Officiating and job interviews...

[Our2Kids]

Thanks guys.

I do have the fact that I'm an official listed on my resume as well as the conferences in which I work. I've been on some interviews where the hiring manager notices it and asks about it. Most have found it interesting. Others merely gloss over it. Nobody, though, really has asked if it takes time away from my 9 to 5 job.

I posted this to see if others have found it helpful to mention officiating during the interview or let the hiring manager bring it up.

I like the fact that mentioning officiating can show quick decision making and adaptability to different situations ... perhaps I may use that angle. I also agree that if it is brought up, it should be late in the interview. I definitely wouldn't lead off with it.

Like I said in my original post ... I clearly want to keep officiating, but not at the risk of my real job. Like 99.999% of us out there, this is not something that pays the bills, it merely makes the checking account a little fatter from November to March. I have to get out of the habit of looking at a job description and dismissing it if I feel it wouldn't let me referee... that's defintely not the strategy to have.

I appreciate the feedback and hope others will continue to weigh in as well.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Our2Kids

Thanks guys.

I do have the fact that I'm an official listed on my resume as well as the conferences in which I work. I've been on some interviews where the hiring manager notices it and asks about it. Most have found it interesting. Others merely gloss over it. Nobody, though, really has asked if it takes time away from my 9 to 5 job.

I posted this to see if others have found it helpful to mention officiating during the interview or let the hiring manager bring it up.

I like the fact that mentioning officiating can show quick decision making and adaptability to different situations ... perhaps I may use that angle. I also agree that if it is brought up, it should be late in the interview. I definitely wouldn't lead off with it.

Like I said in my original post ... I clearly want to keep officiating, but not at the risk of my real job. Like 99.999% of us out there, this is not something that pays the bills, it merely makes the checking account a little fatter from November to March. I have to get out of the habit of looking at a job description and dismissing it if I feel it wouldn't let me referee... that's defintely not the strategy to have.

I appreciate the feedback and hope others will continue to weigh in as well.

Many people who say "not at the risk of my real job" are saying that without meaning that.

For many of us, officiating is an important part of who we are. I left a job 8 years ago because my boss told me at the hiring time that there'd be no problem whatsoever with me working an earlier schedule during baseball season (we had flex time, after all) -- back then games started at 4:30PM and occasionally I'd have to leave as early as 3PM.

This was all fine at the hiring time until the next spring rolled around and I found that it was all hot air. I'd have meetings scheduled at 4PM when I'd already blocked out those hours on my calendar. Eventually, my boss told me to choose my job or my officiating. I reminded her what she had said, and she didn't think I really meant that I'd actually leave work "just to umpire a baseball game."

If I had been told this up front, I would've never transplanted my family to Wisconsin -- I would've found a different job. As it was, I bit my tongue and had my resume out the next day. It took me the rest of that year to find a new job, but I did. In my current job, I occasionally have to travel and have to find replacements for some games, but when I'm home, I can officiate as my hours really are flexible.

In my current gig, I had a boss who was miserable for other reasons and I went through an interview process at a local company and was offered a job. I did not take it because they were really put off by the idea of me "working outside of work" and they started quoting company policies on outside employment and made me really feel like they thought they'd own me -- at work and outside of work. Had I been unemployed, I would've figured out how to make it work, but since I already had a paying job, I simply turned down the offer.

My advice is this: Don't put your family and your livelihood at risk -- if you need the work, you gotta do what you gotta do. But if your officiating is a big part of who you are, I would figure out a way to do both, if possible. That means you have to bring it up late in the interview process unless you desparately need the work. I wouldn't put it on the resume, though -- it could scare people away and you want to frame that part of the discussion in your own terms at your own time.

And you have to remember that this is a vocation for a very small number of people. Many of us make more in an hour in our day jobs than we do working a game. Paying the bills really has to come first when you have a family, mortgage, etc.

[fullor30]

I interviewed awhile back and brought it up as I knew interviewer was a big sports fan. I say it's a plus, the more you can provide to a prospective employer as to what defines you the better IMHO. Being involved in associations, etc can also be a plus and perhaps one is on the board of their local association. It's definitely an ice breaker and allows you to amplify your people/management/leadership skills if it applies to job description.



That said, I'd have a tough time telling prospective employer that I need to be here or there to officiate. Personally, I'd have to work around that situation.

To most it's an avocation, but a big part of your life.

[Welpe]

That is a really great post, Rich. I guess I'm fortunate in that my job hours are flexible as long as we are in the office during our "core hours" (8-3 normally). But as much as I love doing this, I need to pay the bills and officiating just won't do it.

Good luck in your job search!

[26 Year Gap]

I have it on my resume listed among other things such as civic positions held rather than hobbies or other interests. I am in this situation myself. It may mean telling my assignor[s] that 'early' games are off the table unless they are local. I would not leave it OFF a resume, because it does tell a reader that you have a skill set that could be important for a prospective employer. With the unemployment rates being what they are, it may not be a unique story.

[grunewar]

As someone who will be "moving on" shortly, I appreciate this post too.

Over the last five years I have been very, very fortunate to have the flexibility in my current job that others have spoken about here also. Hope I am as fortunate at my next job too...... I will probably mention it up front.

Luckily, or not, worst thing that happens to me though, is I pick up more Rec League Games (which occur later in the day) and I am unable to do some F/JV and MS Games I get - along with the V Games.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

I have it on my resume listed among other things such as civic positions held rather than hobbies or other interests. I am in this situation myself. It may mean telling my assignor[s] that 'early' games are off the table unless they are local. I would not leave it OFF a resume, because it does tell a reader that you have a skill set that could be important for a prospective employer. With the unemployment rates being what they are, it may not be a unique story.

As someone who has hired people, it *is* a double-edged sword -- hiring managers don't want to hear about reasons why you won't want to be at work before they decide that they want you and can work around it. There's also the potential perception of the public towards sports officials, which shouldn't be an issue, but could be.

It's up to you whether you put it on a resume or not, but don't think that doing so shouldn't be a well-thought-out decision. Not everyone will think it's a great thing.