Former Athletes Get Better Jobs, Study

Former athletes are more likely to get top jobs, according to a new study.

Researchers found that people who've competed in team sports get better jobs.

"Participation in competitive youth sports 'spills over' to occupationally advantageous traits that persist across a person's life," lead researcher Kevin M. Kniffin, postdoctoral research associate at Cornell's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, said in a news release.

The latest study revealed that people who played varsity high school sports are perceived to be more self-confident, have more self-respect and demonstrate more leadership than those who were part of other extracurricular activities.

The findings also show that former varsity athletes were also significantly more likely to volunteer and engage and other charitable activities.

"In our study of late-career workers, those who earned a varsity letter more than 50 years ago do demonstrate these characteristics more than others - plus, they donate time and money more frequently than others and possessed great prosocial behavior in their 70s, 80s, and 90s," said Kniffin.

The findings were published this week in the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies.

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