Whether you are planning to go to college or already enrolled in college (high schools may even have them), one of the best things you can do for yourself is tap into the alumni network. Nearly every school has one and if you look at college as an investment, an alumni network is one of the best returns on investment available to you.
Many students look at college as a means to getting a job - this is not a value judgement. In that sense, college is a stepping stone to another phase of life. Tap into the alumni network to make sure that the college stepping stone is as effective as possible
Alumni networks are typically groups of people who have graduated from a certain institution. To be sure, most institutions have official alumni networks but also have some sort of unofficial alumni network. Official alumni networks typically require official membership alongside a membership fee. As a member of the official alumni network, you may get benefits like access to certain school facilities, invitations to social events, sporting event tickets, or other programs offered by the institution. If you are not a member, then your benefits may be limited. Whether or not to join is a personal decision. For example, do you live close enough to the institution that access to facilities matters? Likewise, do you live close enough for tickets to a sporting event to motivate you? Are you interested in attending these social events? Personally, I lived far away from my institution once I graduated and I was more interested in socializing in different ways so I never joined. Despite this, I recognized the incredible professional opportunities afforded by an alumni network.
To that end, I benefited greatly from my institutions' unofficial alumni networks. Even if you are not a member of the official alumni network, that does not preclude you from interacting with alums. Successful alums often want to hire people from their alma mater and they don’t care if you are in the official club or not. As a professor, I have had so many industry professionals ask me to put out a call for internships and tell me that they have a job opening they’d like to fill with a fellow alum. Incidentally, the students who seemed to have the most success out of college have already made good impressions on alums.
As a professional, I got my first job because of my alumni network. Here’s the kicker though, the guy who hired me didn’t even go to my school - he was just a big fan who had a history of hiring alums from my school. I was put in touch with him through an alum who had previously worked with him. Beyond that, having these unofficial networks allowed me to explore opportunities and collaborations with all kinds of folks.
These conversations often but not always lead to comments like: “I can introduce you to someone,” “My company is looking for someone,” Do you know so and so? They are looking to hire someone.”
A multitude of psychological research studies confirm that people are more attracted to those who share similarities with them. In this case, going to the same school gives people a reason to like each other. This could be the difference between getting the job you are after and not getting the job you are after. This is also tied into identity research but I won’t belabor that point. In short, people generally have pride in their schools and a sense of loyalty to them. Even if you don’t identify with your school you can still leverage the alumni network.
As much as I would like to say that I got where I am because of my ability, my alumni network helped me so much on my path. It would be arrogant and untrue to claim otherwise. Whether you are looking at colleges, in college, or a recent graduate, do yourself a favor and look into it. There are all kinds of ways that colleges are measured. The strength of the alumni network should be valued highly. You can be the best student at your school but you still need someone to offer you a job. To borrow an old adage, it’s not what you know but who you know. Make sure you know the alumni network.
Submitted March 22, 2021 at 04:48AM by Lo_Professor_Phantom https://ift.tt/3r7ZSiv
