The PBEO (Professional Baseball Employment opportunities) Job Fair and MiLB Winter Meetings were a fantastic break from reality. I got away from my “amazing” job at the deli and the stresses of everything life is throwing at me. I had the incredible chance to reunite with my great friend, Megan Ogulnick, after over a year.
Megan came down Friday, and we spent the day Saturday exploring downtown and setting our game plan for the week. Once we found our way to the convention center there was no way to contain our excitement. Even though the interview posting boards had 100 name spots and were intimidating we were beaming with excitement.
Sunday at the Business of Baseball Workshop we had the opportunity to hear some amazing speakers. If you follow either of us on Twitter (MOgulnick and sarahkettler are our handles) then you may have seen her live tweets and/or my first attempt at live tweeting.
Many of the speakers came up and explained the interviewing process, from how to prepare to what happens after it’s over; or they talked about sales and how it’s not as scary as it sounds. Rob Crain, however, came up and explained the Winter Meetings in his talk, “Expect the Unexpected.” Below are the notes I took from Rob’s slides, and then my personal experiences have been added in as well.
>MONDAY
-Get to love the job posting room: I can’t say that I ever loved the job posting room because it was a zoo as soon as anything new went up. I’m not a fan of being a fish swimming up-stream. I did love getting excited over the rare MLB posting and finding media relations postings though.
-Be open-minded. I was open-minded and wrote down a few sales and community relations jobs to give myself more opportunities. I tend to have tunnel vision for media relations because I fell in love with it during my internship in 2008.
-Apply for a lot of jobs. I dropped off 20 or so resumes on Monday. It was a very productive day in the job posting room and at the resume drop off boxes.
-Be willing to sell. I interviewed with the Kansas City Royals for a media relations internship, and sold my skills and who I am. I know he meant sales, but in public relations we sell our skill sets to get to where we want to be. So that’s exactly what I did.
-Don’t stress today! Hard decisions will come later. There was no stress for sure! Megan and I made friends with Alicia (she sat with us during the workshop Sunday) and Chris. Yay new friends!
-Go out! Check! I ran into the Rockies MLB.com writer who helped me find Mark, the Reds MLB.com writer, and we all had a few drinks at Champions just taking in the craziness of the day.
> TUESDAY
-Get to love the interview posting room. I know I didn’t come to love this room. I tried, I really did! Of the 27 jobs I applied for, seven or eight posted interviews over the course of the job fair. It was very exciting when one of us got an interview, otherwise we celebrated getting to sit and talk more. We were eternal optimists for sure!
-Get to know everyone. Check! Megan and I snagged Seamus, the emcee of the workshop Sunday, and got to know him. Our little group also got to know Rob Crain, and were very entertained by him.
-Go out AGAIN! Megan didn’t feel well, so I went out without my sidekick…I got to catch up with my old co-workers from the Dayton Dragons and the Reds. I took advantage of the chance to network through my old co-workers, even though I was very sleep deprived the next day.
>WEDNESDAY
-Second interviews, second guesses. Well, I had an interview!!! I can’t say that the second interviews and second guesses was a problem for me. But hey, that’s okay. I also set up an interview for Thursday. Yay progress!
-Go with your gut. On Wednesday my gut said “thank goodness the hurry-up-and-wait game is almost over.” I didn’t have any jobs or internships to decide between, so I wasn’t stressed out at all.
-Go to the Gala. I can’t believe I ever thought it wasn’t going to be worth it. Alicia, Chris, Megan and I dressed up and had the most incredible time at the gala. We were at Lucas Oil Stadium (Go Colts!), and got to tour the whole facility, enjoy some free drinks and network. We were all very productive in our networking at the gala. We found Rob Crain and talked with him, and then met several new connections through him.
-Go out AGAIN! After the gala we went to the Marriott to network more. I met a few of my old co-workers again, and met two different agents. I had my eyes opened for different opportunities outside of media/public relations. Who knows, maybe an agency has potential after all! After the Marriott we went to Howl at the Moon, a piano bar. There we celebrated Megan and Chris’ birthdays, and spent time with our new friends. I also had the opportunity to meet the Nationals and Orioles Media Relations Directors. Whoever said that “nothing good ever happens after 2am” is wrong. I met them both after 2am, and networking with them was definitely a good opportunity.
>THURSDAY
-Be selfish. I wish my friends didn’t have to leave…that’s all I have to be selfish about.
-Don’t be afraid to take a risk. I almost went into an interview wearing slippers because I didn’t want to wear my heals out in the cold. Apparently they would’ve loved it! Too bad I let my feet get cold, darn it!
-Take a look back at the last few days. $200 for the PBEO Winter Meetings, $55 for the gala, making great friends and standing next to Tony LaRussa? Priceless.
Over all, I wish that the Winter Meetings hadn’t ended. Would I spend the money to attend the job fair again? No, I probably wouldn’t. That’s because I want to work in the major leagues and the job fair is 98% minor league opportunities. I’m glad that the speakers Sunday reminded me of some of the keys to interviewing, and that I had the opportunity to get to know such great people. I walked away with a few job leads, some amazing new friends, and knowing that I can’t wait to work in baseball again.
For more on what we learned, check out Megan’s notes from the Business of Baseball workshop! Just click on her name in the first paragraph.
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