base level.

Throughout the semester and through this subject, all of the above that was at an acceptable base level has greatly improved. Reading through my resume now, it is in a chronological and logical order, and showcases my strengths to their greatest ability. The same be said for my cover letter writing skills too, and I think that these make a good ‘first impression’ when applying for jobs.

The industry day was certainly a unique experience, but one that was extremely beneficial. I felt that it gave me such great opportunity to meet all of the people within the industry. Also - and importantly - it was a great way to dull the nerves! We were moving around so much and had such a short amount of time to meet the interviewees that I didn’t have any time to worry about how nervous I was!

I think that my interviews in both rounds went well, and I think that’s reflected in the internship positions I was offered. Out of 7 ‘speed dating’ interviews, I was offered 5 short list interviews and from there, 4 internships themselves.

I like to think that supports my thoughts that I have a lot to offer these sorts of organisations, and that my experiences can bring a lot to the jobs I may undertake. I have accepted the offer from Hockey Australia (HA) and will hopefully be assisting with the media and marketing of their new league, Hockey 1. I’m really excited and looking forward to what I may be able to do when at HA, and what this may mean for any future career prospects.

I’m really looking forward to my time at HA, and what it might bring me and allow me to do. It is certainly going to be different to all my time spent in gymnastics, but I think it’ll be a great challenge and something that will allow me to broaden my knowledge and ultimately, hopefully make me more employable.

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Entry 6 - Critical Reflections

Wow, what an incredible experience the short list interviews were! From finding out which initial interviews I was offered, to the interviews themselves, it has been an interesting and rewarding experience to say the least.

I was pleased and honoured to be offered 5 short list interviews - Hockey Australia, W Sports and Media, GESAC, AFL Outer East and VAFA (Sponsorship and Marketing). I think those five were some of my best performing interviews on the industry day, and were all internship positions I was keen on. However, there was most definitely a part of me that was disappointed in not being offered an interview with Tennis Victoria; what is undeniable is how popular that particular internship is, and I certainly don’t begrudge anyone who did get the opportunity for a second interview.

I think the shortlist interviews themselves went well for the most part. For VAFA and AFL Outer East, I felt comfortable and confident with the interview as a whole. I felt that I connected well to the representatives from the organisations, and that I was able to demonstrate the value I could bring to their respective organisations. Receiving feedback from the AFL Outer East employee after the interview was really great. It supported how I felt the interview went, and helped give me confidence in what I was saying and what I could potentially achieve during my internship.

The GESAC and Hockey Australia interviews felt more formalised than the two above. GESAC was structured and methodical, with each of the interviewees asking questions and participating in the interview itself. For Hockey Australia, because the initial interview on industry day had been with Alexei, and this one was with Matt, it felt much more formal and in line with an interview for a job. It also felt as though Matt was feeling us out, which is to be expected, and that he was determining who may be best fit for the role.

W Sports and Media… now that was an interesting one! With only Holly present, it was less of an interview and more of an informal discussion about the internship role. Certainly was different from what we expected I think!

In the future, I think that I can improve by bringing more practical evidence of my experience and demonstrating my capabilities that way. I’m fortunate to have the experience working in sport, but given its been limited to gymnastics, I need to show that I am capable of working outside my comfort zone, and can bring varying strengths to the organisation.

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Entry 5 - Organisational Culture

Organisational culture is a factor that is becoming more and more important in workplaces. Employees want to work in an environment that is supportive, friendly, and provides opportunities for both personal and professional enhancement.

In its simplest terms, culture is how organisations do things, and the values and behaviours that contribute to the environment of the workplace (Rick, 2015). It is also the sum of values and rituals which serve as ‘glue’ to integrate members of the organisation, and help create a shared environment that defines an organisation (Rick, 2015).

Culture can also be understood at three different levels - visible, invisible, and assumptions. Figure 1 below best represents this model of organisational culture.

Figure 1. Model of organisational culture (Dickie & Dickie, 2006)

Visual culture can easily be recognised by customers, employees, or any other visitors, and includes behaviours towards one another, how people dress, office arrangements and other visual symbols (Dickie & Dickie, 2006).

Invisible culture is the expressed values and beliefs that people have, and that the organisation shares, and are sometimes called the core values. They influence behaviour and include such things as commitment, innovation, integrity, team work and more (Dickie & Dickie, 2006).

Assumptions are the values or beliefs that are so deeply held that they are no longer a conscious part of organisational culture, and are instead unconsciously upheld.

Figure 2 below shows the various aspects of organisational culture, and how they come together to create the total sum of culture.

Figure 2. Organisational Culture (Miller 2014)

Fitting in to a workplace and its existing culture is important for new employees, and yes, even us as interns too! Personally, it’s something that I value highly and aim to do to the best of my ability.

I’m fortunate to have worked in organisations that highly value their culture, and ensure that all employees are working towards a cohesive culture. My beliefs - team work, commitment, high standards, work ethic, integrity and more - are many values that are held in high esteem by workplaces, and values that I believe I bring to my work.

Being a high performing team member adds to the culture and the overall workplace harmony, and beyond just contributing to or improving culture, also has the ability to enhance the work itself. This then continues, with good culture improving work and so on. This is what I am aiming to bring to my internship, and to all future job roles too.

Figure 3 below shows the Gymnastics Victoria Events Team, a team that comes together to help run our major Tier 1 Events. Often held across multiple days, with hundreds of gymnasts competing in different levels, this team is what gets us all through our 16+ hour work days, and is one of the best I’ve gotten to work with. Our shared values - commitment, integrity, and delivering a world class event - make the events fun and enjoyable not just for us, but for all stakeholders involved.

Figure 3. Gymnastics Victoria Events Team (Gymnastics Victoria, 2019)

References

Dickie, L & Dickie, C 2006, ‘Managing organisational environments’, Cornerstones of management: skills in practice, Tilde Publishing, Manly, NSW, pp. 35 - 46

Miller, P 2014, Organisational Culture, viewed 26 May 2019, https://www.socialworkhelper.com/2014/06/16/organizational-culture/

Rick, T 2015, What is organisational culture, viewed 26 May 2019, https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/culture/organizational-culture/

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Entry 4 - Industry Day

Wow - what a day! Industry day was last Wednesday, and talk about a whirlwind day filled with quick fire meets and interviews!

Of course, it started with the internship applications. With a minimum of three applications required, I considered just what opportunities were made available for us and applied for seven various internships. All of the internships I applied for intrigued me, and seem to offer a real-world extension of what we’ve learned in our studies, as well as prepare us as best as possible for when we graduate at the end of the year.

I think my applications were quite on the mark. Once I edited my resume to suit each individual position, and included the selection criteria, I felt as if I was able to articulate and showcase my experience working in sport throughout the years, as well as provide reasons as to why I was a suitable candidate and what I could bring to each potential role.

I also think they fell within best practice. I addressed the key selection criteria, provided my employment history and experience, stayed within a reasonable limit in my cover letter and resume, and addressed each one individually, targeting the relevant managers of the roles and explaining what I could bring to the organisation (Ferguson, 2019).

For the industry day itself, I felt - paradoxically - confident but nervous. Confident in my experience and that I had applied for jobs that I could bring that experience too. Nervous because who isn’t in an interview situation, let alone one that essentially operates as ‘speed dating’!

I can’t decide if starting off the day as one of the student representatives (as below) made it easier or harder once we hit the interviews, but it was certainly an honour to stand up there and thank the organisations and their representatives for the opportunities they were working to provide us with!

Figure 1. Thanking the representatives (Duncan, 2019).

Once the day itself started, I felt as if I settled and was confident and articulate in what we were discussing. It is interesting to note the different interviewing techniques; some were relaxed and more like chatting, while a couple of them were quite formal and followed a systematic approach to determining candidate suitability.

In the end, I feel comfortable with my performance, and I hope that I am shortlisted and considered a strong candidate by a number of the organisations. And we all cleaned up well, that’s for sure!

Figure 2. Third Year Students (Duncan, 2019).

References

Ferguson, G 2019, ‘The best practices for applying for a job’, Chron, viewed 22 April 2019, https://work.chron.com/practices-applying-job-31031.html

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Entry 3 - Unique Value Proposition

All successful business owners and managers know that in order to maximise success, they need to sell their brand. It’s no different when it comes to selling yourself, and developing a personal marketing and brand awareness is extremely important these days.

Personal marketing is the brand you build around yourself. It presents your values and skills, who you are and why you stand out from the rest of the prospective employees (Walker, 2018) and it cannot be overstated just how important that now is.

It is the same for your unique value proposition (UVP). It allows you to understand yourself and concisely explain that in a way that essentially sells you to your prospective employee.

As you can see in the image below, creating your UVP consists of taking your experiences, your strengths and so on, and creating your unique selling point, that is different to everyone else’s. In the competitive marketplace of employment, this can now be the difference between being offered a job interview or not, let alone landing the job itself.

Figure 1. Unique Value Proposition (Pinterest, 2019).

In terms of my own brand, I think one of my biggest strengths is my experience working in sport, across a range of roles. I have experience in leadership and development through coaching. I have marketing, media, sport development, events, and knowledge of state and national sporting organisations through my time at Gymnastics Victoria. And combined, this places me in a unique situation. Granted, it is all in gymnastics, but nonetheless it is invaluable experience in and knowledge of sport.

I also think my time as an athlete brings a uniqueness to my UVP. Through my years spent training and studying, I developed time-management, autonomy, responsibility and commitment. All of these attributes, as well as others gained over the years, are applied to my work and how I approach all that I am doing, and are invaluable tools for an employee to have.

Of course, there are areas that I can continue to grow and improve. I think that my communication skills can continue to be honed and developed. With communication tools and strategies changing almost on the daily, it’s important that my ability to effectively communicate also grows and improves. I also think that my work-life balance is something to improve upon. No employer wants a staff member that will over-commit and burn out, or not be able to work as expected, so continuing to focus on that is important for me moving forward into full-time (hopefully!) employment.

References

Pinterest, Unique Value Proposition, photograph, viewed 22 April 2019, https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/452119250062513088/

Walker, E 2018, ‘Why you need a personal marketing plan’, Brand Yourself, 13 July, viewed 22 April 2019, https://brandyourself.com/blog/career/job-search-career/personal-marketing-plan/

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Entry 2 - The Internships

With the internship applications due shortly, the internships themselves are definitely front of mind throughout the next few weeks. Creating resumes and cover letters, applying for the internships, interviewing and gaining an invaluable internship experience are a vitally important part of preparing for my future. They are, after all, ‘a proven way to gain relevant knowledge, skills, and experience while establishing important connections in the field’ (Loretto, 2018).

Personally, I am hoping that I will gain new knowledge and understanding of the wider sport media field, and be able to try something new. As much as my experience working at Gymnastics Victoria (GV), and in gymnastics in general, has been undeniably invaluable, it is something that I am comfortable with, and I would really like to expand my skill set and try something new. I think the skills gained from my time at GV - time management, understanding of the sporting world, discipline, responsibility, and more - have provided a strong base to continue developing my employability skills. I think the skills gained from my time as an athlete - resilience, persistence, leadership and so on - will also help me in the workplace. What I need to continue developing are my communication skills, and expanding my knowledge beyond just gymnastics, to more sports and how they interact with the media.

In terms of the resume and the cover letter themselves, the importance if those two documents cannot be understated. They are both the first thing that your potential employer will see that is about you, and should essentially be considered as the first impression of you. The resume ‘acts as a bridge between you and the prospective recruiter’ (Management Study Guide, 2019) and is your opportunity to sell yourself. And as the video above suggests, a resume is vital when transitioning from school to work (What is the importance of resume writing, 2013). In terms of my own resume and cover letter, I think I am relatively well-placed. I am extremely fortunate to have experience in sport, and that is reflected in my resume, both in my coaching experience and GV experience. Of course, my resume still needs to be cleaned up and organised, but I feel as if I have a strong foundation to build off. As for my cover letter - I often struggle and use ‘I’ too much. This is something I will continue to work on, and instead try to emphasise what I can bring to the potential organisations I may work for.

References

Loretto, P 2018, Importance of internships for your professional career, viewed 4 April 2019, https://www.thebalancecareers.com/is-an-internship-really-all-that-important-1986800

Management Study Guide 2019, The importance of a resume, viewed 4 April 2019, https://www.managementstudyguide.com/importance-of-resume.htm

What is the importance of resume writing 2013, online video, post Nov 29, created by ResumeThatWorks, viewed 4 April 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Who2Xax1GX8

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About Me - Take 3

Back at again for this, the last year of studying, and all ready to go! My background is much the same as previously states - former gymnast, who can’t seem to leave the sport! I have coached here in Australia from recreational to elite gymnastics, and have also worked overseas coaching. I have recently completed the International Federation of Gymnastics’ Level 2 Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Coaching Course - which is a fancy way of saying I can coach internationally now for other country’s federations, if I wished to.

In terms of my personal life, I’m still continuing to coach my competitive gymnasts, who have just begun their first of two competition seasons for the year, hopefully culminating in state representation at Australian Championships in May. I’m also continuing to work at Gymnastics Victoria in the education department, helping to facilitate and organise our coach and judge education. Balancing these two jobs, along with studying, is certainly a challenge, but one that I continue to enjoy!

With co-workers at the 2018 Gymnastics Victoria Family Ball and Awards Night

My sport interests continue to be gymnastics, AFL, tennis, cycling, and the Olympic sports. For me, the 2018 Commonwealth Games were a great opportunity to watch and analyse more of the Olympic-type sports, including diving and hockey, that I don’t get the chance to normally watch and engage with.

In terms of my study performance last year, I was really happy with the quality of my work, and my commitment to submitting assessments on time. Moving forward, I can continue to improve the quality of my resources, especially the use of academic ones, and utilising them to support arguments. With the group assessments, it’s vital that I continue to improve communication with group members, ensuring that we’re all working together to complete assessments.

For this subject, I am hoping to hone my interview skills, and improve my resume and cover writing letter skills. I hope that this then assists me with landing an internship that will further my career aspirations - although that’s a bit fluid at the moment, as I’m not too sure exactly what I want to do once finished here. I do think I want to look at events and operations, and work towards an internship in a field such as those. I’m still interested in broadcasting, so something that could support that would also be great.

Personal goals for internship interviews

I think this subject will be a great launching platform for my career aspirations moving forward, and I am really looking forward to the opportunities that may come from this subject and the internship.