A Dream of Working in Sport: Tom Lomax Student Profile 

“About 18 months ago, I decided I wanted to work in the sports industry, having worked as a chartered accountant. I wanted to focus and move into something that I’m really passionate about.” 

Tom Lomax is a GIS student who has taken the leap into a career change- a leap that many aspire to take. 

Studying our MSc Football Business course and working as a Finance Analyst at Sport England, Tom began his studies with us intending to build a career in sport, despite having worked in accounting since 2015. However, what really accelerated his search for a job in his dream industry was attending a GIS Global Summit. 

Earlier this year, Tom attended a summit in Miami, and in a post on his LinkedIn following the trip, he commented: “Getting to meet such an array of guest speakers and industry specialists to hear their stories and bounce off ideas with was inspiring.” 

The experience inspired him to fast-track his job search, as he explained in a recent webinar with summit host Mark Clemmit: “When I started on the Masters, I was in no rush to move over [into sport], but having spent the whole week in Miami, I came back and thought ‘What am I waiting for?’, let’s see what opportunities are out there and put myself forward for them.” 

This positive mindset helped him make the most of the summit, with much of the inspiration coming from the other students he met there, labelling it a ‘lightbulb moment.’ 

“Knowing that if you surround yourself with the right people sharing the same passions, it does feed off onto others, and I wanted to put myself in that position.” 

At the summits, students present a group project they’ve been working on prior to the trip. This is often a point of anxiety for students who haven’t done public speaking before, but in the webinar for those interested in learning more about the summits, Tom highlighted Mark Clemmit’s ability to help build confidence before the presentations. 

“You’ve already spoken 10 to 15 times in front of everybody in the room. You’ve given your opinion, you’ve asked questions, so when it comes time to speak in front of these big executives, you’re already a couple levels ahead of where you were when you first arrived, so it’s not as much of a scary step when you step on stage.” 

Having learned so much from the summit following his transition into the sports industry, Tom concluded that his main takeaway was that: “No matter your age or role, you have to push yourself to keep learning to make yourself a better person, and a better candidate for a job in the sports industry.” 

Interested in advancing your career in the sports industry? Read more about our upcoming Global Summits here. 

Article by Zakaria Anani