The state of the economy has resulted in job losses for many people across the country – including Bradley alumni.
However, The Alumni Association and the Smith Career Center on campus relate to alumni in many different ways to adjust to the economic changes.
“They participate in career fairs and help with networking for students and other alumni,” Jane Linnenburger, the director of the Smith Career Center, said. “We’ll also hear from alumni who want to make a career change, or if they have had an unfortunate job loss and they request assistance from us.”
Alumni are permitted to use the SCC’s services throughout their whole lives at no cost. This is not always the case at other universities.
“Bradley offers career service assistance that is free of charge to alumni and students,” Linnenburger said. “Typically at other universities there would be a fee after graduation to use the center’s services.”
There are many tools available to alumni through the SCC’s Web site, such as experience.com, which is eRecruiting for people with two or more years of professional experience.
“We have an Alumni Section on the Web site,” Linnenburger said. “We’ve really beefed that up with links these last two months which will be helpful to alumni.”
There is also a specific Alumni Association’s Web site at BUalum.org. The online community is very useful for job hunting, because it allows a member to search for other alumni or jobs anywhere in the country.
Linnenburger said she thinks the site can help with networking.
“We have seen a great increase in recent months in the use of the alumni online membership directory,” she said. “The Smith Career Center encourages students and alumni to use this search tool. You can search for other alumni in a specific geographic location and in a certain field of work on the online community.”
Students can use this site by contacting the SCC and asking for their logins and passwords. There is one set up for each student on campus even if they are not yet of alum status.
Bradley alumni can also join a specific group on certain social networking sites which have been coordinated by the career center.
“In addition to the eRecruiting Web site alumni can join a Bradley group on LinkedIN,” Linnenburger said. “Networking is extremely important for alumni and students at this point in the economy.”
The career center will also review any alumni resumes and help with updates or revisions they might need if they find themselves in the job market again. They are also offering specified workshops for alumni during Homecoming Weekend next semester.
“We have had alumni contact us to look at their resumes for them. We can do this and also we can provide face-to-face advisement in person or over the phone,” Linnenburger said. “We will also offer special job search workshops for alumni in the fall during Homecoming Weekend. These workshops will cover all types of issues.”
In addition, the SCC will offer a career fair prior to graduation for this year’s graduates for the first time.
