Building a career in sport – Dan Maisey on creating networks, grabbing opportunity and the value of being a ‘generalist’
Another powerful conversation this month for the CIPR Sports Group, as Dan Maisey joined us to offer insights into; building a career in sport, understanding the jobs market and how to navigate recruitment, for yourself or when building a team.
Dan has worked across sport, in a range of roles, for over a decade. Building on his early years in management consultancy and guided by constant curiosity, his career has included performance roles, commercial roles and content creation before he set up his own recruitment company, aiming to change the way the sports industry finds and supports great people and allowing talent from other industries to thrive.
A month ago, he stepped away for a new career. So who better and when better forsome fresh insights into recruitment in the sports industry and its many opportunities. In our hour-long conversation - with Scott Dougal and Christopher Haynes - Dan offers insights on:
The value of being a ‘generalist’ and constantly curious: “My career path has taken me where the opportunity lay and where the interest was for me. I took the opportunity, whether it was going into the business development side of things, working on the commercial strategy side, working with the broadcast side. I just took the opportunity wherever I thought was interesting.”
The importance of building your network: “Start getting a bit more knowledge around who the players are and who are the people to speak to. You’ve got to give that person a reason to meet with you, talk to you, or give you advice. It sets you apart massively. As Rob Scotland from Veo Tech says, find five companies that you want to work for. Tell five people from each that you like the work they’ve done or they’re doing. Understand what they do, how they do it, find a reason to connect.”
How to work with recruiters: “They’re essentially a middle person. You’ve got an applicant and you’ve got employer and they are in the middle trying to manage those two relationships. You have to do your work and be prepared. The recruiter is there to then help you sell in. But the recruiter can’t sell you as a person - you have to sell yourself.”
Looking at attributes rather than skill sets when hiring: “It does come down to going, ‘what is it we actually need?’. What do I, their colleagues, the other departments need them to do? By understanding all of that, you are then able to understand ‘these are the attributes we’re looking for, and the A-players we’re then looking at.”
One core piece of career advice: “Don’t be afraid to take the opportunity. If you get the opportunity, take it with both hands, work hard. More opportunities will come up from it. That, for me, is the key thing. Just look at where those opportunities are, and take them.”
You can see the whole interview below.
Each month the CIPR Sports Group talk to a special guest, offering; stimulus for those working in sports communications, insights for those who might want to come into this world and great advice for anyone across communications.
This year, so far, we’ve spoken to Scot Field from GB Olympics, Drew Barrand from British Aquatics, football writer and broadcaster Henry Winter, Aoife Clarke from the Irish RFU, and Craig Spence from the Paralympic movement. Please take a look on our YouTube channel or through links or the CIPR website or LinkedIn, and let us know what you think.
