4 min read
24th Sep 2022
Wolves Academy features in an episode of the BBC’s brand-new series Hire Me: Competing for a Dream Job, currently available on BBC iPlayer.
Hosted by BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Snoochie Shy, Hire Me: Competing for a Dream Job offers young hopefuls the chance to break out of their ordinary lives and into their dream industry, winning the life changing prize of a dream job.
In each episode, three candidates compete against each other in a high pressure, supersized job interview for the role of their dreams, from luxury property broker, radio producer, commercial interior designer, events planner, commercial film maker and Premier League coach, and Wolves Academy stepped forward to offer a route into the game.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH ON BBC IPLAYER
Liam, Shalim and Finley, a trio of grassroots coaches, were tasked with impressing head of academy Jon Hunter-Barrett, head of player development Darren Ryan and Manchester United Women captain Katie Zelem through a pair of coaching challenges.
Liam is a trainee teacher and coach, Shalim hails from the West Midlands and is a radiography student and a coach on weekends, while Finley joined the army at the age of 16 but was medically discharged, so at a difficult stage of his life, turned to football, and for one, a coaching role at Wolves awaited.
For the club, the eventual winner would be integrated into the elite academy set-up at Compton Park, and Hunter-Barrett believes this alternate recruitment method helped the club hire the perfect individual, while continuing to provide opportunities to both players and coaches.
Hunter-Barrett said: “It was a good opportunity for the football club. It’s not normal to see inside an academy, you can see a bit of how it functions, and that was a small snippet of what we do. It’s a different way of recruiting, to get different cultures and skillsets on board, and at the same time it was nice for the kids to see themselves on TV.
“There are always different ways you can recruit people into your programme and this way is a different way. I’m not saying we’re always going to have a camera crew present, but different interview strategies can only help us bring the right people into the programme.
“I came into the club doing one hour a week 11 seasons ago and now I’m at the other end of the programme. It’s about giving people opportunities. It’s not just me, a lot of people have progressed through the football club, from the academy to first-team from a staff point of view.
“It’s important for staff to have different opportunities to progress. Ultimately, we’ve all got plans, we’ve all got ambitions, and Wolves is a place which allows those plans to come to life, if they want them to.”
Task number one saw the trio assess academy graduate Luke Cundle’s performances and provide feedback, while task two asked candidates to take a coaching session themselves, which saw them run the warm-up and select a team, interacting with players along the way under the watchful eye of Hunter-Barrett and Ryan.
Viewers learn the eventual winner, who earlier this month began his dream coaching role at Wolves, working with the academy’s young players.
“The winner has made a smooth transition. It’s as if he’s been here a while. He’s a calm character and easy going, so has slotted into the coaching team with the younger age groups. He’s already making a good impact on the programme.
“Overall, the project itself was really interesting. It was an excellent opportunity for us to unearth new coaching talent out there, and we wouldn’t necessarily know about. Each candidate had a different background, different skills, different experiences, and we set different challenges for them, and it was a big success.”
Click the artwork below to watch the full episode.
