College ties that bind

Need career counseling? Want to meet new professional colleagues, hear the latest job-market trends or update your résumé? Don't overlook your alma mater. Many Georgia college alumni are finding that the institutions that helped launch them into the working world will continue to provide assistance long after graduation.

"At this point, we offer alumni almost everything our students get — assessments, résumé critiques, job-search skills, contacts and resources," said Betsy Johnson, director of career services–Atlanta for Mercer University. She does individual counseling and sponsors career events that are listed on the alumni Web site.

"Most people find me through word-of-mouth, and they're grateful to know we're here," Johnson said.

Many colleges and universities offer career assistance to their graduates. Seven schools in Georgia are extending the reach of their programs through a unique collaboration called the Atlanta Alumni Career Consortium.

Last spring, Sarah Adams Yeary decided to attend a professional women's networking luncheon sponsored by the consortium, of which Spelman College is a part.

"I saw it as an opportunity to network with other college-educated women outside of work, and I knew the quality of the event would be high, because Spelman was involved," said Yeary, a math graduate who works in computer software engineering.

The consortium comprises Emory University, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, Mercer University, Spelman College and the University of Georgia. Graduates of all of those institutions attended the networking luncheon.

"It turned out to be a turning point in my life," Yeary said.

The luncheon speaker was Tory Johnson, CEO of Women for Hire and a workplace contributor to "Good Morning America," who was in town for the Atlanta Women for Hire job fair. After hearing Johnson talk about her life and how someone shouldn't be afraid to try something different when a job isn't working, Yeary went home, polished her résumé and attended the job fair the next day.

"I talked to some companies that I would probably never have talked to otherwise, and now I'm training part time for a career in financial services," Yeary said. "I never would have ventured into this if it hadn't been for that event. I've told my college friends that they should come to the next one."

The trend of offering career services to alumni is growing nationally, as schools realize that helping graduates succeed is good not only for the alumni but also for the schools' reputations and missions.

"Anything we offer at the Career Services Center is open to alums free of charge. We tell our graduates, 'The school will never quit working for you,' " said Lori Trahan, assistant director of career services with the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. "The only thing we ask in return is that, as they move up the ranks, they remember KSU. It's fun to see former students come back to us as recruiters."

Trahan, who worked for other colleges before moving to Georgia, never saw anything like the level of cooperation she's experienced with the Atlanta Alumni Career Consortium.

A support system

It started in fall 2005, when Kimberly Guelcher was relatively new to her job as associate director of alumni career services at Georgia State University.

"My counterparts at UGA and Georgia Tech were pretty new, too, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to put our heads together and brainstorm," Guelcher said.

Adrian Tonge, director of volunteer programs and services and director of alumni career services at Emory University, speaks for most of his consortium colleagues: "I'm the only staff person at Emory like me. To be able to meet with others who do what I do at other institutions — to share best practices and bounce ideas off each other — is definitely helpful. We want to be a resource for our alums in perpetuity and offer the broadest experience and value."

At Georgia State, Guelcher does one-on-one career counseling with alums. She also holds job-search seminars, networking events and workshops and posts employment opportunities. She recently launched an online networking site for Georgia State grads. Getting the word out that the services exist is a challenge, but those who find them are appreciative.

"Being able to pick up the phone and develop those relationships with people at other schools has been invaluable to our program," Guelcher said.

Started as a professional group to help one another, the consortium soon moved to helping one another's constituencies by hosting shared networking events. The group sponsors two or three annual networking events, which are open to every member college's graduates. The events average about 100 to 150 people, and the numbers are growing as word gets out.

"We get a great mix of people, including recent graduates, people five to 10 years out looking for a better job, workers in career transition who want to network, and people who moved out of state and have come back," Mercer University's Johnson said. "Our alums tell us that they appreciate meeting Atlanta workers from other Georgia schools and have gained useful information from the speakers.

"The effectiveness is that the events are structured."

Broader horizons

People have a chance to mix and mingle, hear a speaker and then participate in speed networking, during which they give brief statements about their work and needs and then exchange business cards in small groups.

At the start, people may gravitate toward fellow alumni of their colleges, but by the end of the evening, they have mixed and mingled with everyone.

"We're trying to teach them not just to ask for a job, but for contacts, leads and helpful information. Our goal is for everyone to leave with at least two new contacts," Johnson said.

Paula Pahl, a partner with New York Life and a graduate of Kennesaw State University, has participated both as an alumna and as a corporate sponsor for the events. Her responsibility is to recruit, hire and develop financial-services professionals for her company.

"These events put you in front of a lot of highly qualified candidates in Atlanta," Pahl said. "I have an opportunity to tell people what our company is looking for, and I'm impressed by the camaraderie I see between the professionals from the different schools. They're in the know about today's market, and they obviously have a great time working together."

Pahl has seen more people take advantage of their alumni associations for career development — and with good reason.

"Association events are great places to network. It's more personal, because you share the commonality of where you went to school. That's a good ice-breaker and raises the comfort level. When you have something in common, it's easier to ask questions and share information," she said.

Dineo Brinson, associate director of alumnae affairs for Spelman College, remembers talking with one woman at the professional women's networking luncheon.

"She was nervous and told me she didn't know anyone else there," Brinson said. "I found another Spelman graduate and brought her over and introduced her, saying, 'This is your Spelman sister, and now you know each other.' "

Spelman has more than 14,000 alumnae, and, because of long-standing shared traditions, the bonds are strong, Brinson said.

"Being part of the consortium absolutely helps me do my job," Brinson said. "It's a great added benefit for our alums to help them meet other colleagues from around the city, and it helps us build corporate relationships, which have led to fellowships, internships and jobs for our students."

Economy of scale

Trahan said that her office could not have afforded to hold an event like the women's networking luncheon at 103 West in Buckhead by itself. A shared event increases the critical mass of participants to make an event financially viable.

"By partnering with other institutions, we are all stretching our budgets and able to offer more," Trahan said.

The participating colleges and universities market the events through their individual Web sites and alumni offices.

"The feedback from our events has been overwhelmingly positive and exceeded our expectations," Guelcher said.

The group is meeting this summer to plan events for next year.