Alumni network

[Pats20]

How important or valuable do you think a large alumni network like UT Austin or UIUC is ? Or any other large respected university. Could be Wisconsin or BU or many others, Kentucky , Georgia Tech. Does the alumni take care of each other ? I mean is it reasonable to think that they will set you up (decent job) provided you have decent smarts, work ethic, and reasonable expectations?

[smartdegree]

I imagine it would be on a case to case basis. I don't know what you mean by "take care of each other". If you mean I would give them an automatic interview, hell no. If you mean, all things equal, 2 exact candidates are right in front of me and they are exactly the same, I would probably go with the person who went to my undergrad.

Now it gets tricky when the person went to an online masters. If I did my undergrad at UT austin, I would not really feel any connection to the person who did their online MSCS. I would be impressed by the MSCS, but no more than say a Georgia Tech OMSCS. In this case, I don't think this alumni affiliation exists at all. But that's just me.

I would think also that the affiliation is greater if you shared the same experience/program. So back to the UT Austin online MSCS grad, if I took that same online program, then yes, I might feel some sort of kinship with the other online grads. But if I went to Austin for college? Forget it, no kinship exists other than talking football.

[Sparklette]

How important or valuable do you think a large alumni network like UT Austin or UIUC is ? Or any other large respected university. Could be Wisconsin or BU or many others, Kentucky , Georgia Tech. Does the alumni take care of each other ? I mean is it reasonable to think that they will set you up (decent job) provided you have decent smarts, work ethic, and reasonable expectations?

From the people I know with coveted alumni networks, the huge benefit came more from promotions/recognition than initial job offerings. One guy I know probably got hired initially at Microsoft because he was recruited from his grad program at Harvard, but it was a connection he made from Harvard alumni meetups that put him in contact with the right people he was able to launch his own department within Microsoft. But really varies depending on area/industry. There's a local successful custom shirt company where I live that very heavily hires from the owners' alumni network for their accounting/BI roles, although I don't think those are hugely coveted/high prestige positions.

[ThatBankDude]

So for me, the Duke alumni network has been great. I’ve had Duke
undergrad alumni as well as Fuqua, Sanford, etc. alumni connect with me, have Zoom/phone calls, and so forth.

We get together and go to Duke sporting events (football and basketball games) as well as going out to eat dinner. I’m going to South Carolina for work this month and getting together with some alumni then.

Just because you do a degree online does not mean you are absent from the alumni stuff. You have to put yourself out there sometimes.

[Pats20]

I imagine it would be on a case to case basis.  I don't know what you mean by "take care of each other".  If you mean I would give them an automatic interview, hell no.  If you mean, all things equal, 2 exact candidates are right in front of me and they are exactly the same, I would probably go with the person who went to my undergrad.  

Now it gets tricky when the person went to an online masters.  If I did my undergrad at UT austin, I would not really feel any connection to the person who did their online MSCS.  I would be impressed by the MSCS, but no more than say a Georgia Tech OMSCS.  In this case, I don't think this alumni affiliation exists at all.  But that's just me.  

I would think also that the affiliation is greater if you shared the same experience/program.  So back to the UT Austin online MSCS grad, if I took that same online program, then yes, I might feel some sort of kinship with the other online grads.  But if I went to Austin for college?  Forget it, no kinship exists other than talking football.

Yea I def don’t mean “automatic “. I mean all other things being equal. But if the alumni network is 300 -400k. That’s a lot more opportunities for all things being equal. Idk. Just a thought.   Interesting, I wonder why online would make another feel no connection because they themselves went to butt in seat ? It’s still putting money and equity into their university. Most everyone  is usually proud of and wants to support the university they went to. But I very much see your point that having went to the same program would be a possible fonder  connection.

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How important or valuable do you think a large alumni network like UT Austin or UIUC is ? Or any other large respected university. Could be Wisconsin or BU or many others, Kentucky , Georgia Tech. Does the alumni take care of each other ? I mean is it reasonable to think that they will set you up (decent job) provided you have decent smarts, work ethic, and reasonable expectations?

From the people I know with coveted alumni networks, the huge benefit came more from promotions/recognition than initial job offerings. One guy I know probably got hired initially at Microsoft because he was recruited from his grad program at Harvard, but it was a connection he made from Harvard alumni meetups that put him in contact with the right people he was able to launch his own department within Microsoft. But really varies depending on area/industry. There's a local successful custom shirt company where I live that very heavily hires from the owners' alumni network for their accounting/BI roles, although I don't think those are hugely coveted/high prestige positions.

Yes. I think that if I was a hiring manager I would def notice alumni profiles. But I agree that it doesn’t give them a pass.

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So for me, the Duke alumni network has been great. I’ve had Duke
undergrad alumni as well as Fuqua, Sanford, etc. alumni connect with me, have Zoom/phone calls, and so forth.

We get together and go to Duke sporting events (football and basketball games) as well as going out to eat dinner. I’m going to South Carolina for work this month and getting together with some alumni then.

Just because you do a degree online does not mean you are absent from the alumni stuff. You have to put yourself out there sometimes.

I believe that your alumni network will pay dividends. Not only fiscally but socially as well. I’m sure that it already has. Yes you’re correct that you have to put yourself out there sometimes.

[nyvrem]

gonna share this here. might work might not. idk.

https://www.refer.me/

[Pats20]

Does anyone know the best/ easiest way to find out what the alumni of a college and degree program are doing now ?

Example : if interested in Eastern University MBA. Investigate to see what its alumni are doing.

[bjcheung77]

Contact the institution and their alumni coordinator at the school, provide your contact details to them asking for alumni feedback and follow up. Indicate to the school you're interested in a school program, also that you have concerns or questions and really would like to correspond with their alumni base. Each school should have an alumni network of some sort and there are ways to get in contact with people from that network, usually it's best to do so directly with the school first to inquire.

[rachel83az]

You could also search LinkedIn for people who have your desired degree.

[SweetSecret]

Does anyone know the best/ easiest way to find out what the alumni of a college and degree program are doing now ?

Example : if interested in Eastern University MBA. Investigate to see what its  alumni are doing.

I have done this on LinkedIn. Find the school's page and on it will be a link for "Alumni" which is like a tab on the page. Once you click "Alumni" in the search box put in MBA. Then you have two options, the first is to in the next section down labeled "People You May Know" and it will give you everyone with an MBA (granted there may be some mixed in from other schools but it helps to narrow down) and you can click those names to view their pages and see what they are doing. The section option is to look closer to the search bar for the different sections such as "Where they work" and "Where they live" to narrow down before selecting from the "People You May Know" section further down. 

Try this to start: https://www.linkedin.com/school/eastern-...ywords=MBA

Another option is to do a google search across the web or specifically on LinkedIn:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Easte...s-wiz-serp