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Student athletes have to balance classes, practices, competitions, and team obligations all at the same time, which puts them in a unique position to build some valuable career skills. The best part is, these skills are a perfect fit for today’s tech-driven job market. Here’s how student athletes can identify and articulate skills that demonstrate tech savvy during their job search.
Transferable Skills
While on the field, student athletes develop a series of transferable skills that are directly applicable to virtually any career. They’re disciplined and resilient, they collaborate extremely well with others and make great leaders, and they perform well under pressure. Since student athletes have to juggle coursework and training, they also have excellent time management skills.
When these soft skills are paired with baseline digital literacy, student athletes can make themselves stand out in today’s tech-driven job market. For more in-depth information about the transferable skills of student athletes, check out our previous blog here.
Why Tech Skills Matter More Than Ever
Technology is now woven into just about every career path, from finance and healthcare to marketing and education. Even if you’re not pursuing a “tech job,” employers expect candidates to understand and use digital tools. That could mean analyzing data in Excel, leveraging AI platforms, or using project management software to keep teams working together seamlessly.
If you’re an athlete, don’t let all this intimidate you—it’s simply another form of training. Just as you’d study previous games and plays to improve your performance on the field, you can study and practice with digital tools to strengthen your professional skillset.
Connecting Student Athlete Skills to Tech-Driven Roles
The trick is translating your athletic experiences into language that resonates with employers in a digital-first environment. Here are some examples of how athletic skills might relate to roles that require tech savvy:
- Data-driven decision making: Athletes are used to reviewing performance stats, tracking progress, and adjusting strategies. All of this is directly comparable to using analytics tools in marketing or finance.
- Adaptability to new tools: You’ve no doubt experienced last-minute playbook changes or learned new strategies from your coach. In the workplace, that adaptability shows up as learning new software or AI platforms quickly.
- Collaboration in hybrid environments: Being able to work with teammates in different roles mirrors collaboration with cross-functional teams using digital platforms.
Building Your Digital Literacy
You don’t need to become a programmer to stay competitive. Instead, focus on practical, widely acceptable tech skills such as proficiency in productivity and project management tools such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, or Trello. Along with this, familiarize yourself with AI tools like ChatGPT to help improve research and drafting, or to brainstorm ideas.
It’s also very important to get comfortable with digital communication etiquette. This could mean learning to use Slack or other communication platforms, setting up a distraction-free space for Zoom meetings, or learning how to write clear and concise emails. These skills are all incredibly important in the modern workplace, so set aside some consistent time for tech learning to help stay ahead.
Showcasing Your Value in Applications and Interviews
When writing resumes or preparing for interviews, athletes should go beyond simply saying “I played varsity soccer” or “I was on the basketball team.” The goal here is connect the dots. For example, you might say something like this as a bullet point on your resume:
- Led a 20-member athletic team, developed leadership, collaboration, and performance analytics skills to track progress and improve outcomes.
Your cover letter is another opportunity to demonstrate your ability to apply your skills to workplace tech. Here, you might say something along the lines of “Just as I studied clips of old games to prepare for competition, I’ve trained myself to use data visualization tools to prepare for business challenges.”
This philosophy also applies to interview questions. When preparing for an interview, think about how your experiences as an athlete translate to using digital tools in the workplace. Keep in mind that employers don’t just want to now that you’re an athlete; they want to see how the lessons you learned can be applied to tech-driven environments.
For student athletes, the transition from sports to a career in today’s tech-driven world doesn’t mean leaving behind what made them successful. Instead, it’s about reframing their skills and showcasing how their discipline in the field translates directly to the modern workplace.
Rob Porter is an editor at Vault.
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