Meet our Members: Jake Jose

We welcome Jake Jose, to discuss his journey from education to a career in sport and physical activity

Following the successful completion of his CIMSPA-endorsed degree from Edge Hill University, Jake is embarking on a career dedicated to improving the physical and mental well-being of the community.

Could you briefly outline your background and current role?

I have been involved in sport since the age of 5, playing a multitude of sports at both elite and recreational levels. Over time, I have become more aware of the power that sport and physical activity can have on people’s overall health and wellbeing and was determined that my career was to be in the sports and fitness industry. I completed my undergraduate degree and I have secured a job with Everton in the Community as a Project Co-ordinator. My role focuses on delivering educational and activity-based mental health awareness workshops to help tackle mental health issues across Merseyside. Alongside this, I also assist on the delivery of a variety of projects for children and young people, that use education, sport and physical activity to promote physical and mental wellbeing.

What are your future ambitions and goals?

Although I do not yet have a specific career pathway that I am certain on, I understand that my passion is to work in roles where I can have a positive impact on people’s lives. For me, I know that I can use my knowledge and understanding of fitness and health, to help people to live a healthy and happy lifestyle. My current ambitions are associated with health promotion and intervention. I am determined to gain additional qualifications in supporting people with a variety of complex health conditions, which I can use to design and implement health promotion and intervention programmes in the future. I want to support those experiencing, or at risk of developing a health condition.

How has being a CIMSPA member during your time at university supported you to achieve or progress towards these goals?

As a student one of the many ways that being a CIMSPA member helped me was when I was required to utilise Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel to complete my assignments. With a CIMSPA membership, I was able to use the free courses available, to enhance my knowledge and skills on all of these platforms. This gave me additional knowledge in comparison to my peers at University and allowed me to design highly professional PowerPoints and Excel spreadsheets for my exams. Post-graduation, I now employ my skills learned from the courses into my current job role. They have allowed me to design effective programme and participant monitoring and evaluation spreadsheets, as well as to deliver highly professional presentations.

What one thing or piece of advice would you recommend to others currently exploring a career in sports and physical activity.

To those that are exploring a career in sports and physical activity, my main advice would be:

1. Gain experience in a variety of different sports and physical activity fields. Not only will this enhance your skills and knowledge for your professional career, but it will also open up different networking opportunities and allow you to discover which specific field of work you enjoy the most.
2. Gain different qualifications relevant to your field. This will allow you to gain valuable knowledge essential to different roles. The more qualifications that you are able to gain, the more you will stand out to employers.
3. Set goals within your job role. This will help guide you to improving different areas within your professional practice.
   

Since being a CIMSPA member what has been the biggest benefit to you?

One of the biggest benefits of being a CIMSPA member, is the ability to access a variety of free CPD and certifications that enhance my skills and knowledge and help me develop my career. The CPD offered to members covers a variety of different topics and subjects, such as management, finance and IT skills. This has provided me with a range of opportunity to gain many diverse skills and differentiate my knowledge from others.

Do you have any advice for those thinking of applying for membership?

If you are thinking of applying to join CIMSPA, I would highly recommend it. The support and the variety of free CPD that will help you to progress in your chosen career differentiates you from others.