Careers in collegiate athletic administration: hiring criteria and skills needed for success

Abstract

A conjoint experiment was conducted to examine how collegiate athletic administrators make choices in terms of the job attributes deemed to be important when hiring entry-level positions, and the perceived skills and traits to succeed on the job. Seven job attributes considered important for hiring and seven skills and traits critical to succeed in the job were identified based on human resource management (HRM) literature across industries. Conjoint analysis of all responses revealed that career-related work experience was the most important candidates' attribute during the hiring decision, followed by recommendation, motivation, education, leadership experience, academic achievement, and professional appearance. Moreover, respondents cared most about people skills, followed by cooperativeness, adaptability, conceptual skills, ethical standards, creativity, and technical skills. This study adds to the literature in HRM and sport and leisure management since it has practical implications for prospective employees as well as athletic administrators working at the collegiate level.