For this week’s Athlete Feature, we met with netball player Esme Scott Hewitt, a former TTP ambassador and recent alumni. Esme has just been placed at Concilium, an executive search and interim contracts consultancy, and is set to start in September.
In our latest Q&A, she shares experience of navigating the graduate job market and top tips for other athletes looking for their next step.
Would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?
I’m originally from Hertfordshire, near London. I played sport all the way through school, and started playing netball properly when I was in about year eight. I was told by my schoolteachers that I should take it a little bit more seriously than I had been. I was still pretty young but was playing above my age group and then was selected to play for the Saracen Mavericks.
Once I’d finished my A levels I decided to go and take a gap year, which was always on the cards for me. I always wanted to do a ski season, so I moved over to Canada and then worked the season. I had an incredible experience, but at the end of the 12 months realized I was ready to get my head back in the game and start learning again. So I came back and got a place at Newcastle Uni to study sport and exercise science.
I graduated with a 2:1 from there and decided that I wasn’t quite ready for the working world yet. So I decided to study a Master’s in sport psychology and that brings me to where I am today, which is sitting in front of loads of post-it notes writing my dissertation!
You’re a TTP Brand Ambassador on campus at St Mary’s University, could you share your experiences of being a part of the TTP team this year?
It’s been really enjoyable if I’m honest. I think it was actually slightly easier for me because I have quite a lot of connections in two different uni’s. It’s great having conversations with people who are like minded in terms of having played sport at relatively high level and going into recruitment now, it’s probably helped me hone those selling skills. But yeah – it’s been fun!
What’s been a standout highlight for you during your time as a TTP ambassador?
I went back up to Newcastle just after Christmas and got hosted an on-campus activation with a few of the sports teams there. They all went to training in their TTP t-shirts, we got some good content and I had a lot of messages afterwards saying, “I’ve seen these tops, why are all the girls wearing them? It’s quite cool t-shirt.” It got people talking and put the message out there!
What are you looking forward to most starting your new job?
I am really looking forward to being in a new team and also being able to learn from their experience. I loved the company because they all seem very like-minded people from a sporting background, so it’s definitely somewhere I see myself fitting in.
What’s the most valuable skill you’ve developed in sport that you think will help you in your new career?
I think communication is key. Not being scared to have conversations with people you don’t know, especially within the sporting world. You’re constantly being put into teams where you don’t know anyone and you’re having to work around a situation, or work towards a goal. So you have to have that ability to communication, which definitely will be important going into work.
How are you finding transitioning out of sport and education as you prepare for your first full time role?
I think it’s been pretty easy for me. Having help with finding interviews from TTP has been really useful because it’s just taken all of the stress out of a quite stressful situation. It’s slightly nerve wracking, the idea of going into the world of work, but also just incredibly exciting. To be able to finally have a salary and not be a student is going to be nice!
Do you have any advice that for other athletes going through the interview process or looking for jobs?
I think the two things I’d say to someone who is in a position similar to what I was is, first of all, don’t stress because it’s just going to make everything worse. Something will come about at some point and that thing will be right for you. The second thing I’d say is, the more prepared you are, the easier the interviews are. Make sure you know what you’re talking about. You know what you want, but also understand the job that you’re going for. Understand the business and what it stands for. The more prepared you are, then it makes the whole thing easier.
Thank you so much Esme and we can’t wait to see what you do at Concilium!