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  • Writer's pictureRenata Bernarde

Watch Sports to Learn How to Job-Hunt

Episode 19 - Play Your Career Game Like a Tennis Pro: What We Can Learn From Watching High-Performance Sports




In this episode, I’ll be sharing with you my observations of high-performance individuals – in this case, high-ranking tennis players – and their teams - coaches, family, doctors, physios – and draw learnings and ideas we can use in managing our careers and getting ready for job hunting and career progression.


I believe we can learn by observing, and not just by reading books or going to school. High-performance research studies, high-performing individuals, and teams have been topics I am interested in for over 15 years. I started paying more attention to sports performance when I was writing my Honours thesis and noticed a link in the bibliographical references in papers I was reading: management and psychology literature were referencing papers from sports and health journals.


The more I read, the more fascinated I became about using the learnings usually applied for high-performance tasks and activities - such as sports, defense, space travel - and applying it to highly stressful, endurance-type career situations we face so often, but we just don’t realize they are indeed a) competitive in nature and b) endurance events that require strategic planning and team support.

This episode was first aired as a Facebook Live Video during the 2020 Australian Open, held in Melbourne every January. If you have been following me, it will come as no surprise to you that I enjoy watching tennis, and I have many times made analogies between the game of tennis and job hunting. I analyze many traits, behaviors, and strategies the players and their teams adopted, and which, in my view, are strongly correlated with their success or failure.


Resources mentioned in this episode

Transcript of this episode

About the Host


Hello, I’m Renata Bernarde, the Host of The Job Hunting Podcast. I’m also an executive coach, job hunting expert, and career strategist. I teach professionals (corporate, non-profit, and public) the steps and frameworks to help them find great jobs, change, and advance their careers with confidence and less stress.


If you are an ambitious professional who is keen to develop a robust career plan, if you are looking to find your next job or promotion, or if you want to keep a finger on the pulse of the job market so that when you are ready, and an opportunity arises, you can hit the ground running, then this podcast is for you.


In addition to The Job Hunting Podcast, on my website, I have developed a range of courses and services for professionals in career or job transition. And, of course, I also coach private clients.


Contact Renata Bernarde


I’m determined to help you! I want you to feel empowered, nail your next job, and have the career you want.


Learn more about my services, courses, and group coaching: RenataBernarde.com

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