SE: Fernandez, Isaac Bring More Confidence Back from Revamped Big 12 SAAC Career Tour
Dec 23, 2019 | Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Sports Extra, Evans Student-Athlete Success Program
By Corbin McGuire
On Ben Fernandez's resume, his work experience is basically empty.
A senior for K-State men's golf, he's never had enough time for an internship. Between fall and spring seasons at K-State, along with summer and winter tournaments between semesters, how could he?
For a long time, Fernandez thought this might hold him back, career-wise, whenever his golf career ends. Then, he attended the third annual Big 12 SAAC Career Tour in from December 5-8 in Dallas, Texas, where his perspective changed. And he was not alone.
"That was our main concern," Fernandez, one of 20 Big 12 student-athletes to attend, said, "that we're not as qualified as some of the other people that might be interviewing for the same job."
Fernandez, along with K-State women's golfer Reid Isaac, left the Big 12 Career Tour with a different outlook on their situation. They may not be able to work internships or travel abroad as easily as regular students, but their experiences as student-athletes are extremely valuable and, arguably, even harder to replicate.
"Since we're student-athletes and we don't get a lot of the job experience and internship experience that some students do, it doesn't put us at a disadvantage," Isaac, a junior, said, "because we learn things as student-athletes that normal students don't get to."
So, as Fernandez and Isaac heard from several professionals from various fields at the Career Tour, sell their experiences as student-athletes.
"Everyone talks about time management and work ethic, but just things like working in a team environment, with people who aren't like you, people who are diverse and different from you, and getting along with people that maybe you wouldn't have met or associated yourself with had it not been for being on a team," Fernandez said. "It was just giving me examples of how certain things I've learned and experienced through being a student-athlete and showing me how to market those in interviews and use those experiences to relate to work. I've realized how many experiences I've had that as a student-athlete that I can relate, and I can use that as a tool to be hired.
"Pretty much every business professional we talked to expressed that the skills and the experiences we've had as student-athletes are way more valuable than we realize, and not having those (other) opportunities doesn't put us behind."
Isaac, who made the trip to Dallas last year for the Career Tour, also took part in reshaping its format for this year.
The past two years, it was heavy on speakers. A lot of sitting. A lot of listening. Isaac wanted to make it more interactive this time around. So, when Big 12 officials reached out for feedback, she joined a team of student-athletes who had been to the Career Tour before.
"I think last year was awesome but, for the people who came back, we didn't want it to be repetitive," she said. "We wanted to learn new skills and be able to take back different things to our SAAC (groups) as well."
This year, the Career Tour included nearly half a day of workshops. It gave the student-athletes freedom to choose what development area they wanted to focus on. There were also several opportunities to interact with the prestigious business professionals in attendance.
"We had a personal branding station, postgrad information station, mock interviews, resume reviews, more applicable things like that," Isaac said. "We had a panel in the morning, (workshop stations) in the afternoon and then some networking after that with the people that ran the stations. It was a lot more applicable this year than it was last year."
Getting the opportunity to reshape the Big 12 Career Tour's format, Isaac said, only reinforced her appreciation for the effort the conference has put in to help all of its student-athletes.
"It really just shows how much the Big 12 cares about their student-athletes, not just one the field, on the court, on the course," she said, "but in the classroom and in their futures."
Fernandez was also thankful for the opportunity, especially since he was not originally slated to attend. Typically, the two Big 12 SAAC representatives from each school go to the Career Tour. K-State football's Landry Weber, however, was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict.
This opened the door for Fernandez, who, without a clue of what he was getting into, decided to go.
"I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, to be honest, and I am so glad I went. I left there feeling so much better about what's to come after I graduate," he said. "I don't have any work experience at all, so learning some of the skills, like interviewing…I didn't even know what to expect in an interview. I've never been in an interview. Just hearing from them what things they're looking for, how to approach it, how to think about your experiences and then applying that to your interview, and then going over resumes and things like that, it's just given me a lot of food for thought of how I want promote myself and present myself in that environment."
On Ben Fernandez's resume, his work experience is basically empty.
A senior for K-State men's golf, he's never had enough time for an internship. Between fall and spring seasons at K-State, along with summer and winter tournaments between semesters, how could he?
For a long time, Fernandez thought this might hold him back, career-wise, whenever his golf career ends. Then, he attended the third annual Big 12 SAAC Career Tour in from December 5-8 in Dallas, Texas, where his perspective changed. And he was not alone.
"That was our main concern," Fernandez, one of 20 Big 12 student-athletes to attend, said, "that we're not as qualified as some of the other people that might be interviewing for the same job."
Fernandez, along with K-State women's golfer Reid Isaac, left the Big 12 Career Tour with a different outlook on their situation. They may not be able to work internships or travel abroad as easily as regular students, but their experiences as student-athletes are extremely valuable and, arguably, even harder to replicate.
"Since we're student-athletes and we don't get a lot of the job experience and internship experience that some students do, it doesn't put us at a disadvantage," Isaac, a junior, said, "because we learn things as student-athletes that normal students don't get to."
So, as Fernandez and Isaac heard from several professionals from various fields at the Career Tour, sell their experiences as student-athletes.
"Everyone talks about time management and work ethic, but just things like working in a team environment, with people who aren't like you, people who are diverse and different from you, and getting along with people that maybe you wouldn't have met or associated yourself with had it not been for being on a team," Fernandez said. "It was just giving me examples of how certain things I've learned and experienced through being a student-athlete and showing me how to market those in interviews and use those experiences to relate to work. I've realized how many experiences I've had that as a student-athlete that I can relate, and I can use that as a tool to be hired.
"Pretty much every business professional we talked to expressed that the skills and the experiences we've had as student-athletes are way more valuable than we realize, and not having those (other) opportunities doesn't put us behind."
Isaac, who made the trip to Dallas last year for the Career Tour, also took part in reshaping its format for this year.
The past two years, it was heavy on speakers. A lot of sitting. A lot of listening. Isaac wanted to make it more interactive this time around. So, when Big 12 officials reached out for feedback, she joined a team of student-athletes who had been to the Career Tour before.
"I think last year was awesome but, for the people who came back, we didn't want it to be repetitive," she said. "We wanted to learn new skills and be able to take back different things to our SAAC (groups) as well."
This year, the Career Tour included nearly half a day of workshops. It gave the student-athletes freedom to choose what development area they wanted to focus on. There were also several opportunities to interact with the prestigious business professionals in attendance.
"We had a personal branding station, postgrad information station, mock interviews, resume reviews, more applicable things like that," Isaac said. "We had a panel in the morning, (workshop stations) in the afternoon and then some networking after that with the people that ran the stations. It was a lot more applicable this year than it was last year."
Getting the opportunity to reshape the Big 12 Career Tour's format, Isaac said, only reinforced her appreciation for the effort the conference has put in to help all of its student-athletes.
"It really just shows how much the Big 12 cares about their student-athletes, not just one the field, on the court, on the course," she said, "but in the classroom and in their futures."
Fernandez was also thankful for the opportunity, especially since he was not originally slated to attend. Typically, the two Big 12 SAAC representatives from each school go to the Career Tour. K-State football's Landry Weber, however, was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict.
This opened the door for Fernandez, who, without a clue of what he was getting into, decided to go.
"I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, to be honest, and I am so glad I went. I left there feeling so much better about what's to come after I graduate," he said. "I don't have any work experience at all, so learning some of the skills, like interviewing…I didn't even know what to expect in an interview. I've never been in an interview. Just hearing from them what things they're looking for, how to approach it, how to think about your experiences and then applying that to your interview, and then going over resumes and things like that, it's just given me a lot of food for thought of how I want promote myself and present myself in that environment."
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