Get Career Help Through an Alumni Career Services Association

Colleges and universities pride themselves on helping their graduates and alumni achieve career success. Did you know, most higher education institutions offer alumni career services to recent graduates and beyond?

Alumni Career Services Associations are an often overlooked resource that can help you tap into a hidden job market. Take advantage of that fact to help you uncover great opportunities today.

Read: List of Alumni Career Services Associations for Job Seekers (categorized by state)

Here are some ways you can use alumni career services to help you in your job search.

Career Fairs

Career fairs are a way to meet companies with openings right now that have an interest in alumni like you. If you’re not a recent graduate, make sure you know if access is free or contains a cost. For example, UIC offers free attendance to individuals who graduated more than one year ago while others charge fees.

Job Portals

Handshake is a career portal used by universities such as Alabama, Arizona State and the University of Illinois. It connects you to companies that have degree-required openings and want alumni from specific schools. Handshake’s features include resume posting, job postings, and job search agents.

Some universities have their own online jobs portals. Northern Illinois University has a Huskies Get Hired website available to alumni. Other universities such as The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) established job boards for alumni from specific colleges. For example, graduates of the UIC School of Nursing have access to a job board filled exclusively with nursing job postings.

Networking

Colleges and universities can connect you to an alumni career network. Some universities have networking groups for people in specific industries. For instance, University of Southern California (USC) offers networking for USC professionals in fields such as real estate, entertainment, education, and entrepreneurship.

Schools such as Northwestern University take the alumni career network concept a step further and offer mentorship programs. A mentor offers the protege specific career assistance.

Social media provides you with a way to digitally network with fellow alumni. LinkedIn is often the platform of choice for alumni networking groups. Old Dominion University in Virginia, UIC and USC are three schools that created LinkedIn Groups for alumni.

Career Counseling

Career services workshops are often available to new and older alumni at no cost. Many colleges and universities also offer webinars that provide guidance to alumni that cannot make it back to campus.

Costs of Alumni Career Resources

Many colleges place time limits on how long alumni can access free career services. San Diego State offers free career services for 120 days after the end of enrollment for example. However, graduates of Old Dominion University can access career services for free for life.

Ready for some help? View the List of Career Services Alumni Associations for Job Seekers to find out what resources are offered through your alma mater.