Throughout my professional pen pal assignments this year, I have developed a relationship and networking connection with George Murphy. During the year, I have been in steady contact with Mr. Murphy, asking regular questions about the job market and the industry of professional sport ticket sales. I have also tried to steadily and slowly professionalize my interactions and sharpen my communication skills. I have also begun networking efforts for later, after I finish my degree and begin my professional career.
For this assignment, I chose to start to try and figure out information and ask questions about the current job market for our industry. As a worker who is comfortable with his professional ticket sales career and has seen a lot of people come and go, he knows how to leave a good and bad impression. I asked him about some opportunities or connections he might have that I could ask about or possibly use to try and gain some information on a job search. The Penguins also just cleared out most of their ticket sales team, which George mainly oversees. With this being the main opportunity and thing I asked questions about, he answered relatively honestly and gave me some information about the industry and professional entry-level jobs that I did not completely know before. He mentioned that applying for an entry-level position comes with more catches than some would think. The pay is not high and mainly commision based were both main things he mentioned and stressed during our conversation. He stated that only do it if you love the team, and love selling, the game, and selling the game.
Some big takeaways from this connection I have made and strengthened during this semester include the level of professionalism and diligent execution that Mr. Murphy constantly maintains. This is a great example for a person my age to see, and it details and highlights why he has been able to operate at the highest level of pro ticket sales for the better part of the last 20 years. My connection with George will be useful not only now but hopefully heavily in the future. I can lean on him and feel open to communicating with him if I have professional questions.
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