Maryland Made Preps Student-Athletes With Career Readiness Program

As a part of this year’s Gossett Fellows Program, student-athletes are constantly being prepped for life after sports. The program focuses on helping them market themselves, recognize professional opportunities and strengths and aid them in job hunting. 

The latest event from the Gossett Fellows Program was centered around learning how to tailor resumes and cover letters to the jobs student-athletes are seeking. 

“This workshop helped teach me what employees are looking for when hiring candidates,” women’s soccer goalkeeper Faith Luckey said. “Experiences with one-on-one communication and public speaking are valuable in the sports industry.”

Students were given a job description that matches their respective future industries and throughout the session work collaboratively to enhance their resume and cover letter to match the job description. One athlete, men’s track and field star Daouda Niang, found the importance of not limiting himself to just one application or opportunity.

“I believe that my biggest challenge when preparing for the job-search process is to not only apply for one company, which could be a big challenge because you never know if that one company wants to hire you or not,” Niang said. “So, at the end of the day, I have to make sure to have options. I will overcome this challenge by making sure to reach out to the people who are here to help around me, by exploring my options, and by making sure to adjust my application based on the different companies I am applying to.”

Gossett Fellows is a two-year program. During the first year, student-athletes participate in monthly meetings to enhance their career-readiness preparedness. 

“My biggest takeaway from the session is how to tailor my resume to the specific position I am applying for,” Luckey said. “Looking into the company's values and website allows me to be intentional using specific words and phrases that the company uses, too.”

The session wrapped up with student-athletes selecting who they think would be great references for them one day - essentially completing a future application process simulation to help them identify how to best prepare to apply for their dream position post UMD.

Niang was asked about his biggest takeaway from the session, but wasn’t able to land on just one lesson.

“I would say that I have two,” Niang said. “The main one is my cover letter; I had no idea that I needed to make one, and didn't realize how much it was needed. The second is how much work my resume needed. There were many things that I needed to remove, like high school things and older jobs.”

Colby Wilson — Maryland’s Assistant Director of Student-Athlete Development — directed the event and saw it as a massive success. 

“This session was a great eye-opening experience for this group,” Wilson said. “Teaching them the importance of being able to put all the different things they do into words on paper was much needed. Our student-athletes are some of the most driven individuals on campus, and this workshop empowered them to challenge themselves and really dive into strengthening their resumes and cover letters.”

The Gossett Fellows Program will continue to create monthly opportunities for student-athletes to prepare themselves for whatever comes next after their time in College Park. 

“It's not just about listing accomplishments — it's about learning how to articulate their unique experiences and intentionally align them to specific job opportunities, which was new to all of them and they did great with this challenge,” Wilson said. “We're helping them tell their stories in a way that stands out and sets them up for success beyond the game.”