Binghamton alumni are always eager to help support current students and can be a huge asset to your career toolbox. Alumni are happy to share career advice, and may even be able to connect you with job or internship opportunities within their organization. Start tapping into our vast alumni network and growing your professional connections.
There are 2 main ways alumni can help you with your career goals:
1. Exploring career options thorough informational interviewing
An informational interview is a conversation you schedule with a professional to gain information about a career field. This gives you a chance to ask questions about the person’s role, what it’s like to work in their organization, and the industry in general. These connections can give you advice on skills you should learn if you want to pursue a specific career field, and can potentially lead you to opportunities in the future. (See pg. 30 of our Career Guide to learn more about informational interviewing and sample questions you can ask.)
2. Building connections as part of your job or internship search strategy
While the purpose of networking may ultimately be employment, “Can you give me a job?” should not be a question you ask. Instead, your mission is to gather information and in the process establish relationships. Your contacts will be more likely to make referrals to other individuals to help you expand your network as well as keep you in mind for openings if you have established a positive relationship. Afterall, networking is one of the top strategies for job searching. (See pg. 23 of our Career Guide for networking best practices)
Here are just a few ways you can easily identify alumni to connect with
- Connect on LinkedIn: Join the Binghamton University Alumni Association Professional Network on LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn’s ‘people search’ tool to identify alumni in your career field of interest. (See pg. 30 of our Career Guide for more info!)
Don’t forget: Always send a personalized note in your connection requests! Find some additional helpful resources here.
Video: LinkedIn Best Practices
- Join Mentor Match and connect with alumni mentors: There are currently hundreds of alumni mentors waiting to connect with you in Mentor Match, Binghamton’s online mentoring platform! Sign up now to get matched with alumni mentors in your field of interest. Learn more and join now for free!
Video: Tips and best practices on making the most of Mentor Match - Watch our ALL-In (Alumni Live Lunch Interviews
Not only will you learn about career paths of successful alumni, but this is a great (and easy) way to connect with alumni who are interested in helping current students!
View our library of ALL-In video recordings! - Attend Alumni Events
You can FILTER by event type on our careertools.binghamton.edu website. Filter by alumni events, employer events, career education workshops and more
Alumni events, such as our Alumni Career Connections program, will provide you virtual opportunities to connect with alumni eager to share information about working in various industries! View upcoming events with alumni here.
These are just a FEW of the many ways you can tap into alumni that you can start taking advantage of now! If you need assistance identifying alumni to connect with in a specific field or industry, we can help!
Simply schedule an appointment with a Fleishman Center career consultant in hireBING!