During this past week’s education we had the chance to be presented with multiple scenarios and then discussed how we react to the situations when interviewing or starting a new job. This allowed us as new up and coming professionals in the strength and conditioning field to think outside of our comfort zone and our past experiences, which we know very well how to react to situations we are presented with. These scenario helped me personally think outside the box and learn all facilities that I may one day end up at will be different, where it’s important to begin your time their being more general than specific. As a strength coach one of the most important aspects when designing a program for an athletic team is to determine what the sport coach is looking for in a program first because they may have a specific style of training in mind.
One of the scenario’s we were presented with was if we were interviewing for a strength and conditioning position with a volleyball coach at a university and were asked what we believe are the most important exercises are for a volleyball athlete. First I began evaluating the movements that volleyball athletes perform during their game, where I began listing exercises such as various types of squats, overhead press, and even rollouts. Each exercise I chose I had a reasoning behind why I chose the movement in relation to their sport, for instance squats are a movement they can develop power from, which I think is very important during any type of motion where athletes may propel themselves off the ground. Once every intern had the chance to express their opinions, I came to realize that many of us had similar ideas, where a few of us just listed the movements such as shoulder stability, core strength, vertical jump, reactive, or even glute development. Then we had the opportunity to be present an alternative way to approach the situation because after all you are catering the program to how the coach envisions how their team should train. Any coach will always want to hear the word core, which is always a good phrase to add into the list because the importance of core strength and how various strengths of the body branch off from this critical area. Before the interviewing process it is best to know research or really have an understanding of the sport you will be interviewing for because the coach is testing you to see if you know the sport.
In this situation, it was interesting to learn one of the best possible approaches to this scenario is to be less specific. It is more important to use terms such as power, speed, vertical movement, core, or endurance. The best way to begin to answer the question, is to ask the sport coach “I want to know what you believe is the most important first?” Once you identify the needs of the coach, as a future coach, you will be able to individualize a program for their team, potentially based on the teams or individuals weakness. This allows a great start to a working relationship with the coach because this allows the coach to identify what your process is of how you create a programs for your teams. As the same with any relationship communication is key. An important feature to set you apart from other candidates during an interviews in the strength and conditioning field, a modern update to bring with you is a portfolio, which can have past experiences, sample programs, how you create programs, coaching philosophy, or even what you can bring to the table. This week’s education I found to be very helpful because it allowed us as future strength coach to react to real life situation that we could be in, as well as get feedback and advice from a professional already in the field.