>> My name is Christine Mata [assumed spelling].
I am -- I run our Career Services for Athletes
Program here at the University of Delaware.
It differs from regular career services
because athletes are a unique population here
on campus due to their schedules,
traveling, the intense competition.
They don't always have the opportunities
to attend university wide events
that non-athlete students can.
So we try to schedule things around
their practice and competition schedules.
But also there's a lot of transferrable skills
that athletes have that transfer very well
into the world of work, so
helping them understand that,
be able to communicate that, market that.
It's definitely like a 4-year
job or a 4-year internship
when you're playing a division
one sport at an elite level.
So we want to help our athletes in any
way we can to challenge and support them,
and kind of meet them where they are.
Well, I think the biggest thing is awareness.
Athletes go through their whole life,
you know, being a part of a team,
communicating with each other, having
an individual role within a team.
But sometimes they don't realize that,
and they actually take it for granted.
So they need to be aware that they have
these skills that a lot of people don't have.
It takes some people 5 to 10 years
on a job to be able work on a team,
but also have their individual responsibilities.
So a lot of it is just teaching our
athletes how to market themselves.
Yes, the skills are there, but you still need
to be able to come across in an interview,
you still need to be able to, you know, step
up to the plate, you know, in an interview
and when you're trying to impress an employer.
Just like when you're being recruited to go
to college, you know, you have to get notice,
you have to get out there,
you need to show your skills.
And it's the same thing here on-campus.
You know, you don't just play your last game and
then all of a sudden somebody offers you a job.
You need to get out there and let people
realize these skills that you have.
So it's not just, "I'm an athlete.
Give me a job."
It's, "I'm an athlete.
I have these skills and I want
to communicate those to you."
My day is very interesting.
I do a lot of different things.
As well as running our Career Services
for Athletes I actually also
do the color commentating
for our women's basketball team on the radio.
So often my days I wear a lot of different
hats, anything from counseling appointments
with our athletes, attending different
functions, for example, tonight have a reception
for one of our teams that is part of my job,
but my husband also played lacrosse
here, so it's an alumni event.
I'm attending as an alumni,
I'm attending in my role.
But then other days, you know, on the
weekends I'm traveling with the team.
So a typical day is very busy for me, and
it includes a lot of different things.
I'm also a mom of 2 boys, so -- and a wife,
so I do a lot of different things,
and my days are very jam-packed.