The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) Performance Lifestyle Team has been engaging athletes in various elements of career development over the last 3 weeks.
The workshops were created to help celebrate Careers Week which commenced on May 18th as well as provide athletes the opportunity to live by the VIS motto; Success in Sport and Life.
The program consisted of a series of 8 sessions covering both Career Development skills and Career Chats with former VIS athletes and staff members about their career journeys.
With the conclusion of the final workshop on Wednesday June 3rd VIS athletes said that they found career skills development “thought provoking” and “informative.” Whilst the conversations with former VIS athletes and staff members were “inspiring” and “stimulating.”
Athletes agreed that the every workshop has shared a common theme, which was the importance of “networking, building relationships and leveraging support”.
One of the first guests was former VIS staff member and current Head of Operations at South East Melbourne Phoenix Rohan Short. Short gave a terrific insight into his career path from school teacher, high performance coach and sports administrator.
One of the key messages that he wanted to share with the VIS athletes was that “your career is going to take twists and turns, it’s never going to be linear.”
Former VIS gymnast and Olympian, Ashleigh Brennan, who has since turned Exercise Physiologist was able to engage the athletes with her discussion around exploring opportunities afforded through the VIS and her career working in the health industry.
Another former VIS athlete called upon was ex Melbourne Vixens netballer, Sarah Wall. Wall shared her knowledge on how she combined her passion for her sport, her skills and experience to build her own business, NETFIT, a netball based community targeted program, which continues to thrive today.
The Career Development skills sessions were led by expert Career Practitioners who are part of the AIS AW&E Career and Education network. Each session assisted athletes with the commencement of job searching, job interview techniques, how to write a great CV and networking skills.
The VIS Performance Lifestyle Team will continue to provide its athletes with the opportunity to advance their skills and building those networks ensuring the best chance to achieve success in sport and life.
Careers Week Summary:
- Conducted over the 3 weeks
- 124 involvements of athletes and staff over 8 webinar sessions
- 36 VIS athletes and 7 VIS staff participants + 11 NSO/NIN network participants.
- 9.5 hours of content
Thanks to the support of our guest presenters:
- Rohan Short
- Christian Williams
- Ashleigh Brennan
- Sarah Wall
Further thanks to AIS Careers and Education Consultant, Ros Holding and her team of Careers Practitioners for their support.
