5 Skills You Need to Have to Get an Internship in Tennis

College is all about that next new experience especially when relating back to your education and opportunities. Most students in the Sports Management major want to land that astonishing internship with a professional sports team dealing with baseball, basketball, or football. Personally I wanted to switch that up and follow a different dream, go down a diverse path and pursue an internship tennis related. I searched and explored many options until I came upon 3 different internship possibilities including: WTT also known as World Team Tennis, USTA Southern, and USTA Middle States. The similarities between all of these internship opportunities are the skills needed to be successful while completing the chance at interning with tennis. Each internship stated that they would love a candidate that can apply each one of these 5 skills in the workplace on a day-to-day basis; and if that is possible they will be nothing but prosperous.

Communication skills are the most important capability to have for a job and anything that job may entail. Every internship I looked at this one the most important skill an employer was looking for out of everyone. USTA Southern made it very pertinent as a part of their internship opportunity by stating “candidate should have strong writing and communication skills” on their website under the internship link. Being able to conduct yourself under any type of circumstance and communicate across your points clearly too potential clients and co-workers is very key. Daily you will be dealing with sponsors, agents, players and other personnel and to promote your self-confidence in what you’re presenting gives them the ability to trust what is being said. Each internship I researched listed this as one of the main skills needed to work for them.

Having good communication is only the first step in being able to present your ideas; your written skills are the next stride. The aptitude to prove your writing skills in a professional and presentable manner is key to impressing your current and potential future employees. Refraining from using any type of slang and showing off the vocabulary you have been educated with is imperative in talking to these potential employers and with these two main skills you will go far. Personally college in my opinion does get you ready especially for this skill with the intensive writing courses offered and mandated and many more. Each internship I researched, just like communication, listed this as one of the main skills needed to work for them.

Another main skill that seemed to be applied for every internship I found was the ability to be computer literate. Each page said word processing skills, or computer skills including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and Outlook are important to know. In every business now, computers are such a big part of everything in how the company is run from organizing payroll to keeping track of sponsors. Excel spreadsheets are used so often throughout the day and knowing how to create one and the logistics of one is such a big help. A decade ago, written notes and desk phones were in but computers and handheld cell phones are the new technological world. It is so important for graduates of college today to have the computer skills necessary to create any document or look any research up that may be needed. Each internship I researched, just like the previous two, listed this as one of the main skills needed to work for them.

Another important skill that is needed to work for a sports organization or land one of the most coveted internships is the ability to work alongside a team. Most sports jobs/internships interact with other teams, other personnel and staff and the ability to work along with each one of them puts you among the elite workers. To be specific with internships, while working as an intern it is most likely that you will be placed with the other interns to do projects and come up with ideas to help out the staff. Not just in the sports world is teamwork important, but everywhere no matter with jobs, friends, or school, teamwork is applicable to success. Two out of the three internships I researched listed this as one of the main skills needed to work for them.

The ability to multi-task I feel is the last main skill a person needs to inquire within to be successful in any business setting. Multi-tasking is vital for getting multiple tasks done and completed on a timely manner to meet the deadlines. During an internship your boss may ask for you to complete a few different tasks at once and it is your responsibility to take them all on and complete them to the best of your ability. The more tasks you can complete, and the more work you produce the better you look in the eyes of your boss and they may realize they don’t need to “babysit” you and tell you task after task of what to do; take it into your own hands think ahead and work hard to produce those tasks. This skill was only listed in one of the internship descriptions but personally I feel that if you can’t multitask then you are a one trick pony and can’t handle the work load that comes along with most jobs.

These skills are imperative to achieve to be successful in any job especially in the sport industry. If you encompass these skills they will do only one thing and that is acquiring the internship you desire. You necessarily may not be born with these skills but as a human we have learned to discover and study ways to obtain these valuable assets and use them for our advantage. If you posses these main top 5 skills you will see yourself climb the organizational levels into a more prestigious spot even if you do begin the journey as an intern.