The options available to you here are huge and too numerous for us to go into in this resource, instead we felt it better to share some information for you to think about. This we hope helps you in ensuring, that what you end up doing, and where, is the best fit for you.

Instead we felt it better to share some information for you to consider to hopefully help you in ensuring that what you end up doing and where is the best fit for you.

There is a lot of information on this page so please either scroll down and read on to find out more or click on each of the sub headings below to link to that point on the page. 

• Sport/Life balance
• Future career direction and what’s important to you
• How much do you need to earn
• Your CV and personal presentation
• Flexible working arrangements
• The Armed Services
• Apprenticeships
• Internships
• Part time work
• What you end up doing and where is the best fit for you.

Watch and Listen - Case Studies in this section are:

• Jodie Stimpson talks about her experiences balancing triathlon and a full time job
• Kat Rye talks about a career in the Army and being on their Elite Athlete Programme (Armed Services page)
• Lucy Nell talks about a career in the RAF and being on their Elite Athlete Programme (Armed Services page)

Sport/Life Balance

Taking some time to consider where you sit on this continuum we believe will certainly help here in your sport/work prioritisation balance. Some questions to think about at this point could be;

• What is most important to you? 
• Do you want a job that fits around Triathlon or do you want to fit Triathlon around your job?
• Or are both of similar importance?

Future Career Direction and what’s important to you

If you have a clear career path then this will really help guide you at this point. If not, don’t worry, this does not stop you from having a good think about where your interests do and don’t lie, and what it is that you are good at/or really don’t enjoy? i.e. subjects you liked at school, hobbies, work experience you’ve already had, what is important to you? Any time spent planning here will certainly help guide your search.

How much you need to earn

Are you intending to leave or stay at home? Will you need to run a car to get a job? What about your sporting costs? Having a really clear idea on your budget to guide you in any job search we would suggest is a must!

Your CV and personal presentation

Obviously a CV is a key part of most job applications – is yours application ready? Have you taken time to consider some of the transferable skills that you will have gained through competing in sport? E.g. time management, planning, performing under pressure, setting, achieving and reviewing goals, meeting new people, overcoming setbacks, etc.

How do you present yourself? Give some thought to how you might come across to others especially those who might be senior to you and likely to be interviewing or considering you for a job.

Flexible working arrangements

Flexible working and time out of work/sabbaticals are certainly becoming more and more common and could help you in managing your work/sport balance. Whilst considering a role with flexible working arrangements is very much a possibility from the outset, getting extended time off to pursue sport is unlikely to come immediately and your employer will normally need to see commitment from you first.

The Armed Services 

The Armed Services are well known for their promotion of sport and support of those within each service who are serious sportsmen/women. Long sabbaticals and absence of leave to those competing at a high level in sport are quite common, though in almost all cases you will have to undergo some level of basic training. Additional information on both the Army and RAF can be found here. Both services are presently looking to develop triathlon and are keen to support athletes with genuine national and international potential.

Apprenticeships

If looking for work an apprenticeship might interest you. They come at a number of different levels and can take between one and six years to complete. In some cases they can actually provide a genuine alternative to University i.e. you can gain professional qualifications through on the job training instead of needing to study for a degree first.

Depending on your triathlon/work balance some consideration may need to be given to the time commitment required and flexibility allowed when working through an apprenticeship. Almost all apprenticeships will involve at least 30 hours of work a week and will have compulsory off the job training, normally a full day a week in college or with a training provider.

Internships

Not as common as apprenticeships, and more like a fixed period of work experience than a job, an internship allows you to spend time in a company, to learn new skills and gain experience in a particular industry or job role. The work experience gives you the opportunity to improve your understanding of a particular job or industry; some, but not all, internships come with a salary.

Part time work

For those looking to focus more on triathlon this could be a real option. If this is you think about your skills sets and gaining a qualification that can open flexible part time work in the area you are based.

Also be aware that the internet is not always the best resource for finding local part time work, looking around in the local area e.g. in shop windows, super market notice boards and in café’s etc along with visiting your local Job Centre might prove as, if not more, effective.

Find out more 

There are hundreds of websites in this area and we cant list or link them all but have detailed below some that we thought looked to be helpful and/or interesting.

icould.com

This is a great resource that uses the power of personal stories to inform and inspire young people’s career choices and is popular in schools. They have over 1000 interviews with people in all sorts of jobs that are linked to hard data e.g. salary, qualifications, etc.

Check out their

• explore page here
• buzz test - a simple personality test that might support you learning more about yourself and others here

Not Going to Uni

Is the UK’s leading resource for school leavers who do not want to follow the university route. You can use the site to search over 4,000 job opportunities, read through case studies and follow them on various platforms for constant update and info.

My World of Work

Helps you discover what career might suit you by looking at your ambitions, skills, experiences, interests and education. Their leaving school this summer will give you lots of information on what your options could be.

The National Careers Service

A government run website that offers information, advice and guidance to help you make decisions on learning, training and work can be found here

Jobs

There are hundreds of recruitment websites that can easily googled. A couple less well known and more relevant, however, might be:

• The UK Sport website that lists jobs in sport
• Jobs.ac.uk which is the leading higher education recruitment site and perhaps useful if you are looking for work and going to base yourself at a training centre.

Internships and Work Experience

Fair Train are the UK’s leading work experience website

The Prince’s Trust help a lot of young people get work experience and/or internships