Recruiting – BaylorS3E

NCSAC FAQs

kirk_wakefield Integrity, Networking, Recruiting, S3 January 18, 2023November 28, 2023 0 Comment

View the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship, powered by GOAL, frequently asked questions and answers below. Send other questions to Heather_Grover@Baylor.edu and we’ll add answers here.

Virtual preliminary rounds (November 1-15, 2023)

When will the data be ready to download to analyze? Wednesday, November 1, 8am.
When is the 5-minute PowerPoint presentation due to be uploaded? Friday, November 3, midnight.
How many teams and students from a school? One team (up to 4 students) for undergrad and one team (up to 4 students) for each program/dept. Students may compete independently, without a team.
What if we have multiple programs? Schools like Baylor have a team from a business school program (S3E) and another from the statistics department, unrelated to the business school program. Distinctly different programs at a school might want to be involved and that’s great.
Will we need to record the virtual round? No need to record, but one could. These are Zoom calls arranged between one student and one judge at a time.
What do the virtual round scores have to do with the in-person finals? The virtual round determines seeding for the finals in Dallas. Finals participants who do not compete in the prelims will be unseeded in the NCSAC brackets at the in-person event. The virtual round provides practice for the Finals.

Getting ready to go to Dallas (February 21-22, 2024) and where to go

Is there anything going on before the event? Yes, we will have a reception for judges, recruiters and sponsors the evening before the event.
How should I prepare? Judges, participants and professors should carefully read the new Study Guide when it is released to know what to expect. Students–use the practice sets to get ready because the Finals data sets will be similar but not the same.
Parking? Free parking is available in the Lexus garage located on the Northeast corner of the AAC at 2620 N Houston Street, Dallas, TX.
Entrance & registration? Check-in and enter the East side lobby on Houston Street. Meals and business sessions will be in the East side lobby. See below.
What to wear? Professional dress (read: suits) for students. Daily business or professional attire for judges & professors.
How many are competing? We expect over 25 schools and 100 students to compete. Deadline is January 31, 2024 to register. A registration link is located here.
Should we follow on LinkedIn so we can see the latest announcements? Yes, click here to follow the NCSAC page.
Can other faculty or graduate students from participating schools come to observe? Yes, but please register ($50) as we need to account for space, food, and who’s in the building. Deadline is January 10, 2024.
Where are the heats for each round going to be? On the Admiral Level. For graduate students Round 1 will be on the West side of the building (Suites 1306 to 1318; right to left) and for undergraduates Round 1 will be on the East side of the building (Suites 1356 to 1339; left to right).

The Competition

Can professors or others watch the presentations? No, only the students and judges assigned to the heats.
Do students work together? No. This is like the Olympics where each person competes as an individual in the event. Judges will ask questions to determine if the student worked independently as part of the integrity component of the competition. Judges are then able to evaluate who can analyze and present well.
Can a student graduating in December still compete in both competitions? Yes, as long as the student is not employed before the championship.
How do teams win? Among teams with at least 3 students, the average scores of each student’s last heat are used to determine the team winners.
Is the data the same as the preliminary round? No, it will have new variables and a different prompt related to GOAL objectives. See www.goalstandard.com.
Can professors watch the presentations in each heat? No, but the Final 4 includes everyone.
Will students, professors and judges have color-coded name tags so we know who’s who? Yes, that’s the plan.
Is there free WiFi? Yes, with no need to login at the AAC.
Do students bring their own laptops to do the analysis? Yes. Make sure yours has as much RAM & storage as possible because you will download and work with big data. There will be places to plug-in but be sure to fully charge in advance in case you want to sit away from available plugs.
Where will students analyze the data after downloading? A large work room with tables and outlets will be available on the Admiral Level in the Admiral Meeting Rooms. Students may also choose seats or tables the Platinum Level near the Lexus Club but those lack electrical outlets.
Where will the Final Four Presentation be held? In the Admiral Room on the Admiral Level.
Can students use other materials/notes while analyzing the data? Yes. The main point of integrity is that the student prepares and completes the analysis independently. That includes no texting, messaging or other interaction with others from 7am until Noon on the day of the competition.
PowerPoint? Each student will prepare a PowerPoint presentation using the NCSAC PPT template that will be downloadable on the day of the event.
What is the presentation format? Students will be placed in heats of 4 in a suite. Each will present for five minutes to the judges in the suite one after another while the others wait in the hallway. The top two in each heat advance to the next round.

The students POV on interviews for internships & careers

kirk_wakefield 2021, Analytics, Learn, Recruiting, Research, S3, Sales Management, Sales Training, Sponsorships, Tickets February 12, 2021July 21, 2022analytics, break into sports, careers, CRM, Internships, jobs, majors, programs, Sales, tickets, tips 0 Comment

After the first round of the Baylor S3 Pro Day of virtual recruiting with 30 interviewers, 54 of the students rated each of the interviewers, selected their favorite two interviewers, and commented on one that didn’t go as well as hoped. After the second round of S3 Pro Days on March 5 (click here for more info), we will distribute information to interviewers (who also get the chance to rate the students on their interviewing skills). The S3 Best Interviewer Awards for S3 Sales and S3 Analytics will be announced for the S3 Awards Banquet on April 14.

These evaluations are much like teaching evaluations. We certainly prefer students enjoy the experience. Admittedly, sometimes learning experiences can cause user discomfort. So, good on you as professor or recruiter if you can do both: Supply enjoyable learning experiences that serve the welfare of all parties for both the short and long term. To that end, we offer 45 comments about what students liked best about interviewers, which thankfully outweigh the 24 comments on areas of improvement. Learn as you will from these.

Student POV

Interviews for Sports Sales & Analytics Internships & Careers

45 Areas of Excellence

1. Intentionally listened and asked good questions.

2. Asked very thoughtful questions and really answered my questions well.

3. Most enthusiastic and didn’t make it feel like there was a power difference between him and me.

4. Most willing to show me things like what they do in Tableau.

5. Just fun to talk to.

6. Really easy going and easy to talk to.

7. They stood out above the rest for their openness while discussing their roles and the company culture at their respective teams. They came across as completely genuine, giving me their unfiltered opinions on their workplace instead of telling me any kind of pitch.

8. Made me feel instantly comfortable during both conversations I had.

9. Super genuine and friendly; They were not intimidating at all and very helpful in explaining their role and answering my questions.

10. Very easy to talk to and did a great job answering any questions I had. I very much enjoyed talking and felt at ease and was disappointed when our time was up.

11. Asked unique and challenging questions that kept me on my toes.

12. Was genuine and kind while also getting down to business without any unnecessary conversation.

13. Very personable and made a hectic time feel relaxed, calm and helpful. Made the conversation feel mutually beneficial which was great. Super informative and helpful.

14. We had a really great conversation about just life. We shared a lot of similarities; was informational, and I got to walk through my resume.

15. Took an interest in me beyond my job qualifications and wanted to get to know me better on a personal level. They made me feel like they wanted to speak with me and told me I could reach out any time in the future.

16. Asked great questions and directed good conversation! Awesome at engaging and made me feel really comfortable.

17. I was able to see how well they enjoyed not only working in their field but with each other too. I also felt relaxed in the interview and it was one of the ones that I actually had fun being interviewed.

18. They were the two most enthusiastic people I talked to. I made really good connections with both of them. They also were very interested in making it clear that if I were hired that they would invest in my career to the fullest extent.

19. Was very specific and had the 30 min interview laid out in sections of what to accomplish. I got to do a mock phone sale and a 45sec pitch.

20. Genuine and engaging during our talk.

21. Very open to answer any and all questions and truly share passion for the job and role as a manger. Provided an open and transparent look at goals for those new to the organization and what managers seek to get out of them.

22. They made the conversations really smooth and easy and showed a genuine interest in me.

23. Was very open and had great energy. Seemed very invested in our interview and even joked around a little bit. Overall a great interview and I was incredibly impressed with the organization.

24. They gave great insights on what their companies did and gave in-depth analysis of the field of analytics, especially CRM and BI. Also, they made the effort to personally connect with me.

25. Asked challenging questions and, in the interview, pushed me to do better. Charismatic and has good leadership.

26. It felt like they were actually interested in getting to know me.

27. They had amazing humor and personality and seemed really interested in talking to me! They acknowledge all of what I said and asked follow-up questions accordingly. They made the speed dating a lot of fun because it may have been an interview, but it seemed more like catching up with an old friend!

28. Seemed very interested throughout our entire call and even asked for a second interview to better our connection in order to be a future reference for myself.

29. Discussed the many ways they took care of employees during the ongoing pandemic, both with their mental health and with their paychecks. Detailed how the team handles the social issues that have become as prevalent as ever in recent times.

30. Open, friendly, and honest. Made me feel more comfortable.

31. Extremely genuine and excited to hear about why I want to get into sports. They asked very good questions and went into detail when answering questions that I asked about their organizations. Both came across as wanting to help me in my journey in any way they could.

32. Very interested in me and my future goals, very engaging.

33. Super high energy and gave me an awesome description of time with the team. Super helpful and seemed genuinely interested in my career growth.

34. Asked questions about my personality and we were able to chat and have a great conversation!

35. Gave me a whole lot of advice on how I could answer interview questions better. Offered to connect me with other people within the organization, which was awesome.

36. Truly took the time to know me and understand what I was looking for in a future job opportunity.

37. Very encouraging.

38. Let us know that no matter what happens they were here to help us. Even if that means we go for a decision and it does not include their organization. That is admirable.

39. Took the time to know me knowing that I am only a sophomore yet was intrigued when looking at my LinkedIn profile. So kind and just wanting to help.

40. Extremely kind, was prepared with knowledge about me, insightful answers to my questions, willing to help, relatable.

41. Very interested in what I had to say and gave me great advice.

42. Very kind and helpful.

43. Gave great advice, flowing conversation, tremendous insight into job and analytics in sports. Willing to help.

44. Seemed very genuine in wanting to get to know us. Gave me some valuable advice and perspective.

45. We had a fantastic conversation about the importance of mental health in the workplace (and in general) and the emphasis put on it.

24 Areas of Improvement

1. Really didn’t have much of an interview experience. It was too casual.

2. Questions were very vanilla. Couldn’t get a good read off them.

3. Didn’t really seem like they wanted to be there.

4. Wasn’t easy to talk to.

5. I sort of felt like I had to lead the conversation, where with the other recruiters, they were the ones guiding it.

6. Seemed not to take our 10-minute call seriously. Never made eye contact and was constantly looking around the room. Gave cookie-cutter monologue and nothing more.

7. Asked very structured concrete questions. I heard from others that they kept people over time and shorted others. Didn’t appear open.

8. Informational but it was very cold. It wasn’t a natural conversation like the rest of my 10 min talks.

9. Rapid fire questions, less conversational interview (granted, we only had 10 minutes).

10. Asked a lot of questions that didn’t pertain to anything important and also not related to S3 or internships.

11. Did not feel a connection with the organization or interviewer specifically. Nothing against, is a great person. I just did not find myself enjoying the interview or the chemistry.

12. A stand-in for my interview didn’t seem too ecstatic to be there. Seemed very dry.

13. Not very engaging and didn’t show a lot of emotion.

14. Had one short interview where I was asked very off-topic and slightly offensive questions.

15. I was confused on the style of the interview. Seemed harsh.

16. Seemed very distracted; like the focus was elsewhere from the start. It threw me off a little bit and it felt like we never really got into the interview at all.

17. Didn’t have a lot of emotion and didn’t seem that interested in talking to me. It felt like more they were just doing this to put a check mark on their calendar.

18. Felt more like an actual interview and less of a conversation. It was intense, which is fine, but I enjoyed some other conversations more since they were more chilled.

19. Conversation was not engaging and was not very interested in me or what I was saying.

20. Didn’t really seem very interested in being at the event. Wasn’t super open about time with organization, which made the interview pretty difficult to stay engaged with.

21. Not all that open to talking much about the organization and the conversation was hard to get through.

22. Impersonal and mechanical conversation. Improved in the second round of interviews but felt like they were checking boxes rather than trying to make a connection or be a resource.

23. Typing the entire time.

24. It was so awkward; I was given short answers to questions that I asked.