Recently, I spoke with Chris Young, a colleague and classmate from graduate school. He has had several unique job experiences so far in his athletic training career; working as an intern for the Oakland Raiders and the Phillies organization, with US Soccer, an assistant and head athletic trainer at a NCAA Division I university, and in a clinical setting as an outreach coordinator. So I asked how he has gotten to where he is and what advice he might offer to other young professionals. Here is what he had to say:
Me: What has made you able to obtain the positions you’ve had?
Chris: A lot of it was that I was in the right place at the right time. There were a lot of times where I just worked hard and did some of the grunt work and put in my time doing the not so fun stuff. I didn’t really realize that people were paying attention. I didn’t think I was doing anything special; I was just doing what they taught us in school. But, people were paying attention and thought I was doing a good job. So it was partially “right-place-right-time”, but I feel like I worked hard to prove that I was good enough. A lot of it is just work ethic.
Me: Do you think that the people that you have met while in those different positions have helped you?
Chris: The big thing that [our professor] taught us is to never burn a bridge. So, I’ve tried really, really hard. You know, there’s times where you have to bite your tongue. There’s times when your day just sucks but you just have to grin and bear it and do what you’ve got to do to hold up your end of the deal. For me, fortunately, it worked out to where it turned into some things that were bigger and better than where I was at before.
Me: So do you think it was the other athletic trainers you’ve met that have helped you, or the coaches you’ve worked with? Who do you think has really helped you along the way?
Chris: I think it’s been a good sampling of everything. I really attribute a lot to the connections I’ve
made. You know, the athletic training world is really small. Just trying to stay connected with people; because, as you move on and leave a place, that’s just another connection. I think the people I’ve worked with or worked for, I was just fortunate to be with, even if it was just a short time in that setting. So, you just work hard and stay connected to them. Then, when there’s something you want to do, you reach out to them and say, “Hey, I don’t know if you know anybody but…” and if you do enough job they’ll stick their neck out for you.
Me: What are some things that you’ve learned that were not so good, that may have been disadvantages of the different settings you’ve been and what have you learned from that?
Chris: One of the worst relationships I’ve had with an administrator is when I just wasn’t respected. I was young and probably had no business having that job and they knew it, so they told me about it. I had a really hard time with that. I may have been a little more vocal than I should have been, but there are definitely some things I could have done differently.
Me: So, did that experience change and shape how you did things in your next position?
Chris: Something I didn’t do that I should have done, and I will make sure to do going forward, is the very first thing to do when I get to a new setting is I’ll sit down with the coach or athletic director and say, “What are your expectations of me?” Then we’ll have a conversation of what it is they expect from me. And I’ll tell them what I expect on the athletic training side. Communication and respect are big things. If I had done that, it probably would’ve changed things. Communication is so important! And you have no idea who is watching.
Me: What advice would you give to young professionals, that are just starting to look for jobs, or those who are looking to work in a new setting? What advice would you give them that is maybe something you wish you would have known right out of school?
Chris: I started an internship position, hoping that they may have a full-time position at the end of the summer. But they didn’t, so I was scrambling to find something. But all I found was another internship. I remember calling home at one point and I was so frustrated and said, “I am always going to be the professional intern! This is not why I went to grad school.” And my dad said, go ahead and stick it out and see how it goes. That eventually turned in to my US Soccer job, which basically gave me the foundation to do anything I want to do. Because I stuck it out; it was that grunt work and the stuff that nobody wants to do. Sometimes you’re the low man on the totem pole. You just have to be a little bit humble. I wish I would have paid a little bit better attention to the people I was around. Like at Tech, or when I was with some of the pro-teams - you’re just wide-eyed and trying to take everything in. You’re going to get into a setting where you just have to do it; and the more you’ve seen and the more you’ve been around, the more you can make good decisions on “yeah, I saw that, great!” or “yeah, I saw that, but I’d do it a little bit different.” People ask me now, “What did you do with the Raiders?” “I don’t know! I was just a little intern and was so excited to be there.” And I didn’t pay as close attention as I should have. Just try to soak everything up that you can.
