From the classroom to the racecourse
BA (Hons) Sport Management graduate Oli Robertson, talks about his experience as a student on the course and life after graduation working at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Tell me a little bit more about your current role at Cheltenham Racecourse?
My main role involves ticketing and customer experience, and I mainly deal with this on a day-to-day basis during the National Hunt season. So, taking emails, taking phone calls and resolving customer queries. I also make sure our administration is completed as part of the Customer Relations (CR) team. The CR team also take care of amateur photography passes and disabled access etc. All aspects of a visit to Cheltenham Racecourse.
Outside of the season, I work on lots of projects, more big picture priorities such as membership categories and ways to improve the overall customer experience.
How important was your Derby County Football Club work placement and other volunteering opportunities to your professional development and ultimately, getting your job at Cheltenham Racecourse?
I'd say it was essential to me getting the job. Having a sporting institution the size of Derby County on your CV gets you the interview in some respects. Being in the office environment also helped me to become familiar with the workplace and made me feel more comfortable going into a full-time role. I had the opportunity to present my work to senior colleagues at Derby County, which was good practise for my current role, presenting to senior colleagues at the racecourse on new membership categories.
Any other highlights from working on placement at Derby County Football Club?
Definitely, when I had the chance to do the FA Cup fourth round match against West Ham United. I was shadowing the floor manager for the day, and it was just a great experience being on the touchline and involved in the game.
Another one would probably be organising the fun run as part of the Derby 10km. It was quite a key talking point in my interview for my role. When they started to ask questions on problem solving, I was able to share real life experience of managing that section of the Derby 10km. I would say, looking back, my real-world work experience from the Sport Management programme was vital in me getting the job.
Were there any other real-world learning opportunities that you did on the programme that you think has helped to prepare you for this this role?
Yes, the work I did with Mickleover Football Club as part of the Contemporary Issues in Sport Management module. It was definitely a good experience of looking at what is wrong with something and then coming up with recommendations on how to improve it.
I've been looking back on my laptop at some old coursework, just sort of looking at what I did and how I phrased certain things. Even how to use a Word document effectively and especially Excel is essential for my current role. I do a lot of Excel work in the post season, which is translating into my role now. I think I've been using Excel a lot for the last two weeks, so the work I did on the course has been useful to look back on.
What advice would you give a student that is considering the BA (Hons) Sport Management programme at the University of Derby?
I’d probably say, just do what makes sense for you and your future. Originally, I started another degree, but it wasn’t the right fit for me as I had a passion for working in the sport industry. So, if you want to have a career in sport, do the Sport Management degree – it feels like the natural next step to after school. Just throw yourself into it – I did that with placement experience. I put my name down for quite a few extra and you’ll get out what you put in.
And in terms of what you're doing now, what would you say is the biggest highlight and what do you enjoy the most?
The race days because I'm out and about. I’m doing interesting things such as place connections during the Festival. I got to take the jockeys that came second, third and fourth to the place connection bar and they get to re-watch the race, which was quite a cool experience.
Everything just sort of comes from what you put into your degree from the years before, which is quite nice and rewarding.
And I guess one of the amazing things about working in sport is you obviously get to see behind the scenes.
Yes, you get to see quite a lot of celebrities enjoying a fantastic experience out there at the races. Idris Elba was at the racecourse. During the Festival I was in the parade ring and watching the race, for place connections, and Harry Redknapp was there.
It's quite cool and I was a bit starstruck at first, but you get used to it. Obviously, you’ve got the likes of the trainers such as Willie Mullins and Jade Holland Cooper too.
So looking back, how would you rate the support you received on the BA (Hons) Sport Management programme?
It was good. Yes. I always knew I could come to one of the lecturers if I ever had any issues or needed support. During my dissertation, James (Bostock) was really, really good at supporting me. He also taught me a lot about Excel and how to put together a formal looking document, which I am finding now is very useful.
What is the nicest thing someone at the racecourse has ever said to you?
Good question, probably when I had my review during the probation period. My reviewer who was on the interview panel said they were really pleased that I got the job. It was quite a nice thing to hear. Because when you first go into a role at such a big sporting institution you can get a sense of imposter syndrome, so to hear that I had done a good job during my probation was very nice to hear.
Is there anything else you would like to add to the interview?
I’d probably just say, just throw yourself into everything on the Sport Management programme and be able to articulate what you have done in an interview. It will certainly pay off. I think I had about five interviews before I got this role. Keep learning from the failed interviews, as I’d say if I didn't do those interviews before, I wouldn't have got this job.
