Case Study – Sport Management #9
Read the case study below and answer the three Case Questions fully.
Sport Management Professionals @ Work: David McDaniel
David McDaniel was a fairly typical sport management student while he was in college. He played his favorite sport (basketball), didn’t always like the core business classes he was required to complete, but enjoyed the sport management courses in his major. David was soft-spoken, even though he cut an imposing figure at six feet, five inches tall.
Like many college graduates, David had to learn quickly how to change from a college student to a full-time worker once he graduated. This process took a full two years while he conducted his first real career search.
The first step was to reexamine the résumé and cover letter he made during college. Although David stuck to one page, he made sure to reduce the amount of white space and to include more about himself on the résumé. Since he was short on work experience, like most recent college graduates, he added a section to his résumé on his volunteer work and his personal hobbies. David learned that interviewers were more interested in the two summer months he spent playing basketball in Greece than his grade point average (GPA) of 3.80. Employers considered David’s travel an important skill since it showed he could handle a global work assignment.
At the same time, David learned that his cover letter had to be adapted to fit each job opening he used it for. The cover letter had to include some area that would catch the eye of the interviewer. It was critical to make sure the résumé and cover letter didn’t have any spelling or grammatical errors!
David applied to be the assistant coach at his high school in the D.C. area. He had two successful years as the assistant before accepting the full-time coaching position. It looked like David would have a long career as a coach. David liked to have quite a few rules and policies in place since a well-organized team was more likely to win—in David’s view!
However, the résumé and cover letter he sent to NBA headquarters in New York was selected by a computer software program to be a good match with a new position in league headquarters. David was thrilled to answer his cell phone when the NBA called right before the regular NBA season started.
David’s calm and quiet demeanor was well received by the recruiters from the NBA. The league was looking for a recent college graduate. The NBA was also looking for someone with social media skills who would travel around the globe promoting basketball.
It was heart-wrenching to leave a high school basketball position coaching young people. But David could not turn down his dream job with the NBA. His new position, which was recently created by the NBA, was a league operation assistant. David monitors and records unusual statistics such as on-court issues, atypical events, and decorum, and he is a logger for NBA Hustle Stats.
Case Questions
- Would technical, people skills, or conceptual training most benefit David McDaniel at this stage of his career?
- At the D.C. high school, was he primarily recruiting from internal or external sources?
- What was unique about David’s NBA job?
