College Alumni Resources Oregon

Summary

• Alumni can help with your job search.
• It's easy to locate alumni through your school.

No one will ever care about your career as much as you do. But if there were ever a group of people to come close, it would be alumni from your college or university. These former students have likely been in your shoes themselves, and are generally among the most willing to help your career development if you just ask.

Why are alums such an excellent career resource? For starters, they have something in common with you. They went to your school. They may have had the same classes and professors as you, joined the same student organizations and participated in the same extracurricular activities. So they have a natural connection with you and your institution's current students and graduates.

Because of this connection, alums can often give specific career advice you probably wouldn't get from anyone else. If you're a sociology major, for example, alums who majored in sociology will know about your specific academic program and can tell you how they translated that major into a career. They can also tell you about "if I could do it all over again" aspects of their college and professional careers, so you can avoid mistakes they made in school or when embarking on their careers.

Furthermore, many alums are looking for ways to give back to their schools without giving money. They'd much rather give their time and advice to you than a check to your institution, especially since they receive the nice side benefit of helping someone directly.