Your athletic experience is a valuable asset to include on resumes and cover letters because it exhibits a variety of skills and qualities that employers seek when searching for a candidate to join their team. The unique characteristics that athletes possess are a great way to prove value to employers, and this piece will help guide you on how to incorporate them into your resume.
There are a few ways you can go about including your athletic accomplishments in a resume. The easiest way would be to create a section within your resume titled “Athletic Accomplishments” or “Athletics & Leadership” where you can list out all of your achievements within your sport. Directly under the title you choose, you should list the team (ex. ABC University Soccer Team) in bold and then write the location. Underneath this, you can indicate whether you were a captain, co-captain, or just an athlete. There are many formats you can use to write your resume, and you should choose the format you feel fits best for you.
The rest of this section on your resume can include awards and honors you’ve received, the sport/teams you have played on, the leadership you’ve had on the team (such as team captain), and volunteer work or community service you have done with your team. These all can be listed with bullet points, and be sure to be truthful and specific with what you write. If you received any certifications through your sport such as CPR, first-aid, AED, etc. you can include that in a section titled “Certifications”
Within sports, athletes gain transferable skills that they can take with them into the workplace. If you create another section within your resume titled “Skills” you can list all of the non-technical skills you learn from being a part of your team. These skills might include leadership, time management, communication, and teamwork.
Your resume should be unique to you. Finding a way to make your resume stick out is important as you are competing with many other people for the same job. There are many employers who enjoy hiring athletes because they know all the things you learn while being on a team and the amount of time that goes into playing the sport. An athlete who is able to manage athletics while also being very involved outside of their sport is someone that employers will be interested in. Overall, incorporating athletics into your resume is a great way to highlight all your athletic achievements, transferable skills, and dedication to potential employers. Being an athlete is more than just physical fitness so don’t be afraid to include athletic accomplishments in your resume.
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