What’s the most valuable outcome of your college years? If you think it’s your degree, you’re only partially right. Beyond the knowledge you gained in school, your alumni network is one of the most important benefits you earned. In the years since college, your classmates have become experienced professionals, industry experts, potential clients and trusted colleagues – in short, people who can help you expand your horizons. This of course includes your professors as well. Don’t be shy to reach out to them. Remember the better you do out there, the more of a reflection it is on them and their work. I personally know plenty of alumni from my various schools in the past (yes my college loan can vouch for that) whom have landed some great positions due to the intervention of their past professors. Staff, administrators, and professors alike, can benefit from your gift giving and donations to the school, once you hit your first million. Private schools especially have recently become adept to doing this.
In addition to the investment factor, It makes sense to stay connected to your fellow alumni and professors. Not only do you share great memories, but you can also help one another throughout your lives. Since you have your school in common, you have a natural connection.
Here are at least four avenues through which you can connect to previous alumni, be an asset or seek them out to be an asset to you:
Twitter- “Discover” Alliant International University, California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles career, (or any other city) and post the job on this board. This is all about being creative, so run with it!
LinkedIn Classmates provides high-level insights about alumni of your school, as well as access to the more detailed professional profiles they’ve shared. It can help you…
- Explore Possibilities: See what alumni in your field have accomplished since graduation – and expand your sense of what’s possible for you
- Make Connections: Reconnect with old friends, and reach out to alumni in your field for their industry expertise and career opportunities
- Find Opportunities: From mentoring to jobs, your fellow alumni often are ready to help
You can explore alumni career trends by clicking the bars in LinkedIn Classmates to drill down to people from specific companies, locations and job functions. You can even go further and search the connections and groups you share in common – and invite them to connect, or send them messages.
Facebook- For a more friendly, and casual approach, you can go about the same search as you did on LinkedIn on Facebook. The difference is people are not as expressive about their previous and current positions on Facebook. However, you will be able to friend someone a lot easier on Facebook than on LinkedIn.
Associations- Be an active member of your Association whether APA or others and keep abreast of the changes in legislature, and update your Alumni regularly. If you can be involved, even better. The field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology has especially gone through many changes in the past few years and will continue to do so in 2013. Your alumni would be forever grateful for any steps you took in making their careers more in demand, connected, research driven, etc.
Expand your horizons, and help others expand that of your friends’
One thing to remember is that you reap what you sew. In addition to reconnecting with former friends and classmates, your alumni network can help you advance in your job, change your career, or relocate anywhere around the world. And it’s a great resource for recruiting and getting an insider’s perspective on industries and organizations. Of course, beyond the benefits people receive, many find helping fellow alumni and current students deeply rewarding.
So don’t go in to this just for your own benefits. Think of it as an activity in relationship building similar to that as in a party of informal gathering, not a job. Otherwise you will quickly turn people off. If you hear of an open position, a contract opportunity, do bring it up to a trusted alumni. Sometimes the competitive environment of graduate school keeps alumni in truly being there for one another afterwards. One thing I always say is: imitation is the greatest form of flattery! The greatest compliment you can give someone, is a good referral!
