I have an interesting situation I could use some advice on. I want to work in hockey, eventually on the media relations side, but I have applied to many ticket sales jobs (probably couldn't even count how many at this point), and even entry-level media relations job (like assistant level) and have just never gotten in the door.
I first decided I want to work in sports in my senior year of college, and I admit, I was really ignorant about the business and didn't know that you had to do so many internships to even get your resume in the door and get an interview. I went to a job fair sponsored by the local AHL team in March, and one of the representatives of a (non-hockey) team in attendance told me I should get an internship and that's all they'd have available. I've been out of school for three years, so working for free or for pennies isn't really a viable option to me anymore (student loans and all...).
I do have a full-time job, too, so I would probably not find time to intern anyway. Also, someone that works for the team that held the job fair told me their internships are only offered to college students looking for credit.
So I do have customer service/retail sales experience, but that still hasn't been enough to get me in the door even in a ticket sales job. I have applied to teams all over the country, even so far as California, so I'm not limiting myself. I just can't get calls back. I applied for a couple jobs through Teamwork Online that had me answer some additional questions over e-mail. However, after that, I don't make it to the interview phase. So it seems like my resume has had some reception, but I still can't make the cut.
I am doing some hockey writing right now, but I'm kind of weary of revealing too much about myself in this post (I can answer more questions through private message if need be), so I don't want to give away where I write or work directly in case someone from the sites I work for sees this and I'm in hot water for revealing that I'm looking for greener pastures....
Like I said, I'll admit I wasn't educated on what it took to break into the business, and it's my own fault really. Is it best for me to just give up on the whole thing and move on, or do I still have a chance? I want to think I still have a shot, but being that I can't intern anymore and that teams don't seem to be interested in what I'm offering, I'm wondering if it's worth it to give my search another shot.
Also, if anyone has ever used Teamwork Online and can tell me if there's any way to follow up on my applications after that, I'd appreciate it. I've tried contacting one (non-hockey) team official and introducing myself, not in response to a specific posting, but just to say that I'm interested in working for the team, and they just pointed me to Teamwork. It was a little frustrating to say the least.
