Are you thinking about becoming a professional football scout? If you are, it’s a journey that will require many steps. There are those that believe that people simply fall into this particular type of job, perhaps through connections that they have developed interacting with other sports-related individuals. However, there is training that you need, and credentials, to fully certified yourself as a football scout. Of course, you also need to have some experience. Here is a basic guide to going on your journey toward becoming a professional football scout.

Get Your Bachelors Degree

This is one of the steps that is not necessarily needed, yet it can add a lot to your resume. The degree should be related to sports in some way, yet that is not always mandatory. Simply stated, people that have degrees are often looked at differently than those that do not have one at all. At a minimum, achieve a four-year bachelors degree in areas such as leadership, communication, or perhaps a degree that relates to time management skills.

Understand The Game Of Football

The next step is to understand how to play the game of football or soccer as it is known in the USA. In most cases, scouts have been playing football most of their lives. They are not only aware of the rules related to professional football, but also the differences in relation to high school football, Championship and Premier League teams, so it is imperative that you understand how to play that game. However, it is not necessary that you have played the game at a high level to qualify for this type of position.

Become Experienced At Scouting

Although it is not necessary for you to know anyone in this industry to get this type of job, it certainly does help. In fact, many of the scouts that exist today had connections. They likely worked under another scout that introduces them to their employer. From there, they were given the opportunity to follow this individual, learn how to do scouting, and eventually qualified for a job of their very own.

Build Your Brand

One final step to this process is building your brand. You need to build a name for yourself. Once people recognise who you are, in appearance and by name, this is going to help you in your quest to become a successful scout. If you think about all of the football scouts that have been successful, they are well-known in the industry. This has much more to do than simply being around for several months or years. You need to get to know the players, coaches, and other scouts so that they can identify who you are immediately.

By following these simple steps, it should be very easy for you to land a scouting job. These steps will move you quickly toward having your own position. It is important to have some background in the game of football, but it’s even more important to connect with those that are in this industry. By building a name for yourself, over the course of several months, you will become more recognisable. Eventually, someone may realize that you have the skills necessary to identify good players, leading you to more lucrative scouting jobs.