iWorkinSport Job Fair provides FIFA Master Class with New Career Development Opportunities

On 19th May 2017, the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne hosted the first international careers fair focused solely on the global sports industry. The new iWorkinSport Job Fair welcomed leading sports organisation representatives and provided interview and recruitment opportunities for students and alumni from some of Europe’s most prestigious sport management courses, including the “FIFA Master” - International MA in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport.

Being part of the initial process for the creation of this new recruitment concept, the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES), who provides overall co-ordination for the "FIFA Master" in partnership with De Montfort University (Leicester, UK), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Milan, Italy) and University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland), continued its long tradition of leading the way in the development and evolution of sports management education and was announced as an official partner of the iWorkinSport event.

iWorkinSport Job Fair creator and Director Joao Frigerio said, “CIES was the first institution to come on board, and they have continued to be a major supporter of this new event. They understood from the start that this would be an important platform where all participating courses could join together and provide a unique opportunity for a wide number of students and alumni to all benefit from a dedicated large scale recruitment fair. I am extremely grateful to CIES for their support, as this event would not have been possible without them”.

The wider concept for iWorkinSport was simple and had a clear objective. Every year, hundreds of graduates enter into the market with newly acquired specialist knowledge and training in sports management. As well as having their own qualities and profiles, they all share common skills. They have an international mentality, they are highly motivated and committed, they have invested a significant amount of time and money into their education and they all share a passion for sport. These are indeed the characteristics the leading organisations in world sport are looking for in new employees but we wanted to imagine and create a platform which allowed both parties to meet in the most effective and supportive environment possible.

Further, in order to ensure that only candidates of the highest quality were in attendance at the event, accreditation was restricted to only students and alumni of some of Europe’s most renowned postgraduate courses in sports management. Therefore, the 17th edition "FIFA Master" class was joined by students from AISTS, the Johan Cruyff Institute, the University of Liverpool’s Football MBA and the EU Business School. However, despite this exclusive and limited guest list, in total around 250 students from 30 different countries were able to attend.

Adidas, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), FIVB (International Volleyball Federation), FISE (Extreme Sports International Federation), UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), IMG, Infront Sports & Media, Libra Law, mycujoo, the NBA, PwC, Soccerex, Sportcal, Sportradar and were all represented by HR Directors and recruitment managers who all interviewed candidates from the various Masters courses who attended.

In addition to the hundreds of job interviews which took place at iWorkinSport, the delegate schedule included time for a programme of relevant industry discussions and presentations which focused on how to build a successful career in the sports industry. Panel session titles included, ‘Industry Trends: What sports organisations are looking for’, ‘Get a Job! – Find the opportunity and make your CV stand out’ and ‘The Value of Education in the Sports Industry’. These talks were followed by more specific company presentations by organisations such as mycujoo.tv, Sportradar and adidas.

A busy but extremely informative day closed with a special evening dinner for the recruiters, official partners and guests at the Olympic Museum restaurant.

The 17th edition "FIFA Master" class would like to thank the iWorkinSport organisers and the following individuals for their support:

Will Lloyd, CEO, GlobalSportsJobs; Sabine Graf, HR Director at Infront; Helen Hughes, HR Director at NBA; Robert Wispelweij, HR Business Partner at FIFA, Leigh Hine, Global Talent Acquisition Manager at adidas Group; Tim Palmer, Executive Recruiter at IMG; Bianca Keel, HR Manager at Sportradar, Dr. Kevin Tallec Marston, Academic Project Manager at CIES; Anna Hellman, Director at ThinkSport, Mario Medeiros, Commercial Director at FIVB; David Dellea, Director at PwC Switzerland; Joao Frigerio, iWorkinSport Director, Pedro Presa, CEO and co-founder of mycujoo.tv.

About iWorkinSport:

iWorkinSport Job Fair was co-organised by ENGAGE Sport & Entertainment, a Swiss-based events company and the sports innovation network ThinkSport. This inaugural event had the support of the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) (Gold Partner), WORKS Ltd (Design Partner), Wiz-Team (Event Registration Partner) and local hosts, City and Region of Lausanne and the State of Vaud.

The CIES is already looking forward to the 2018 edition of iWorkinSport!