Jobs On Tap: Tapping Your Alumni Network

I was at the Mashable Monthly event last week and one of the folks I was talking to made the comment that finding a new job was harder to find than oil on inherited property. It would be easy to agree with him, if I didn’t know that most of the people I’ve coached or just spoken to on the subject of job-hunting have not tapped every possible source of job leads or referrals. Sure, they’ve worn trails to their favorite online job boards (and to the bars at those monthly networking events). But, most have not tapped the full gamut of soures of job leads and referrals.

Case in point, alumni networks. Even I’ve been remiss from time to time when it comes to my college alumni association. I’ve skipped the local and regional alumni events, ignored invites to alumni weekends and failed to take proper advantage of the alumni newsletters and job boards.

What a miss! Fact is that 60-75 percent of all jobs are found through networking–job referrals or leads passed on by members of our professional or social networks. While you’ve been struggling to attract hundreds of “friends” or links to your Facebook or LinkedIn profile, you’ve been sleeping on a huge, pre-fab, no assembly required network, your alumni network.

The first thing you need to know about alumni networks is that they’re not just for college grads; there are alumni networks for law schools, business schools, art and film schools, even if they aren’t associated with universities. There are even alumni programs for graduates of certificate, executive education and professional development programs. For instance, I’m a newly-minted alum of Stanford’s Professional Publishing Program, a professional development program for publishers and editors. The alumni network is relatively small compared to the greater university’s network, but it’s bustling and I’ve already received a job referral and one job offer.

Alumni networks are care packages filled with goodies for its members. The most common offerings of alumni networks include:

Job boards
Alumni directories
Alumni newsletters/magazines
Alumni clubs
Alumni events (in your area and on campus)
Listserv/mailing lists
Career services (free or fee-based counseling, career testing, access to career libraries and invites to career fairs)

Nearly every college or university has an alumni network on one or all of the online social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) that you are free to join. Most have alumni clubs online and offline in big cities across the country (The local chapter of my college’s alumni network boasts 6,000 members).

So, how do you tap this juicy job source?

10 WAYS TO TAP YOUR ALUMNI NETWORK

To get started, visit your college, grad or professional school website (or dust off the alumni news mag you’ve got propping your door open) to find the address for the alumni webpage.

If you haven’t already, complete your online profile (Remind folks you exist).
Add your contact info to the alumni directory (Be sure to check “YES” to allow fellow alums to contact you).
Add yourself to the alumni mailing lists–Don’t forget to add yourself to local/regional listservs.
If you’ve recently earned a graduate degree, started a business or gone solo, send an update to be added to your “alumni news” section.
Search the college job board for jobs with the university and jobs posted by fellow alums.
Take advantage of available career services–make an appointment to speak with career counselors, to take a career test, to attend a career fair or to use the career library.
Check out and plan to attend upcoming alumni events in your area. If there are no events in your area, consider organizing one–no better way to meet and schmooze alums in your area.
Join or start local/regional alumni clubs.
Join or start alumni networks on popular online social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, etc.
Finally–for the heavy-lifters–if your school or professional program or association does not (for some ungodly reason) have an established alumni network, volunteer to start one. If they have one, but it’s limping along, volunteer to revitalize it. Make yourself the center of the wheel, not just another spoke.