How to: Make Alumni Groups work for you

What is an Alumni Group or Network?

An Alumni Group may be created for students of a particular school, college, or university. Alumni networks exist at most large educational institutions and many have a global network. Some large companies also have alumni networks for their former staff.

Some Alumni networks also have a number of sub-groups so that you can connect with people with common interests or links.

Sign up and Update your Alumni Profile(s)

Most schools, colleges and universities (and even large companies) have alumni programmes. So make sure you take the time to join your alumni programmes as these can be a great resource of networking contacts, events, training and other benefits.

As well as simply signing up – make sure you keep an up to date profile as well as actively participating where you can. Used well, the network can be very effective.

How can you participate in your Alumni Network?

Participation is key. There are a number of ways that your Alumni network might be run and provide networking opportunities.

Most Alumni Networks will have an online presence. This might be via an online portal on a dedicated website, or they might use social media (e.g. a linkedin group) and email to communicate. This should have been made obvious to you when you signed up.

You can use the online portal or network to find other people in the network. These might be people you knew in the past but you lost touch with. Alternatively, they might be people you don’t know. So just start by reaching out and saying hello.

Many Alumni Networks also organise events. This might be informal networking events or training events. If it works for you geographically, make sure you get try to attend some of these events to do more networking with your fellow alumni.

Why should you connect with fellow Alumni?

As with all networking, you are looking to make connections with and build relationships with people. The great thing about Alumni networks is that you already have a minimum of one thing in common.

Additionally, with many educational institutions investing in Alumni Programmes, Mentoring Schemes and online portals you can find them an accessible and helpful resource for tips and advice.

However, they are more likely to be of use if you are in a professional or more traditional field/background. However, even if you are more alternative, you still may find your people within the group.