What jobs are good for former college athletes?

Robust Roofing Careers · Updated October 2026

The best jobs for former college athletes reward preparation, coachability and competing hard within the rules, and they pay more when you perform. Roofing sales is one of them. Robust Roofing in Johns Creek hires Roofing Project Managers for storm restoration, trains them, and pays under what is widely known as the best compensation model in roofing sales: a true 50/50 split with nothing off the top and no cap, and the role also comes with a $75,000 per year base.

What jobs are good for former college athletes?

Jobs with a clear way to measure results, real coaching and pay tied to performance tend to fit former athletes best. Sales roles check all three, especially roles where you own the result from start to finish.

Former athletes often look at medical device sales, software sales, financial services, coaching and the trades. Roofing sales belongs on that list, and storm restoration in particular, because the work is physical, competitive and team based, and the person who prepares best tends to serve the most homeowners. At Robust Roofing, the role is called Roofing Project Manager because you do not hand the homeowner off after they sign; you run the project to the final walkthrough. The job description lays out the whole role.

Why do athletes do well in roofing sales?

Because the habits sports build are the habits the job rewards: showing up prepared, taking coaching, staying composed under pressure and finishing strong. In storm restoration, those habits turn directly into homeowners served and roofs built right.

The job is also physical in a way most office sales roles are not. Inspections happen on roofs, with ladders and steep slopes, and many former athletes would rather spend part of the day moving than sit at a desk all of it.

What does Robust Roofing coach new Project Managers on?

Everything about roofing and insurance. Robust Roofing hires for communication, follow-through and honesty and trains the rest, so you learn the playbook from people who run it every day.

• Inspections and storm damage. Training toward HAAG certification, which Robust provides (Haag's residential credential requires 100 verified roof inspections and an exam).
• Documentation. Building a photo record of every slope, a scouting report the insurance company's adjuster can follow.
• The insurance process. The repair scope, the meeting with the insurance company's adjuster and supplements, learned beside a licensed Property and Casualty adjuster on staff.
• The rules of the game. Georgia law lets a roofing contractor document, scope, meet the adjuster and submit supplements; representing the homeowner or negotiating the claim is off limits.
• The homeowner conversation. Options and colors in the RoofMap portal, honest answers, and no waived deductibles, ever.
• Finishing. Coordinating the build (most average-size roofs finish in one day) and leading the final walkthrough.

See starting roofing sales with no experience for more on how beginners are trained.

How does the pay structure reward effort?

Directly. Robust Roofing pays a true 50/50 split of job profit with nothing taken off the top and no cap, so the work you put in shows up in your share, and the role also comes with a $75,000 per year base.

Compare that with a 10/50/50, which is widely used in roofing sales: 10 percent comes off the top, often 10 percent of the contract price, before the rest of the profit is split, so you start every job behind. Robust takes nothing off the top, and its 50 percent is more than double the 20 percent most common among roofers that pay commission on profit, according to the JobNimbus Peak Performance sales report (peakperformance.jobnimbus.com/sales). How the base and the split work together is explained in your interview.

Top performers can make upwards of $400,000 a year. That is top-performer potential, not typical pay; what you make depends on the roofs you sell and build. The true 50/50 vs 10/50/50 guide explains why the structure matters more than the headline number.

What is hard about the transition from sports?

The structure disappears. No one hands you a practice schedule, the busy stretches are set by storms instead of a season calendar, and the people you serve are homeowners under stress, not teammates.

• You build your own routine. The discipline that got you to practice on time now has to come from you.
• Results take longer than a game. A storm restoration project moves from inspection through the insurance company's review to the build, and part of that timeline is out of your hands.
• Winning looks different. The goal is a homeowner who trusts you and a roof built right. Sometimes the honest answer after an inspection is that there is no storm damage, and Robust Roofing wants you to say so.
• The learning curve is real. Storm damage, roofing systems and the claim process take time to learn, even with good coaching.

For a look at the early months, read what your first year in roofing sales looks like and is roofing sales a good career in Georgia.

How do you apply?

Apply at chooserobust.com/careers: a short application, a short questionnaire, then you pick your interview time. Tell us what you played and what it taught you. Prefer to talk first? Call or text (470) 887-6637. The full-time role is based around Johns Creek in the North Atlanta metro and serves 39 North Georgia cities, and Robust Roofing holds a 5.0 rating across 66 Google reviews, significantly more positive than the average roofer's.

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