Transcript of the interview with Kieran Courtney

UTS Sports Management student

Kieran Courtney is currently studying a Masters degree in Sports Management at UTS, and now works for the Australian Paralympic Committee. He discusses his personal approach to disclosure when applying for positions, and the challenges faced when looking for work in the sports industry.

Kieran: My title at the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) is Sports Research Assistant, which is basically doing statistical data. We have around about thirteen sports that the National Sports Associations administer, and we prepare teams for the paralympic games every four years for summer and also for the winter paralympic games every four years as well.

What were your challenges in looking for work before you were employed by the Paralympic Committee and how did you overcome these?

Kieran: It’s interesting actually. I actually got this particular job doing field experience for my undergraduate degree, so that’s how I fell into this particular position. Before that I wasn’t particularly working as such, I’d been doing volunteer work etc. throughout the sports industry, particularly I have interest in athletics, but this is basically my first professional job.

Was this a direct result of your undergraduate field experience?

Kieran: Basically yes. I spent months here, not quite in the position that I’m in now, it was more general administration duties, but they felt that I did such a great job that they started to employ me part time for one day a week.. I’m currently two days a week as I am still at university.

When applying for work experience and paid positions, what was your approach to disclosure?

Kieran: I first up certainly let all my potential employees know that I did have a disability, only due to the fact that my disability is very severe. I basically have less than 5% eyesight, so it was going to be very visible even if I hadn’t told. For severe disabilities I think the only way is to let people know straight up that you have a disability, and of any requirements that you do need.

By straight up do you mean at the application stage?

Kieran: Yes straight up. Possibly even before if you just ring up finding information on the actual position. I think it’s vital depending on the level of disability, that you indicate that.

How did the employer respond when you informed them that you had a disability?

Kieran: APC have been really great. No real issues. Straight away they basically asked, ?Anything you need?? They continually do that and continually review my equipment and resources that I need to do the job. So yes, they were extremely helpful at the beginning and so on.

So how does your disability affect the way you do things around your workplace?

Kieran: Due to the severity of my disability it takes me a lot longer to read data, and scan data. So it does involve that time consuming issue, so my workload is probably less than a general person would do. But as I said I’m only part time at the moment, and for what I am doing, my position only needs those equivalent times. Over university break I may do extra hours, but the employee understands what I am capable of doing.

So the questions that they asked were only directly related to the resources and equipment that you needed?

Kieran: Yes absolutely, it was certainly directed to the resources and the equipment I needed to use, certainly not the actual content. As I’ve said, I’ve had quite a lot of experience in the sports industry and I had a number of prior work experiences within the industry which they saw in my resume, so they thought the content would be no problem. It was more equipment and resources that would be the issue upfront.

What did you do as a student at UTS to increase your chances of finding a job in your industry, and can you give any advice to other students?

Kieran: Unfortunately the sports industry is a very cutthroat industry. Its very much volunteer based. So I encourage students certainly to go and give some time and get some hands-on experience within the industry.

Does the work experience have to be directly related to the industry particularly or can it be broader?

Kieran: I don’t think so. Certainly I must admit you do find a lot of students doing work experience within the sports industry, but I think a lot of the other industries, especially collar-worker and community services etc. certainly have a very good learning curb with field experiences etc.

Do you have any final advice for students?

Kieran: I encourage students to continue their studies as their working. As I said I am currently a part time student. My undergraduate degree was slightly different to what I’m doing now at UTS. I was at another university doing Exercise Science and it was a bit more health related, and that’s why I transferred to a business faculty degree. Even though I had done a number of subjects prior I thought it was important to my future prospects that I continue my studies.