Hokie Parent submission
Career Services
Fall 2001 issue
Alumni helping students: VT CareerLink
Students face three big tasks related to life after college, and alumni are available to help with
all three. The first is choosing a career field to pursue. The second is getting experience in that
field during college. And the third is finding a job by graduation. Some students also need help
deciding whether or not to attend graduate school. Good decisions always involve research and
consulting people for advice. An effective job search always involves networking. VT
CareerLink is Career Services' database of alumni who have volunteered to give that advice
and serve as networking contacts.
Who are the volunteers?
Any alumnus or alumna of Virginia Tech can register online as a VT CareerLink volunteer. Our
pool of volunteers grows daily, numbering in the hundreds. Volunteers span a wide variety of
career fields, locations and graduation years, from newly minted grads to veterans of the
professional world. What they have in common is the desire to help students learn more about
the world of work and help them make connections to find jobs – both to get experience during
college and for permanent employment at graduation.
Finding the right people who can help:
Students can search on several criteria including occupation, work setting, location, and major
of the alumni volunteers. For best results, start out searching on one set of criteria, such as
selecting all the occupations that relate to your interests. Selecting too many criteria narrows
the search and could unnecessarily limit results. A student looking for career advice won't need
to use location as a search criterion. A student looking for help relocating to a specific
geographic location could seek out all alumni in that location – not just those in a particular
career field – in order to get referrals to more contacts.
Students shouldn't hesitate to ask for help:
As a parent, you can encourage your student to contact VT CareerLink volunteers. Some
students are hesitant about contacting someone they don't know, yet this is an important skill to
develop regardless of the career field your student plans to pursue. Volunteers usually provide
email addresses – giving students the opportunity to compose an introductory email – another
essential skill for the job market. Students often expect instant responses, so as a parent, you
can remind your student that working professionals will respond as soon as their schedules and
other deadlines allow them to do so.
Complaints? Compliments?
The only complaints we hear from alumni are when they don't hear from students, or when
students they have helped don't follow up appropriately or send a note of thanks. Again, as a
parent, you can coach your student on how important these details are to professional
development. Our VT CareerLink volunteers want to help and are delighted when students take
initiative to get in touch. People enjoy talking about their work and they enjoy giving advice.
Getting help is as easy as asking.
Where to find it:
The VT CareerLink database is online at http://www.career.vt.edu/VTCL99/asp/default.asp. Or
simply go to career.vt.edu, select "information for students," see "VT people who can help you,"
and select VT CareerLink. First-time visitors register, and then can search for alumni.
Author: Catherine Copeland, Career Services
www.career.vt.edu
(540) 231-6241
Copyright: Career Services at Virginia Tech