Technology platform helps student-athletes gain notice for careers, internships, grad school, and NIL opportunities.
For the second year, the SEC Career Tour has partnered with technology platform Podium X in their efforts to provide SEC student-athletes with opportunities to connect with human resource recruiters and submit resumes for entry-level jobs, internships and gain valuable knowledge of professional branding. Twenty-seven current and former Southeastern Conference student-athletes participated in the seventh annual SEC Career Tour Nov. 29-Dec. 1 in Atlanta.
“The SEC’s partnership with Podium X for the SEC Career Tour has provided student-athletes with a valuable tool to help build their resumes and tell their personal, athletic, and professional story through an online platform. Podium X has proven to be exceptional in the job market for student-athletes seeking creative ways of professionally displaying their leadership ability and their highly regarded skillsets,” says Assistant Commissioner Misty Brown for the Southeastern Conference.
Podium X is a digital solution developed by experts in career services with extensive experience in staffing and recruiting, training/development, talent management, and human resources. The application changes the way athletes prepare and apply for jobs and internships as well as market themselves for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) opportunities.
Previous SEC Career Tour attendee, Diego Chavarria, who secured a job as an analyst with the Home Depot, shared his experience as part of last year’s Career Tour, including his success using Podium X. Following the success of last year’s introduction, Podium X has been implemented at SEC Conference member schools Alabama and Texas A&M, along with several other universities.
In preparation for the trip to Atlanta, Podium X presented their WIN Workshop to the SEC Career Tour participants. The WIN Workshop focuses on creating resumes and online profiles in a way that helps individuals tell their stories and standout to get noticed for both NIL and job opportunities.
“The SEC is committed to the success of its student athletes, both before and after graduation,” said Rich Thompson, Founder of Podium X. “Podium X helps them achieve success by sharing their special skills and abilities for career development in a way that is currently unavailable through other mediums.“
The Podium X platform allows creation of an online profile specially designed for athletes to highlight their unique journey and valuable soft skills often developed through athletics. The profile serves as an enhanced resume listing business and athletic experience, leadership, and educational experience, even media clips about their sports careers. Students can create traditional resume PDFs with a touch of a button and be matched to hundreds of national job openings. Employers post job openings and can view student profiles that match the skills they need.
“Podium X provides a tool that’s intuitive and combines the best features of social platforms with proven career strategy,” Rich Thompson says. “Student athletes don’t always have time for traditional career development events and workshops. The need a tool they can use on the go that works with their busy training and travel schedules.”
Podium X is backed by the power of XPG Recruit Athlete, a division of Jacksonville, Fla – based XPG Recruit, with an experienced team that specializes in placing student athletes. Rich Thompson said, “Most platforms like LinkedIn focus on traditional work experience, which is often difficult for student-athletes who have little time beyond school and athletics. With Podium X and XPG Recruit Athlete, we want to show how athletic experience is every bit as valuable as traditional work and demonstrate how those skills learned through athletics are transferable to the workplace.”