This is a golden adage and is true for every scenario of life. Whenever a person is troubled, he/she can't focus and achieve victory. In such circumstances, the guidance of another experienced person can do wonders. Here is where the alumni network can come into play to support any fellow alumnus who is in a troubled time or looking for a better life ahead.

Career services is a resource which the alumni bodies can offer to the alumni network. A lot of good opportunities will get created if the alumni can be provided a host of career services by their alma mater and their alumni association. It leads to a much larger satisfaction in the alumni and motivates them to give back to the association in various ways! This helps the image and overall brand of the alumni body and the college as well.

Now let's deep dive into all the possible career services that an alumni body can offer to the alumni network:

1. Networking events Networking events can be conducted by alumni associations for their alumni so that all the like-minded alumni can get together and build connects. These events can be held frequently in a planned manner by the association for different career groups. For example, a special networking event for all engineers or one for all the entrepreneurs could be held. A VAESE study by Alumni Access suggest that networking events are the most popular of all the career services that alumni bodies offer. 65% of the alumni organizations view networking and mixers as their most popular career services benefit.
   

2. Job listings The alumni association can prepare a portal wherein alumni can post job openings and listings for hiring from among the alumni itself. This portal could make the entire process of job hunting seamless for a lot of alumni and the impact that this portal will have would be immense. The association can push relevant alumni to post openings as and when possible and maintain an active jobs portal.
   

3. Job / Internship fair The alumni association can organize job fairs every once in a while. This could be like a mega networking event wherein all the alumni who are hiring could come together and offer opportunities to a lot of fellow alumni. Such events create a lot of buzz around the alumni network and helps a lot of people too. This is a great boost for alumni engagement and a great career service as well.
   

4. Referral portals The alumni association can reach out to relevant alumni and encourage them to refer fellow alumni in case of any job openings in their organization. Applying to a job post through a referral is 8 times more powerful than directly applying for it. If the alumni association is able to maintain a portal wherein relevant alumni can refer fellow employees to any possible job openings, the opportunities created would be very beneficial for a lot of people. This also builds a good brand image for the college in the long run.
   

5. LinkedIn communities The alumni association can lay the foundation of various LinkedIn communities and then all the relevant alumni can join these and find connects from amongst the alumni network. LinkedIn is a very important aspect of every individual's professional life and having a good reach and network on LinkedIn helps people grow a lot in their career too. If there are proper LinkedIn communities where all similar alumni are connected and can share information among one another, it promotes a lot of engagement in the network. After networking events, LinkedIn communities are considered as the most beneficial career service being offered by the alumni association.
   

6. Mentorship Programs Young alumni consider mentorship programs as a very beneficial career service being offered by the alumni association. The alumni association can run a mentorship program wherein all the experienced alumni can show interest in providing mentorship to fellow alumni who are looking for mentorship and guidance. If the association has the resources, it can build a portal for the smooth running of the mentorship program where the young alumni can apply to available mentors for mentorship.
   

7. Access to training programs and specialized courses/workshops The alumni association can work towards collaborating with companies that provide training courses and conduct workshops to help alumni grow in their career. The alumni association can try to provide exclusive alumni discounts or free access to such programs and courses. This is specially relevant in Covid times where everyone is looking to upskill themselves.
   

8. Resume Help The alumni can run initiatives to connect willing and experienced alumni to alumni who are working towards building a good resume to get ahead in their career. Having a good resume automatically increases the chances of landing the job and if some guidance sessions could be done on the same with the help of the alumni association, it would greatly benefit the young alumni specially.
   

9. Test Preparation Help Many people prepare for some or the other competitive exams alongside their job. Alumni could be working and preparing for exams like UPSC, MBA, GRE and more simultaneously. Here, the alumni who have aced these exams can be brought together by the association to conduct sessions to guide alumni about the same. Alumni who have given the exams can also give off their material to the needy alumni in order to help them. The alumni association can facilitate such sessions and initiatives.
   

10. Online Alumni Directory The alumni association can build and maintain an online alumni directory for all their alumni. This database can include the work domain, brief contact information and most importantly the names of all the alumni. Such a database can help every alumni member connect with all the relevant fellow alumni members. Such a directory has multiple benefits for both the alumni and the alumni association as well. This directory can be updated from time to time.

Many members from the alumni community aren't either satisfied with their current job or are confused about their career options. The alumni association can conduct counselling sessions from time to time to guide any clueless alumni who need support. If some experienced alumni members are willing, some one on one sessions too can be conducted if need be. The association should promote healthy discussion on counselling and guidance in the network so that any needy alumni can freely seek help from the network.

The above is a compilation of the best career services that an alumni association can offer to the alumni network in order to maximize the impact of the association and increase the overall engagements in the alumni network.