5-Step guide to getting a job in pro baseball
Step 4: Attend the Baseball Winter Meetings & Other Conferences
The fourth step in the process for getting a job in professional baseball actually combines the benefits of Step 2 and Step 3 into one huge event: the Baseball Winter Meetings.
While the Winter Meetings have become famous for the heightened likelihood that Major League teams will sign free agents or make trades because the general managers of all 30 teams are all in the same hotel for three to five days (which is why ESPN and MLB Network broadcast from the lobby every December), for job seekers, the Winter Meetings is an excellent opportunity to land an internship or full-time job and build your network.
The 2015 event, scheduled for December 6-9 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, will be the 22nd annual job fair hosted by PBEO. The PBEO Job Fair not only offers job seekers an opportunity to apply and interview for hundreds of open positions, but also allows those that aspire to a career in professional baseball opportunities to network with roughly 2,000 decision-making front office executives in attendance as well as fellow job seekers that will one day be in such positions.
PRO TIP: It should go without saying, but always be professional and respectful. Odds are, you will see Major League managers and general managers (and potentially a player or two) walking around the hotel lobby or in the bar, as well as those hiring for jobs with minor league teams. It’s important to present yourself in the best way possible, which generally means being well-dressed and on your best behavior. Also, if you notice a decision-maker, or someone wearing a badge that indicates they work for your favorite team, don’t interrupt his or her conversation to pass along a resumé. They’ll just toss it. Wait until they’ve finished or are alone and strike up a friendly conversation.
But not every baseball executive secures their first job at the Winter Meetings, and very few secure upward mobility by scoring a full-time position at the Job Fair.
A smaller, more intimate gathering of Minor League executives occurs earlier in the calendar at the Minor League Baseball Promotional Seminar. The three-day 2015 event will be held in Columbus, Ohio September 29- October 1. Around 300 team personnel members attend the seminar each year to share ideas on a wide range of topics like sales, marketing, stadium operations, community and media relations and more. Of course, there is also plenty of opportunity to network and socialize.
Whether it’s the Winter Meetings, the Promo Seminar, or another job expo held by TeamWork Online or a similar organization, you’ll need to prepare your resumé and for interviews. As we’ve previously mentioned, a large network is helpful, and nepotism is alive and well in pro sports, so it is an even bigger asset to have a family member already in the game. But aside from knowing someone, the biggest thing you can bring to the table is the ability to sell: sell yourself in the interview, and then sell baseball.
The top responsibility for pro baseball front office executives is to make money for the ball club. Affiliated minor league teams don’t scout players, pay players or make personnel decisions. That is all facilitated through the Major League clubs. Instead, the minor league front office provides a place for those players to practice and play, a clubhouse for them to use, transportation to away games and lodging on the road. Otherwise, the franchise is designed to make money selling tickets, food and beverage, promotions and advertising space. And that means employees that want to work for a club year-round must sell, sell, sell.
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