The value that joining a sports club can have on your future employability and career
Published: 19 October 2023
Sports clubs are particularly good at keeping you physically fit and supporting your mental health and can also have a positive impact on your career, especially when it comes to skills.
By Fiona Stubbs, Careers & Employability Manager
At the University of Glasgow, there are over 400+ student clubs and societies and, of these, 52 are sports clubs. If making friends and forming new communities is a priority for you, then joining a club is the place to be.
Sports clubs are particularly good at keeping you physically fit and supporting your mental health and can also have a positive impact on your career, especially when it comes to skills.
Jobs—whether part-time jobs, internships, PhDs or graduate roles—will require you to demonstrate different skills in the application process. Participating in a sports club can help you develop the ones employers look for.
Developing teamwork skills
Sports most often have the effect of fostering strong teamwork skills, and this is a skill consistently in the top five asked by employers. When you’re on a sports team, you’re always looking at how you can perform better and what ‘good’ looks like, whether that be committing to practice, exhibiting positive behaviours, supporting others and not putting yourself ahead. These are attributes needed in all workplaces. In fact, workplace team activities (eg awaydays to help build spirit) are often based on sporting activities.
Improving time management
In addition to teamwork, involvement in sport can help you develop time management skills which are highly desired by most—if not all—employers. In the Student Development Survey 2023 from the Institute of Student Employers (ISE), employers reported that one of the shortfalls in skills that they had expected from graduates was time management. When I speak to students in class, they frequently acknowledge that this is something they need to develop.
Maybe it comes as a surprise, but many students find that adding more commitments to a busy timetable improves their time management. Being in a sports club means you’re more likely to plan out your time out so that you can dedicate quality time to each part of your life. And the same goes for other activities.
Becoming goal-orientated
Some sports clubs get involved in competitions which require having the drive to train and hold long-term goals. This will support you staying competitive in the workplace. You’ll be used to proactively looking for development opportunities for reskilling and upskilling to stay current to trends which will enrich your career and help you reach professional goals.
Gaining leadership skills
Being a member of the club committee gives you opportunities to develop leadership skills like delegation, event organising and fundamental administrative skills. (You’d be amazed at how many graduates leave university without proper knowledge of email etiquette.) Employers love students who have experience of working with others on a committee as nearly every workplace will have working groups that need agendas, minutes and reports.
There are so many sports clubs to suit all levels of fitness and preferences and can introduce you to a new activity (eg yoga, orienteering, martial arts) or allow you to continue a favourite one.
And remember that sport is fun, and that’s enough of a reason to get involved. (Plus, having easy and affordable access to so many sports isn’t common after leaving university, so take advantage of the opportunity.)
First published: 19 October 2023
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