N.Kh. Khakunov, professor, Dr.Hab.
R.A. Akhtaov, associate professor, Ph.D.
R.D. Dyshechev, associate professor, Ph.D.
Adyghe State University, Maikop

Keywords: competitiveness, demand for specialists, image of competitive employee in physical culture and sports sphere.

Introduction. Competitiveness is a comprehensive evaluation criterion for modern professionals which is determined by the specialist’s personal quality and the quality of his professional activity [1, 2, 6]. Its level depends on the degree of conformity of personal qualities and professional knowledge, skills and abilities of a particular specialist with the objective requirements to professional activity and socio-economic conditions [4, 5]. In order to provide training of competitive graduates universities should have a clear idea of the final result: of both external features and characteristics of a competitive personality, and of the internal determinants of its formation.

The purpose of the study was to describe the image of the specialist in the sphere of physical culture and sport, who is in demand in the labor market due to his competitiveness.

Materials and methods. The indicators and factors of demand for specialists in labor market were identified using scientific literature analysis, questionnaires and interviews with professionals in physical culture and sport and as a result of expert evaluation. That evaluation was carried out by the specialists and heads of sports organizations (130 pers.) who were asked to describe the ideal model of competitive specialist according to selected criteria.

Results and discussion. The demand as the most vivid external manifestation of specialist's competitiveness can be the outcome of certain “correct” behavior, of some “useful” connections, contacts, etc. In order to describe the image of a specialist who's in demand because of his competitiveness, we need to investigate the behavior of the subject in the labor market and the characteristics of his professional life. So, we analyzed the contextual economic literature [2, 3, etc.], conducted a survey and interviews with experts in the sphere of physical culture and sport and with heads of sports organizations and found out the following.

An indicator of demand for specialist is the demand for his services. Its level can be determined by the number of job offers the specialist is accepted upon his request. The quality indicators of demand are:

– the range of employers with job offers;

– the reasons, affecting the demand and the range of employers (professional reputation, recommendations, requests, etc.).

The level of demand for specialists varies as follows: 

– good reputation, the renown of a specialist can determine the demand for him without any specific job search (specialist receives anticipatory job offers);

– the specialist can successfully get a desired job (either chosen or suggested) after an interview;

– the specialist can face a situation where he can get a job only through his personal connections;

– the specialist can experience serious difficulties in employment even in case of assistance from his friends, relatives, etc.

Thus, the presence of anticipatory job offers as well as the presence and the nature of employment intermediaries and, of course, the probability of successful employment can be considered as the basis for describing the competitive specialist.

The analysis of employment characteristics of the university graduates, the results of the survey and interviews with specialists and heads of various sports organizations revealed several groups of employment intermediaries.

Firstly, it is the representatives of teaching staff of the university which the specialist has graduated from, who are ready to positively characterize and recommend him to potential employers. The presence of this type of mediators is characteristic mainly for the employment of graduates and young professionals with less than three years of working experience.

Secondly, it is the representatives of professional community (colleagues and employees of other related organizations), who can recommend the specialist to other organizations or provide him with information on existing vacancies. The presence of such intermediaries is possible for graduates if they were working in field while studying at the university.

Thirdly, job hunting is often carried out through the intermediaries from among friends and relatives who are not involved in the profession. We've found out that this way of getting a job is chosen by less competitive specialists what, however, doesn't preclude the further development of their competitiveness. It is also true for the employment through the specialized recruitment agencies, centers and etc.

 Competitive specialists implement horizontal and/or vertical career in the process of professionalization; their career rarely passes within the same place of work, position and organization. Therefore, it is necessary to consider not only those characteristics which determine the value of a specialist and the demand for him in the period of his initial employment, but also those that provide competitive advantages in the future (the potential demand) [3].

In case of secondary and subsequent employment, the competitiveness of an applicant is determined according to his qualities revealed in the process of that employment (job interview, meeting, etc.) and based on the characteristics of his previous professional life (reputation, reviews, performed activities and so on). So an employer should assess the competitiveness of a specialist from two perspectives: that at the moment of employment and that in the past. (The conclusion is made on the basis of theoretical analysis of specialized literature and the interviews with the heads of sports organizations who answered the question of what information about job applicants they considered valuable and took into account when deciding on particular vacant position.)

The value of a specialist determines the desire of heads to keep him within the organization, that, in turn, creates the conditions (provides opportunities) for horizontal and/or vertical career. On the other hand, strong good reputation of the specialist, his professional fame often contributes to the emergence of external offers resulting in a new job, activity, position, etc. In this case, the higher the specialist is estimated, the wider the range of employers with job offers is and the less the need for intermediaries in subsequent employment is. (This was noted by the heads of sports organizations during discussions about whether or not they faced the situation when their valuable workers were “pirated” by other organizations, the ways of “holding” such workers, the conditions created for that purpose, etc.)

Consequently, the characteristics of professional life in the context of competitiveness may include the demand for the specialist from within and outside the organization and the necessity of the presence of various intermediaries in subsequent employment.

Conclusions. A generalized image of a specialist in the sphere of physical culture and sport was obtained as a result of the study. His demand in the labor market is stipulated by his competitiveness. In the period of employment the specialist receives a job offer (often several offers), either before he even starts searching himself or while searching. Young professionals - graduates of universities - receive job offers upon graduation.

The reasons for the offers are good professional reputation of the specialist, good rating and appreciation of his work by the employers. Or employers choose the applicant (including in the competitive environment) after an interview, in addition to a sufficiently high rating of his professionalism as specialist by competent members of the professional community.

When job offers come from within middle and distant professional circles, the opinions of respected professionals in the field are the reasons for the offers. Young specialist's achievements during practical training (in the period of study) motivate the employer to choose him for the job. Professional consistency in this case is supported by positive feedback from the employees of the organization where the specialist was on probation and from university teachers responsible for that type of educational activity. The recommendations are available upon request of the specialist.

A graduate receives offers from the organizations where he used to work and approve himself (in the period of study) or based on the recommendations of the heads of these organizations and teachers responsible for professional training. In addition, the offers may come from the organizations of higher social status and from other regions (from within middle and distant professional circles).

The offers come from the related primary organizations, mainly from the region of residence/studying of the graduate. The employment is carried out without intermediaries or through the anticipatory (voluntary) recommendations of the colleagues (representatives of the professional community) and in case of young professionals through the recommendations of university teachers.

In the period of employment the specialist can get job offers from similar organizations, including those outside the region of residence and those of higher social status. If the specialist is valuable enough he is entrusted with a wide range of functions and tasks, his authority level is gradually increasing, the possibilities for career development are opening. The external and internal offers emerge due to the high professional rating of the specialist's personal qualities based on the authoritative opinions and on the opinions of other colleagues - members of the professional community.

The capability to meet the external characteristics of competitiveness reflected in the image of an “ideal” specialist is the result of his personal features, certain knowledge and skills, qualities, etc. Based on the identified opinions of existing workers in the sphere of physical culture and sport, universities can design strategic and tactical objectives of professional training, determine the evaluation criteria for educational outcomes and build the system of educational activities.

References

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2. Gerchikova, I.N. Management: textbook / I.N. Gerchikova. – 4th ed., rev. and sup. – Мoscow: UNITY, 2007. (In Russian)
3.  Drucker, P.F. Market: How to become a leader. Practices and principles / P.F. Drucker. – Мoscow: Progress, 1992. (In Russian)
4. Mitina, L.M. Psychology of development of competitiveness of an individual / L.M. Mitina. - Moscow: Voronezh Moscow psychological social institute; MODEK, 2002. (In Russian)
5. Tuktarov, F.R. Competitiveness of an individual in the present transforming society: socio-philosophical analysis: abstract of doctoral thesis (Phil.) / F.R. Tuktarov. - Rostov-on-Don, 2007. (In Russian)
6. Khazova, S.A. The concept of development of competitiveness of an individual (case study of specialists in physical culture and sports) / S.A. Khazova // Vestnik Kemerovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. – 2011. – Iss. 1. (In Russian)

Corresponding author: zabolotniy-tol1@yandex.ru