<p>Researchmom - S believes that his athletic experience was a strong positive for recruiting in his field - investment banking. It was frequently a topic of discussion in interviews and many interviewers had also been athletes. However, I think he would agree that it is only icing on the cake for a student who is well qualified in other ways - he certainly has friends who were athletes who did not receive job offers they hoped for, presumably because they didn’t have other characteristics employers were looking for. So, I’d consider it a soft factor that can help to differentiate well qualified applicants in certain fields. I completely agree that the benefit of being a college athlete is not universal across occupational fields - in my field and my husband’s, I don’t think being an athlete would be a factor, either positive or negative, but thankfully in my S’s field it was a benefit.</p>