Josh Venables
Company Name:
Channel 4 (formerly Kindred Group)
Role Within the Company:
Optimisation Manager
Years Working in the Industry:
4
How did you first break into the industry?
When I was looking for my first permanent role out of university, I was looking to be involved in an industry that I had a lot of interest in. The role at Kindred gave me first hand experience of working on major football tournaments. It was a dream to be able to go into work every day and think about the World Cup for 6 months. I was lucky enough to spend more years there and work on the Euros as well, albeit in a different role to my entry level job.
What skills and qualifications are most valued in the sports business industry, and how someone acquire them?
It depends on the role, but I found my degree helped with a strong foundation of the role that I went into, but ultimately I found my knowledge of the sports that I was working on was the most valuable asset.
What are the best ways to gain relevant experience in the sports business industry?
Be open to any role to get your foot in the door. I applied for a role that I probably wasn’t looking for, but it helped give me strong stakeholder management experience and then move to another role within the company. That ultimately led me into an area I have now been in for 6 years.
Good resources you would recommend?
LinkedIn, Indeed, UK Sport, Guardian Jobs, Global Sports.