Football scouting might sound like a dream job for football lovers. In many ways it is, offering the opportunity to immerse yourself in the game and dedicate your career to it. This can be very rewarding for someone who has a true passion and is looking to find a meaningful line of work. It is not a job to be taken lightly though and getting into football scouting in the first place can be difficult. Once well established as a professional scout, it is also important to have a strong network and to keep building on this, so it is easier to find work you love. Finding the right way to build up this network is essential to the success of many football scouts who go on to have long and successful careers in this field.

So how do you build up your network and make your name known in the world of football scouting? Once you are well established, people and teams may ask for you directly and want to recruit you based on your past performance and experience. It can be much harder before you reach that stage though, and even if you do, there are still challenges. There are also different kinds of football scouting – club scouts, scouts who analyse techniques and tactics, scouts who work with young up and coming players, and many more. This is a field with huge amounts of opportunity, but with it comes huge amounts of competition as well.

You need to give yourself a head start by making sure you are positioned to hear about any new jobs that come up so you are aware of what is going on in the industry and have the opportunity to apply for the positions that interest you the most. One great starting point is to register with a football scouting directory. These are specialist directories just for the people who work in this field, connecting scouts with people who are actively looking to recruit them. This can be a very successful way to get a foot in the door as a football scout. Even more senior scouts with years of experience will often make sure they are registered for good scouting directories so they hear about new work first and their names are out there for football clubs and individuals to find as well.

When registering for a directory, you need to remember that this is like your shop window and you need to present the professional image that you want the world to see. You will usually be asked to fill in your profile on signing up, where you should list all of your experience and where your main interests in football scouting lie. Directories can also be platforms for advertising and finding jobs, so you may be able to look through job adverts on the same website and identify roles that may be suitable for you. If someone who is hiring is interested in your profile, they will be able to contact you directly to speak about the opportunity.