Staff Report: Landing the Interview

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Your dream job comes open and you are in a time in your career that your experience and skills fit the qualifications for the position. How you proceed over the next days/or weeks will determine whether or not you will be interviewed by the search committee.

Creating a Buzz

Your gaol is to create a 'buzz' about yourself with the athletic director and committee members. You want to create as much momentum as possible to have the committee excited to learn more about you. here is a systematic approach to keeping your name in front of decision-makers throughout the application process.

Initial contact

Even though you may learn of the opening through the newspaper, Internet or work of mouth, always check the institution's web site for the posting of the job. These postings describe the parameters of the search. They tell you where to send your resume, and any special instructions, like no emails or phone calls. You are definitely not getting the process off on the right foot if the posting says no phone calls and you call because you didn't know. Always respect the employer's wishes throughout the search.

If phone calls are permitted, then we suggest contacting the athletic director (or appropriate contact person). if you reach the appropriate person by phone then have a 30 second pitch ready. Tell them: who you are; what position you currently hold; inform them of your intent to apply for the job; give them one or two highlights of your career; find out how long the process will take; let them know your resume is on the way; and close with a positive, confident statement.

Example:

Mr. Smith, this is Bill Jones, currently the offensive coordinator at State U. I am calling to let you know of my interest in your head coaching position. We have been very successful at State. This past year we won the conference championship, graduated all of our seniors and have consistently recruited the top student-athletes in the state. I am sending my resume and reference. they should reach you by tomorrow afternoon. What is your time line for having a coach hired? I look forward to having an opportunity to share my vision for State football with yourself and the search committee.

If you can't reach the athletic director by phone, then leave your 30 second pitch on their voicemail or through email.

Sending in your 'stuff'

In coach speak, sending in your stuff generally mens your resume, references, and a description of your philosophy and accomplishments. I highly recommend that you compile a portfolio and tailor it to the job you are seeking. This portfolio is a crucial item for today's job seeking coach. Make sure your information is well organized and displayed in a first class manner (check grammar and spelling).

The day you make contact with the university you should fax or email a copy of your resume. Follow that up by sending any additional materials with another copy of your resume via overnight delivery. The value of sending overnight is that recipients generally turn attention toward a FedEx (or other overnight delivery service) before opening regular mail.

The Follow-up

At least two days after you know your materials have arrived (check the tracking information) it's time to make the follow-up contact. I like the follow-up email. Send an inquiry asking if your materials have been received and they can feel free to reply or call with any questions. Email is instant and the contact person can read it when their schedule permits. It also opens another line of communication if they have any additional questions for you. If you call, keep it brief while communicating the same message.

The 'Big Guns'

After you have made the following contact it's time to bring in the big guns! These are the coaches with whom you have a relationship that are respected by other coaches and administrators. This may be your current boss and/or former boss, a coach with whom you played, or relationship you made through networking. You should have two or three people who agree to call the athletic director or other contact person to recommend you for the position. Arrange these calls on consecutive days so that the contact person is hearing about you each day.

Selecting those who will call for you is of utmost importance. These calls should assure you that you will obtain an interview. Make sure the person calling knows you well. Many young coaches approach 'big name' coaches they might have had a 10 minute conversation with at a clinic and ask them to call. This generally backfires. The coach doesn't know you well enough to answer questions the athletic director might ask about you and will not be a great advocate for you. Many times he may recommend one of the other candidates with whom he has a personal relationship.

Choose the coach who knows you and has respect for you to make the call. If you know a coach who has a relationship with the athletic director or other person who is making the hiring decision, then that's the best case scenario. The person receiving the call will be more comfortable talking to his coach and you may end up gaining some valuable information. I always emailed a resume to the coaches who agreed to call on my behalf. Even though they know you it's good for them to refresh on the details of your career.

Some Other Things to Think About:

Know the Time Table:

Make sure you time your events: initial contact, sending your stuff, the follow-up an bringing in the big guns, appropriately in the time table. This means the decision-makers will be hearing your name frequently throughout the process.

Do Your Homework

Find out as much information as possible about the process: the time table, the members of the search/interview committee, who are the decision makers, what are they looking for in a coach? All of this information will be valuable to you in the process. Some coaches spend too much time trying to determine who is their competition for the job. I would avoid this.Worse case scenario is that you try to discredit another candidate and that will reflect badly on you.

Don't be a Stalker!

if at some point during the application process the search committee members take a restraining order out against you, then you are a stalker. I'm always surprised how obnoxious some coaches can get when they really want a job. Calling too much, emailing too much, having everyone you know call as a reference, and inundating the decision-makers with mail are stalker-like activities. although being persistent is a great trait for a coach, being overly persistent could be a deal breaker. Play it cool and use a systematic approach that keeps your name in front of decision makers while respecting their time and the job they have to do.

Good luck and happy job hunting!

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