Alumni can be a great resource for job-hunting graduates and other alums, says CollegeJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal’s guide for career-minded college students.
Alumni can offer advice on what it’s like to work in a particular industry, company or city, and provide resume-writing and interviewing tips, says Sarah Needleman, associate editor of CollegeJournal.com. Some alumni may even supply job referrals.
Networking with alumni has never been easier. A growing number of alumni associations now publish online databases that list former graduates who have volunteered to help new grads and other alums with their job hunts. If your school has these services, you can search for alumni worldwide by industry, job title, geographic location or employer. Alumni databases aren’t new, but now several associations are adding the convenience of online searches.
A few college and university alumni associations currently publish databases of graduate volunteers to help seniors and other alumni, but the trend is expected to grow. Some offer free access to seniors and graduates, while others charge a fee.
To connect with alumni to help with your job search, CollegeJournal.com suggests that you:
Go to your school’s alumni association Web site to see if an alumni database exists.
Send a brief e-mail to alumni.
Describe yourself and the kind of help you’re seeking.
Determine how they’d like to communicate-by phone, e-mail or in person.
Ask the same types of questions as you would in an information interview. These might include why they chose their current field, what an average workday is like and how they landed their jobs.
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CollegeJournal.com says alumni networking can help graduates with their job search
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