How recruiting athletes is like recruiting employees

Here’s an avenue you may not have considered before: recruiting athletes is very similar to recruiting employees. In both cases, the goal is to identify the best candidate for the job! There are several other similarities as well; here are other ways in which employee recruitment best practices are like athletic recruitment. 

Both are seeking great team players. Athletic recruiters and recruitment agencies alike are not just looking for skills; they need to determine how well a potential candidate will fit into the existing team’s culture and values. Someone who fits well into their team’s system will naturally improve results, whether it be sales, productivity, or final scores. 

Both know that if they don’t find the right person, they miss out on potential revenue. Bringing on someone who easily fits into the team is far easier, and more cost effective, than trying to train them to do so. And if recruiters don’t feel like they’re seeing that ease from a candidate? They’ll move on to someone else!

Both require thorough screening, interviews, and other methods to move to the next step.  Just like any employment agency, athletes go through extensive screening before they move through the college recruiting process. Athletic recruiters assess new recruits in several ways: their academic record, their eligibility for financial aid, their height, weight, and body measures, and any off-field issues.

Both are seeking highly motivated, disciplined, and focused individuals. Can the candidate perform under pressure, whether it’s in an office or on a court? Character traits such leadership skills, teamwork, commitment, and discipline are highly sought out across all kinds of recruitment! 

Both need to make the candidate feel appreciated and respected. To build trust and rapport with potential candidates, recruiters across the board need to be able to communicate effectively. Candidates want to know what they’re getting into and want to feel like they’ve been heard and understood. If you don’t communicate well with them, then you’ll lose out on great talent.

If you’re the parent of a student athlete, consider working directly with an athletic recruitment firm like College Athlete Advantage, that adheres to all these best practices. College Athlete Advantage (CAA) provides high-quality college recruiting services, to mentor and prepare athletes for the world of college athletics. If you are looking for guidance in the college recruitment process for baseball, basketball, or softball, CAA can help!

If you’re the one doing the recruiting, utilizing strategies from top recruitment firms might help you get ahead with your next athlete search! Here’s two that demonstrate excellent procedures and results: 

 Recruiterie leverages its expansive candidate network with a comprehensive vetting process to ensure each candidate is ready to succeed. Their human resource executive search firm adopts a rigorous search process to meet each client’s needs and expectations, as well as evaluating various aspects of the company, including goals, mission, company culture, and more.

TruPath is focused on filling executive leadership positions within the semiconductor industry. With over 15,000 direct hires since inception, they’re the ideal partner for finding culturally aligned talent that boosts companies to the next level. https://trupathsearch.com/

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