BA (Hons) Football Business & Marketing graduate Amy O’Connor offers the current crop of UCFB students advice on how to make the most of their time at the university, and explains how studying at UCFB gave her a better start for working in the football industry.
For students looking to forge a career in the sports industry O’Connor advised: “Take every opportunity that you can and go out of your comfort zone, even if at the time it seems scary, because you could end up falling in love with a role you hadn’t even though about.”
She continued: “You don’t know who you could meet, even doing match day roles, you don’t know who could walk through that entrance and you could end up meeting that person who can help you find the right path.”
O’Connor also discussed how besides completing her degree, she tried to build up her portfolio in the industry, adding: “In the summer I went to work at Millwall FC and then continued to do match days when I went back to UCFB.
“In my final year of university, I was also a team liaison officer for The FA, and I went to as many of the UCFB guest speaker sessions as I possibly could. Whether you’re interested in an opportunity or not, go for it because you don’t know who you might meet, and it helps with building up your experience.”
Being a UCFB student myself, it is both encouraging and inspiring to see previous graduates of the university working within the industry.
When asked if she believes UCFB gave her a better start for working in the football industry, O’Connor replied: “Yes, I do. UCFB gave students a lot of opportunities to gain experience by putting on workshops. I attended the Neil Doncaster management sessions and one of the workshops I took part in was to do with press releases, including the minor details of when it can be released and how you format it. Now I’m sat writing press releases for sponsorship announcements at Watford.
“Also, I was quite shy, and I probably spent two of the three years not saying anything in any lectures or seminars, but then the lecturer that was my dissertation supervisor told me that I needed to start believing in myself; which brought me out of my shell more and helped me to grow.”
