Congratulations InXathlete for being published in Thrive Global.
Published by:
Jennifer Durrant, Thrive Global
March 05, 2018
The early morning practices. The late nights spent studying. The stringent dieting regiment. The hundreds and thousands of hours dedicated to one activity, all for that brief elation that accompanies a victory or achievement. For some, the sacrifice of competing in a sport is validated through the pride and self-worth that come with it.
And, as it turns out, these individuals could actually be your workforce’s most valuable members.
Over the years, former student athletes have proven that they possess the grit and tenacity that most employers look for in a hiring candidate. In fact, a recent study shows that students that those who participated in extracurricular sports in high school or college have gone on to earn between 5 and 15 percent more than their non-sport-participating counterparts.
But why is this? How do athletes deal with the inevitable end of their sports careers? What are the attributes that make former student athletes so desirable to employers? And how can you go about finding your next athletic hire? I had a chance to pick the brain of sports psychologist and founder of Mind of the Athlete, Dr. Jarrod Spencer to see exactly why you should draft a student athlete to your roster.
What is the reality for student athletes?
The professional sports world is not known as the roomiest or most inviting realm of employment. Numbers from the NCAA show this, too: the highest rate of student-to-pro athlete conversion is baseball at just 9 percent, and the number of players who go to play professional women’s basketball is under 1 percent. By senior year, most student athletes have come to face this reality.
Read the full article in THRIVE.