Experience Spotlight - Sarah Gilman, Major League Baseball

In this semester's Experience Spotlight series, the blog will be featuring Cornell ILR SBS members who have excelled in positions in the sports industry. Many talented Cornell students are making impressions all across the sports world, and this is their chance to showcase their experiences.

This week's Spotlight focuses on Sarah Gilman '16.  Sarah is a junior in Cornell's Industrial and Labor Relations School. She has been a dedicated member of the club since her freshman year at Cornell, serving as Director of Alumni Relations this past spring.

Sarah worked this summer at Major League Baseball's Office of the Commissioner. She served as a Human Resources Intern and was kind enough to answer some questions about her experience.

What were some of your day-to-day responsibilities of the position?

Get in and check email-respond to emails if necessary. 

Go into the anti-harassment training software and check to see if anyone has completed the training and if so print their certificates and file away, I had a master spreadsheet that contained all of the employees so I kept a tally on all of them-All employees including full time, part time, interns and contractors all need to take the anti-harassment training. 

Projects- examples include tallying survey answers in an excel spreadsheet, quantifying how much money MLB has given out to those who have continued their education or just finishing their education, completing a list of those who had gone to law school and where with what year. 

Filing. 

Shredding. 

Check in with boss at least three times a day to see if anything specific needs to get done. 

Preparation for the human resources conference with all the clubs which included getting over 50 binders ready with the specific content order.

How were you able to get the internship?

I got the internship through a connection. Networking is extremely important in this industry. It’s not about just sending that first email but maintaining the friendship with the person and asking questions so that person knows you are thinking about them and how there experience can help you.

How has this experience shaped your career plans?

This experience has only reaffirmed my love for human resources and that I definitely want to be in the sports industry whether it is for a club, a league, or something related to sports.

What advice would you give another student interested in a similar experience?

If I could say one thing to anyone who is interested in getting into the industry it is that you need to work for it. For some it might come easy with connections, but for others you are really going to need to work hard and network your butt off because this industry is tough to crack into, but once you will see the fruit of your hard work.

What was your favorite aspect of the experience?

My favorite part of the experience was the professional growth I had this summer in both learning about human resources in real time versus in a classroom and networking. If you attended the “An Inside Look at Sports and Law” event this summer, that took a lot of networking and finding people who would mesh well together. I am so glad the event went well and hopefully those who went got a lot out of it (including a few contacts).

Thank you to Sarah and Major League Baseball for allowing us to share this awesome experience. We hope you have learned about some of the wonderful opportunities that Cornell, the ILR School, and the ILR Sports Business Society can provide in the sports world. We hope to feature many more stories from students and employers this fall!