More than 300 U.S. Olympians have registered in less than a month with TeamUSAnet, a career-management Web site available to U.S. Olympic athletes, Olympic hopefuls and former Olympians, most of whom do not attain superstar status.
The site is a joint effort of the U.S. Olympic Committee and Monster.com. It includes a resume builder, job-search access, an Olympic mentoring network and content targeted to athletes.
“There's no direct revenue generation from the site,” said Scott Betty, director of marketing at Monster.com, Maynard, MA. He did not disclose the cost of creating or operating the site. “It's not just done during the days of the Olympics. It's continuous through at least 2004 and, hopefully, beyond that. We have a few spokespersons who speak well to the brand who are registered on the site now.”
Creation of the site, which went live June 25, ties in with Monster.com's official online career-management sponsorship of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City as well as the U.S. Olympic Teams for 2002 and 2004 in Athens.
“We're focusing on reaching out to employers and generating revenue,” he said. “It's a message to the consumer that Monster is helping Olympians, and it tells employers that we have great talent on the site. We have a financial commitment to the USOC, and, as part of our sponsorship agreement, we must provide a certain amount of products and services, and this is part of it.”
Betty, who thinks that having more than 5,000 Olympians register is a realistic expectation, said there are 12,000 to 15,000 Olympians, Olympic hopefuls and former Olympians. He described the widely held belief that all Olympians use the Games as a launching pad to fame and fortune as a false perception.
“Not all athletes are going to end up on a cereal box,” said Betty, who acknowledged the possibility of endorsement opportunities with Monster.com for registrants who become Olympic stars. “In the [2000] Sydney Games, there were close to 700 athletes on the U.S. team. Very few come away with genuine marketable opportunities. Most athletes don't reap big rewards afterward, and only a handful were able to truly leverage that experience into the pursuit of a career.”
Athletes who try to register go through the USOC. Passwords are issued following USOC verification. Monster.com will distinguish athletes' resumes in the resume database with the official mark of the USOC, the laurel wreath, which contains the USA/5-Ring mark.
“The USOC has had success with an offline mentor network that younger Olympians or young Olympic hopefuls could take advantage of,” he said. “We've taken their mentoring program and made it more interactive by bringing it online. A search of the database allows athletes to find a mentor in a particular sport, or in a specific profession, or they can receive advice from someone their own age. We have roughly 200 mentors, and three- quarters of them are on the site.
“We have also found writers who can speak uniquely to our athletes about how to build a resume that leverages and takes advantage of their experience as an athlete.”
Though no date has been set for the event, Monster.com will host an online career fair through TeamUSAnet to connect U.S. Olympians with potential employers.
“We want to reach a critical mass and determine what employer pool would be appropriate,” he said.
