Whether you were involved in the egg and spoon race back in primary school or competing in a sport for Great Britain, there is a good reason why we have been encouraged to get involved in sport at some point in our lives. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to get into the GB Olympics Start Programme after being a very active sportswoman at school, which has led to me develop and uncover a lot about myself.

Although, when it came to what some may say the dreaded annual sports day, it would have never crossed your mind that how you acted then could help you in your future career. Therefore, I am going to layout the 4 reasons how sport enhanced my employability level.

How sport has enhanced my employability level:

1. Some people may think sport is just physical, where actually it is just as much a mental game. Taking part solo or in a team environment, there are many skills to be gained. In order to succeed in sport, you need to be DETERMINED to win, COMMITTED to training, RESILIENT to take knock backs and take on feedback to IMPROVE yourself. All these skills are traits that employers are looking for because these skills can be transferred to the working environment.
2. Secondly, with more and more people having a degree it is important that you have aspects of your CV that make you stand out from other potential candidates when going for a job. For example, by stating you were captain of your school netball team, shows you have the ability to lead and be a team player. Furthermore, by just mentioning your previous achievements e.g. winning of the county cup, this could intrigue an employer to want to know more which could lead to you getting to the next stage of the process.
3. This leads me on to my next reason of how sport has enhanced my employability level. The next stage, after your impressive CV could be an interview, this is a series of questions you may be asked by the employer about yourself and the company. It is important when answering a question to relate to one of your previous experiences to back up your answer.

Example:

Question: “How would you cope if the company were to lose a deal?”

Answer: “I would learn from my mistakes to make sure to avoid it happening again, for example playing in the netball tournament finals I didn’t have a go at goal opportunity, which meant we lost by one, this taught me to not make the mistake again”

• 4. Once you have got the job, these skills can then be used to deal with the pressures of day to day working life. This could reflect in your work ethic, your ability to get on with other staff members and having the confidence to challenge and contribute to the goings-on in the workplace, which are all skills employers are looking for.