On the surface, it can seem as though student-athletes have it all, full-ride scholarships, athletic recognition, and tons of exposure. They’re basically celebrities. Some students will choose a school specifically for the sports program. But what happens to all those kids who spend their time in the gym, playing, training, or doing schoolwork when they graduate?
Not every collegiate athlete who participates in March Madness or ‘Roll Tide’ prospect is heading to the league. Only 1% of all college athletes are lucky enough to play their sport professionally. So what happens to the rest of the students who came to school to play sports? They have to go into the workforce and transition from high competition games to the tough competition in the job market?
Athletes usually get a pat on the back and a “good luck” with no support when they graduate. They are set to scramble and are often under-employed because they have little to no work experience because they had no opportunities that could work with their rigorous schedules.
Offszn Career Prep is a new entrepreneurial project by two remarkable individuals who want to change the game for student-athletes.t. Conor and Celesté are two former college athletes who saw the struggles of finding opportunities to gain work experience and attaining a job that matched their education post-graduation.
Offszn Career Prep is where Conor and Celesté create relationships with small businesses needing help and student-athletes needing experience regardless of their schedule. Offszn matches student-athletes with businesses that need assistance. Offszn Career Prep even goes the extra mile and sets up students who graduate from college on the road to success.
Celesté and Conor are already helping transform lives and creating relationships to better the community. F*ckup Nights PGH, an entrepreneurial speaking event organized by Kiana Laurin, needed some help marketing their newest event in Pittsburgh in June. Celesté and Conor met Kiana at a previous F*ckup Nights PGH; from then, a personal and business relationship has been made.
F*ckup Nights’ new edition, Snezhana Serafimoska, directly brought in by Offszn Career Prep, has made great strides as their first success story. After Snezhana’s basketball career was unexpectedly cut short because she was diagnosed with cancer, she worked with Offszn while doing her Professional MBA at Duquesne. She had nothing but good things to say, “I got connected with Kiana, who is amazing, and she has already helped me so much with gaining experience and extending my networks. With me being able to add this experience to my resume, I am so much more confident in getting a good job after finishing my masters.”
Kiana also had nothing but good things to say about Offszn and Snezhana, “I was so busy and overloaded that I needed help even when I couldn’t get my own stuff together to get help. They found someone incredible, and it has been incredibly easy. I’m so excited to be a part of the pilot and can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Being an athlete is tough, and it’s a lot of hard work, but if you’re treated like that’s the only thing you can do, it can be daunting and downright scary to try and go out into the unknown. If all anyone tells you is to dribble, shoot, and score and not help you excel in other aspects of life, look to Offszn Career Prep, where Conor and Celesté hit a home run in changing people’s lives, and not just athletes’ lives either.
