Student-Athletes

As an athlete, you have many skills you have used in your sport that can easily be adapted to a resume. Soft skills are a great starting point to showcase many of the skills you can bring to an organization. Consider using some of the following:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Motivation
• Support
• Collaboration
• Organization
• Coordination

Be sure to bring in examples of your experience that can directly relate to the positions you are applying. For example, if you are applying to a sales position, you may want to write a bullet point about showing a recruit around campus and answering their questions. A marketing position requires excellent communication skills and working with your teammates for a common goal may be a great addition to the resume.

Other Examples to Consider:

• Balanced a 18+ hour practice, training, competition and travel schedule at NCAA Division III level in addition to academics
• Selected by coaches and teammates as team captain for the 20xx season, assisting in training drills and motivating teammates
• Created marketing theme and ordered apparel for team and coaching staff as part of annual fundraiser
• Mentored younger teammates and assisted in their transition to college athletes
• Communicated team and university environment and values to prospective recruits

Build Your Resume

By utilizing the START Method, student-athletes are well equipped to answer behavior-based interview questions and tell quality stories that highlight their transferable skills.

Situation: As a senior captain, I was tasked with ensuring our new first-year students were transitioning to college and understanding the balance between classwork and play a college sport.

Task: I took the time to get coffee with each of our first-year athletes to get to know them and listen to how they were handling their transition.

Action: After hearing about what was going well and what was a struggle, I was able to talk to some of the other seniors to figure out how we could support them.

Result: As a result, we ended up pairing first-years and seniors that had similar academic interests to have regular conversations. The seniors enjoyed mentoring the younger players, and the first-years reported being more confident in managing their time effectively.

Takeaway: By listening to others and finding ways to bridge gaps, we were able to build strong team cohesion and I believe I can bring that same energy to the workplace.

Ask a Denisonian is a straightforward way for Denison students and alums to engage with each other in a convenient, accessible way. Ask your own questions, answer others’ questions, offer professional advice, and exchange valuable wisdom and connections.

You can also use LinkedIn to find and build your network with others who played your sport at Denison (Please note, because this is a keyword search it will not be an exhaustive list).

Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Fencing
Field Hockey
Football
Golf
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Squash
Swimming & Diving
Tennis
Track & Field
Volleyball