On Friday 18 May, over 300 students and alumni of some of the world’s leading postgraduate courses in sports management came to Lausanne to meet recruiters from a wide selection of the most renowned sports organisations.
This year’s edition improved in size and quality as more companies and more candidates met at the SwissTech Convention Center. In addition to meeting each other, they enjoyed new offerings too: candidates could have their CVs reviewed and receive career advice at the Outdooria’s stand, while Penceo Sport took professional photos for candidates to use on their CVs or LinkedIn profiles.
There was also a new opportunity for recruiters as they gathered at the beautiful Olympic Museum for a tailor-made workshop and networking session on the evening preceding the iWorkinSport Job Fair. That was followed by a gourmet dinner where guests could interact among themselves and with the representatives of the Academic Partners.
The line-up of recruiters was made up of world-class organisations. adidas, CAA Eleven, City Football Group/Manchester City FC, FIBA, FIFA, Freeride World Tour, Genius Sports, IMG, Infront, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), mycujoo, Nielsen Sports, Penceo Sport, Soccerex, TEAM Marketing and UEFA all came to look for talent at the event.
The quality of candidates was also high, as prestigious courses partnered with the event and brought their current students and alumni. CIES’ The FIFA Master, AISTS, the Johan Cruyff Institute, the University of Liverpool’s Football MBA, the EU Business School, Coventry University, University of Navarra’s IESE Business School, Columbia University, and The FBA – Football Business Academy were this year’s Academic Partners.
Parallel to the exhibition, where the interaction with prospective employers took place, a conference was held with highly relevant panel discussions and company presentations.
mycujoo, a thriving and exciting sports technology start-up based in Amsterdam, hired four people as a result of the last edition and decided to return the iWorkinSport Job Fair – this time also as a sponsor. They were the first company to present and received significant interest among students and alumni.
ThinkSport, the Lausanne-based sports innovation network, presented about the opportunities offered by the region, as a result of the incredible sports-related eco-system located in the area. They were followed by CAA Eleven, the exclusive agency for UEFA’s national team competitions. It was the first time for CAA Eleven at the job fair and part of their presentation included an overview of the new UEFA Nations League™, which will debut in September.
The final presentation was a keynote speech by Caroline Anderson, Human Resources at FIFA, entitled “The Five People You Meet in Sport” – a truly inspiring reflection on the lessons learnt throughout her 16-year career in sport.
The panels were also engaging and interesting. The first covered various industry trends and outlined what recruiters look for in a candidate; the second offered practical advice on getting hired, with advice on how to make your CV stand out, what to do and not to do at an interview, and more; and the final panel discussed the true value of education in the sports industry. See full programme below.
iWorkinSport Job Fair is co-organised by ENGAGE Sport & Entertainment, a Swiss-based events company, JF Sports Consulting, and the sports innovation network ThinkSport. The 2018 edition of the event had the support of the International Centre for Sports Studies – CIES (Gold Partner), mycujoo (sponsor), WORKS Ltd (Design Partner), Wiz-Team (Event Registration Partner), Japan Sport Council, Penceo Sport (supporters), Sportcal (Media Partner), Outdooria (Recruitment Partner) and of the local hosts, City of Lausanne and the State of Vaud.
All in all, the second iWorkinSport Job Fair was deemed a huge success.
We look forward to seeing you in 2019!
THE CONFERENCE: PROGRAMME
- 8.30 – 9.30: Welcome & Registration: Arrival, breakfast
- 9.30 – 10.00: Opening Speech – Joao Frigerio, Founder of iWorkinSport
- 10.00 – 10.30: (PANEL) Industry Trends: what sports organisations are looking for – Moderator: Gautier Vasseur, Partner at Pedersen & Partners; Panellists: Tim Palmer, Executive Recruiter at IMG; Rebecca Oldham, Talent Acquisition – Senior Recruiter at adidas; Didier Rossi, Head of HR at FIBA.
- 10.30 – 11.00: (PANEL) Get a Job! – Find the opportunity; make your CV stand out; what (not) to do at a job interview; and more…– Moderator: Vanessa Tribet, Co-Founder, Outdooria.ch; Panellists: Sylvie Lederlé, Senior Sponsorship Manager at CAA Eleven; Daniela Kirchberg, HR Manager at Nielsen Sports; Julien Hess, General Manager at Freeride
World Tour. - 11.00 – 11.30: Company presentation: mycujoo.tv
- 11.30 – 11.45: Company presentation: ThinkSport
- 11.45 – 12.00: Company presentation: CAA Eleven
- 12.00 – 13.40: LUNCH BREAK
- 14.00 – 14.30: (PANEL) The Value of Education in the Sports Industry – Moderator: Dr. Kevin Tallec Marston, PhD, Academic Project Manager at CIES; Panellists: Greta Bodino, Head of HR at TEAM Marketing, Diogo Jurema, AISTS alumnus; Robin Stolk, HR Manager at mycujoo.
- 14.30 – 15.00: Presentation: “The 5 people you meet in sport”, by Caroline Anderson, FIFA