Browsing by Author "Niskanen, Tiina"

Previous studies indicate that a background in elite sports is seen as a positive experience in recruitment. However, concurrently many elite athletes feel that finding the first job after a sports career is both challenging and time-consuming. Studies addressing generic skills have shown that skills especially valued in work-life in today`s society are good co-operative skills, goal orientation, persistence, and commitment. Studies made in the field of elite sports show that these skills are found and highlighted precisely among employees who have an elite sports background. The purpose of this study is to examine recruiters’ viewpoints on how they find a job applicant’s experience in elite sports and what type of generic skills they associate with elite athletes. Moreover, the purpose is to clarify how recruiters feel that their own background influences their perspective as recruiters. There were eight recruitment consultants from an international company in the recruitment industry participating in the study. The study used qualitative research method and the data was collected using semi-structured theme interviews and analysed using a theory-based content analysis. The analysis was guided by the data as well as the hypothesis formed based on Mustonen (2016) whereby a sports background of a recruiter is felt to have an influence when recruiting elite athletes. Theoretical background was also conducted by previous research on present-day generic skills and elite athletes’ transition from sports into working life. Recruiters who are former athletes felt that they understand the demands and sacrifices of elite sports and value the skills gained through sports. Recruiters that did not have a sports background comprehended elite sports more often as a hobby or as an experience similar to collective activities, whereas recruiters with sports background saw elite sports as work experience. The recruiters had rather similar views on elite athletes’ generic skills, which highlighted good interpersonal skills, co-operative skills, commitment, and goal orientation, as in the earlier research. The study showed that elite sports experience is seen in varying ways depending on the recruiter, and it articulated the importance of the ability of job applicants with elite sports background to verbalize their generic skills during a recruitment process.