Elite Athlete Job Program - Powerade

POWERADE - www.us.powerade.com

We are pleased to announce the operational launch of the USOC’s Team USA Career Program, created in partnership with Adecco, PowerAde and hopefully many more USOC Sponsors.  

Overview: The USOC has been working diligently since early 2009 to create a program to replace the Olympic Job Opportunities Program (OJOP) which employed many Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls at The Home Depot and other companies throughout its 30+ year history. While the OJOP was beneficial for athletes from an income-earning perspective, the Team USA Career Program has been created with the following parameters to better serve qualified athletes both while they are training and competing and when they have retired from sport.

• Athletes will be provided employment opportunities that are not only flexible in schedule, but also have potential for future career advancement.
• Athletes will only be paid for the hours they work to prevent the abuses that occurred in the OJOP.
• All athletes in the Team USA Career Program will be paid the same hourly rate of $14/hour to prevent any job-hopping among USOC Sponsors and create more stability for both the employer and the athlete-employee.
• A basic health benefits package will be provided by Adecco who will also handle all the employment administration services. While qualified athletes will work at a USOC Sponsor, they are actually temporary employees of Adecco so that USOC Sponsor companies do not have to increase their head count given the current economic times.
• To apply for a Team USA Career Program position with a USOC Sponsor Company, qualified athletes will work with a career coach from Adecco until they are considered “job ready” for program participation. While qualified for the program athletically, athletes in the Team USA Career Program must go through a job interview process, sometimes with other athletes in the program, and will be selected for hire by the USOC Sponsor Company. This means that a job in the Team USA Career Program is NOT guaranteed. It is the hope of the USOC that this process will force athletes to be better prepared for job interviews and career planning both during their athletic careers and upon retirement from sport.

Click HERE to return to the main Job Opportunities page.

Please contact Jack Wickens, USATF Foundation Director, with questions about the Elite Athlete Job Program.

Click HERE to return to the main Job Opportunities page.