A friend recently asked me a question that sounds simple on the surface:

Where is the best place to look for jobs?

He is still playing hockey and trying to figure out whether he can find part-time or flexible work that would allow him to keep playing next season, potentially in Italy.
My first reaction was that this question is not really about job boards. It is about timing, identity, money, ambition, and how to avoid rushing into the wrong version of adulthood.
The easy answer would be to say LinkedIn, Indeed, TeamWorkOnline, company websites, or whatever platform happens to be popular right now.
Those places are useful, but they are not the real answer.

If You Still Want to Play, Try to Make It Work

If someone still wants to play, especially at a meaningful level, I usually think they should try to make it work.
There is a lot of pressure after college, juniors, or early adulthood to move on, get a “real job,” and start building the traditional path. Some of that pressure is practical. Some of it is cultural. Some of it is internal.
People feel behind even when they are doing something rare.
Playing a sport professionally or semi-professionally is not something most people get to experience. Even if it is not glamorous every day, it is still a unique window of life. If you have the opportunity and still care about it, I do not think you should casually throw it away because the outside world makes you feel late.
That said, money is real.
Rent is real. Food is real. Flights, equipment, insurance, savings, relationships, and future plans are all real.
So the question is not, “Should I ignore work and keep playing?”
The better question is:
How do I keep playing while also building the next chapter?

Think in Two Buckets

I would separate the job search into two categories.

Flexible Work That Supports the Season

If the main goal is to make money while still playing, then flexibility matters more than prestige.

This could mean remote work, local work, part-time work, contract work, coaching, training, rink operations, camps, skill development, or some kind of freelance support role.

If the player is overseas, the details matter even more.

A remote job is not automatically flexible. A company may say “remote,” but still expect someone to work U.S. hours, attend daily calls, support U.S. customers, or be available during windows that do not work from Europe.

The important questions are:

• Can the job work around practices, lifts, games, travel, and recovery?
• Does the company care where the person is physically located?
• Are the time zones realistic?
• Is the role customer-facing or mostly internal?
• Does the job require consistent daytime availability?
• Can the person do the work without constantly explaining or apologizing for the hockey schedule?

A flexible job that is not actually flexible will become a problem quickly.

Work That Builds the Next Chapter

The second bucket is more important long term.

This is where I would be careful.

Taking any job just to say you have a job can be a trap. There is nothing wrong with starting somewhere humble. There is nothing wrong with doing practical work to pay bills. But taking a job you already know is a dead end, in an industry you do not care about, with no connection to where you might want to go, is not automatically responsible.

Sometimes it is just motion.

A better approach is to look for work that does at least one of the following:

• Builds a useful skill
• Expands your network
• Gives you exposure to an industry you are curious about
• Creates future optionality
• Uses your existing advantages
• Fits the reality of your hockey schedule

Sports. Sales. Operations. Coaching. Training. Technology. Media. Recruiting. Customer success. Equipment. Analytics. Events. Small business. Startups.

Any of those could make sense depending on the person.

The goal is not to perfectly predict the future. The goal is to avoid sleepwalking into something that has no connection to who you are or where you might want to go.

Job Boards Are Useful, But They Are Not the Strategy

Job boards are fine.
LinkedIn, Indeed, TeamWorkOnline, company career pages, alumni boards, and local listings all have value. They help you see what exists. They show job titles, company names, requirements, salary ranges, and language you can borrow for your own positioning.
But I do not think mass applying is the best strategy for someone in this position.

The better use of job boards is research.

Find the companies. Find the roles. Find the people. Then work backward into the network.
Start with:

• Former teammates
• Coaches
• Alumni
• Family friends
• Former employers
• Local business owners
• People connected to hockey
• People one degree removed from your current network
• People doing interesting work in industries you are curious about

Warm conversations beat cold applications.
A lot of people are more willing to help than we assume, especially when the ask is clear and reasonable.
Not:
“I need a job. Do you know anything?“
Better:
“I’m still playing and trying to build toward my next professional chapter. I’m looking for flexible or part-time work where I can contribute now, learn, and potentially grow into more over time. I’m especially interested in sports, business, sales, operations, tech, or anything where my background as an athlete could be useful.“
That is much easier to help with.

Position the Season Correctly

The most important framing is this:
Next season does not need to be a delay. It can be a transition year.
That is the mindset shift.
If someone keeps playing but ignores the future, they may wake up later feeling unprepared.
If someone quits playing too early just because they feel pressure, they may regret not taking the opportunity while it was still available.
The middle ground is to treat the season as a hybrid.
Keep playing. Stay grateful for the opportunity. Compete seriously. But also use the year to build.
That could mean:

• Taking calls with people every week
• Improving LinkedIn
• Building a simple personal website
• Taking online classes
• Learning AI tools
• Doing small freelance projects
• Helping a company part-time
• Coaching or training players
• Writing about the experience
• Building a portfolio of useful work

This approach changes the story.
Instead of saying, “I’m still playing, so I haven’t started my career,” the story becomes:
“I’m playing while intentionally building the foundation for my next chapter.“
That is a very different message.

AI and Technical Literacy Matter

I also think this is a good time for athletes, and really everyone, to build basic literacy in artificial intelligence, automation, and modern digital tools.
Not everyone needs to become a software engineer. But everyone should understand that work is changing quickly.
AI, automation, machine learning, robotics, blockchain, genomics, quantum computing, and other disruptive technologies are developing at the same time. Some of the hype will be wrong. Some of the predictions will be early. But the direction is obvious enough.
The people who understand these tools will have leverage.
For someone playing hockey and looking for flexible work, this matters because AI skills can create options. You can use them for research, writing, operations, content, sales support, data cleanup, video analysis, marketing, workflow automation, and freelance projects.
Even a basic ability to use AI tools well can separate someone from other applicants.
The goal is not to chase every trend. The goal is to become literate enough that the
changing world creates opportunity instead of anxiety.

The Real Answer

So if someone asked me where to look for jobs while still trying to play, my honest answer would be:
Start with your network, not the job board.
Use job boards for research. Use LinkedIn to understand companies and people. Look for flexible roles, but be honest about whether they actually fit the hockey schedule. Do not take a dead-end job just to calm the anxiety of feeling behind. Build skills while you play. Treat the season as a bridge, not a pause.
The best job search is not just about finding someone who will hire you.
It is about positioning yourself for the next version of your life without prematurely abandoning the current one.

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