AlumniFire

Why Network? – From the Director’s Desk

As career coaches, we often find that job seekers spend 100% of their time on job boards applying to as many jobs as they can. What they often don’t realize is that one thing has remained steadfast through ups and downs in the economy and job market. The fact is that 80% of how most people find their next role is through networking. And the 20% of job seekers who obtain a job through job boards also need to then network into an interview.

Why is that? Think about how many resumes HR professionals or hiring managers need to comb through to choose candidates to interview. Even if the organization uses AI technology to narrow down the candidates, there is still a human element in choosing the right hire. You can imagine that the hiring team welcomes a good reference or referral beyond the stack of resumes.

Building a network of trusted colleagues affords you two things. You may learn about job openings that are in the works and not yet posted. This gives you the opportunity to connect with people in the organization through your contacts. Or, if you have already applied for a particular job, your network can serve as a reference on your behalf. Either way, you get the scoop on the opportunity, the culture, goals, and mission of the organization.

Once you land your next role and join your new team, it is wise to continue to build your professional network. You can keep up on current industry trends, meet mentors and experts, or promote your business or product. Today, it is smart to take ownership of your career inside and outside of your specific job or organization. Increase your visibility, gain professional development, and advance within your industry.

On April 13, we will meet for our next session of Job Club. We’ll focus on the Art of Networking and the importance within your job search. We’ll discuss how to put together a strategy that is comfortable for you as you begin to network and build your board of directors. I hope that you join us.

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Marilyn Bury Rice, Director

Marilyn has 30 years of experience in the career management field within higher education, non-profit, and corporate settings. She has advised students and alumni at Purdue University, Hanover College, the University of Notre Dame, Ohio Wesleyan, and The Ohio State University. She had the privilege of assisting women in becoming financially self-sufficient as a career consultant for Center for New Directions (a United Way Agency). And Marilyn spent 15 years working with experienced professionals in career transition at Right Management, a global talent and career management firm.

Marilyn holds a BS in communication and psychology and an MS in counseling and higher education administration from Purdue University. She values assisting alumni
in their ongoing career development and connecting with fellow Buckeyes around the globe

Job Club FAQ – What You Need to Know About Our New Series

We in the Office of Alumni Career Management are so excited about the launch of our new series, the Alumni Career Management Job Club!  We know that the last year has been challenging for many, and in the constantly changing environment of the post-COVID world has many considering a career transition.  With that in mind, our office endeavors to assist job seekers through this transition.

Structured as a four-part series, the Job Club is an immersive and interactive career readiness program designed to give you the latest industry information and proven methodologies for landing your next role.  We will hold one session per month, with short presentations on a timely topic followed by Q&A and an interactive networking session. We will provide a certificate of participation for each session attendee, and those who attend all four sessions will receive a small gift from our office as a token of our congratulations.

Below are answers to your frequently asked questions:

1. – If I miss a session, will I be able to make it up?

Yes!  This is a series that we plan on making an ongoing effort.  We will be offering the four sessions this spring, and taking a break in July before starting again in the fall.  We will cover the same basic topics in each series, with some modifications based on industry trends at the time.

So, if you miss out on a session this time, don’t worry!  We will be offering it again in the fall!

2. –  Will we be doing anything outside of the monthly sessions?

Yes!  Although the sessions are monthly, our office will work to continue the conversation over the weeks between each meeting by engaging in discussion on AlumniFire.  AlumniFire is Ohio State’s exclusive professional networking platform – it is free to join and open to any member of the Ohio State community.  If you don’t already have an account, we encourage you to set one up here. If you are an alumni, staff, or student of Ohio State, please enter with that status. If you do not fall into those categories, please check Job Club member.

3. – Should I prepare anything for the networking session?

The networking sessions are designed to be a casual exercise in getting to know others in a virtual setting.  There will be facilitators in each breakout room assigned to help guide the discussion along, but the goal is for you all to get comfortable in conversation with strangers in a professional setting.

While you don’t have to prepare anything formal for this portion of the presentation, it might be helpful to practice how you would like to introduce yourself to others ahead of time.  Things to consider are:

  • Name
  • Educational and professional background
  • Industry or companies you are interested in

You might also want to have a notebook handy so that you can write down the names of people in your group that you want to connect with individually on either AlumniFire or LinkedIn.  This is a great way to open a conversation into a new connection that could very well turn into your next big opportunity!

4. – What are other ways that I can connect with the Office of Alumni Career Management for additional assistance?

Alumni Career Management has several resources available for you to utilize in addition to our Job Club.  The webinar archive holds dozens of presentations on various job search and professional development topics to support your career growth.  Career Corner, our official departmental blog has weekly updates with various timely topics, including alumni spotlights, a weekly hot jobs listing, podcast episodes, and more.

Finally, though we no longer offer individual coaching, we do have a dedicated email address where you can submit your questions.  We send weekly responses for alumni seeking guidance on a variety of job search topics. To submit an individual question to the Alumni Career Management team, email us at ADV-CareersOSUAA@osu.edu.

Introducing the Alumni Career Management Job Club!

Many in our alumni and friends community are currently in career transition, or are considering making a change in their career in the near future.  With that in mind, the Bill and Susan Lhota Office of Alumni Career Management is excited to announce our newest project for supporting you through your career development – the launch of the Alumni Career Management Job Club!

Structured as a four-part series, the Job Club is an immersive and interactive career readiness program designed to give you the latest information and proven methodologies for landing your next role.  Each monthly session will include a short presentation on a pre-determined topic, along with Q&A/discussion time, and a guided networking exercise. Those who attend each session will receive a certificate of participation from our office, and those participating in all four sessions will also receive a small gift as congratulations.

Although the sessions are monthly, our office will work to continue the conversation over the weeks in between each meeting through engaging discussion on AlumniFire, our Ohio State exclusive professional networking platform.  AlumniFire is free to join, and open to any member of the Ohio State community.  If you have not already made an account, we encourage you to do so here.

Dates and times for the spring Job Club series are as follows:

March 9, 2021 – 12 noon ET – Resume “Must Haves” in Today’s Job Market

April 13, 2021 – 12 noon ET – Networking in the New Normal:  Link In or be Left Out

May 11, 2021 – 12 noon ET – Interview to Win the Offer

June 8, 2021 – 12 noon ET – Salary Negotiation:  Don’t Leave Money on the Table 

Register for the Job Club meetings here, and stay tuned for more information about this exciting project. We are looking forward to connecting with you!

Looking Back and Moving Forward – How Alumni Career Management Supports You from 2020 and Beyond

Wow… 2020 was really something, right?

The Ohio State University Alumni Association launched the Bill and Susan Lhota Office of Alumni Career Management in 2012, largely in response to a significant movement among alumni requesting career guidance following the “Great Recession” of the late 2000s.  For the last nine years, we have remained steadfast in our commitment to supporting Ohio State alumni in their lifelong career management.  We strive to provide assistance in career development and transitions through a robust variety of resources, keeping our clients abreast of current trends and dynamics within the industry.  Through a combination of relevant programming, original content, and other offerings, we have remained true to our goal of inspiring, motivating, and encouraging alumni in their journey toward finding satisfying and successful careers, all within a professional environment fostering a community of Buckeyes helping Buckeyes.

The goal of the Office of Alumni Career Management has always been to ensure accessibility to resources for every member of our 550,000+ strong global community of Buckeye alumni.  We are proud to have been pioneers in providing virtual career resources among alumni offices in higher education for several years.  When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the university, and the world at large, in early 2020, we were well poised to pivot to all virtual offerings, ensuring that we could meet the needs of alumni that we knew would need us now more than ever.

Although this is a scenario that no one imagined or could have been prepared for, the Office of Alumni Career Management staff was able to quickly assess and address the challenges stemming from our “new normal”.   The most urgent issue was the need to create programming and materials to guide alumni in navigating this new career landscape.

Looking Back – How We Adjusted to a COVID-19 World in 2020

In March of 2020, we began offering webinars tailored to topics immediately relevant to the COVID-19 crisis.  Our presentations, “Laid Off – Now What?” and “Career Pivots for Experienced Job Seekers” had more than 250 combined registrants – many of whom were first time attendees for an event hosted by our office.  Our presentation, “How to Optimize Your Job Search During COVID-19” featured alumna Marissa Lee, who provided invaluable insight as a human resources professional and career coach. We supplemented this with podcasts relating to topics including, “Managing Stress when Working from Home”, “Maintaining Connections Across the Digital Distance”, and “Work/Life Balance for Working Parents”.

In addition to reframing our existing webinar curriculum to reflect the new circumstances we found ourselves under in 2020, the Career Management team also launched a new initiative to assist the influx of new job seekers with their many questions surrounding the search.  Job Search Q&A sessions were held monthly beginning in May of last year, with a total of 724 alumni and friends registering for these events throughout the year, an average of 80 participants at each of these roundtables.   We also piloted a biweekly group coaching program for six months last year as we worked to phase out one on one coaching and were able to support a number of alumni in crafting an effective elevator pitch, learning to network in a virtual medium, and job searching in the hidden market.

All told, in 2020 the Office of Alumni Career Management website had a total of 435,600 individual visits to our departmental website, which includes invaluable resources for alumni and friends such as resume and cover letter templates, our webinar archive, job search tools, and our alumni-specific job board, Alumni Career Connection.

Our departmental blog, Coach’s Corner, also received significant attention in the last year, with more than 13,000 individual users visiting the site during the year from all over the world, including 14 countries other than the United States.

Moving Forward – What We Are Looking Forward to in the New Year

It is safe to say that the Office of Alumni Career Management was successful in pivoting our offerings to meet the quickly changing needs of the Ohio State alumni community over the last year, and we look forward to continuing to elevate our offerings as we move into 2021.  In February, we will launch Career Corner, a monthly newsletter curated to include relevant career content, advice, and events for alumni interested in job search or professional development topics.

In March, we are excited to announce that our office will launch a monthly Job Club series.  Inspired by our group coaching pilot last fall, the Job Club will be a monthly meeting that combines guidance on a specific job search topic and a guided networking experience for participating alumni. We look forward to engaging with you in a fun and interactive way that provides meaningful assistance to those alumni who need it most.

Other projects on the horizon for the Career Management team include the launch of three self-paced mini-courses on leadership and professional development, for which we will be offering a Certificate of Completion for alumni who participate in those modules, collaborative partnerships with our colleagues in the alumni association, around campus, and around our community to further the reach of our services and advice, innovative volunteer opportunities for alumni who would like to give back to the university, and engagement with companies seeking to connect with our alumni and our university.

Where We Need You

For alumni who have not yet taken advantage of the many resources offered through the Office of Alumni Career Management, we extend an invitation for you to do so now – there is so much that we have available, and it is our sincere hope that you will utilize these resources as you continue in your own career development journey.

We’d also like to lean on alumni in the coming year, asking you to weigh in with your own expertise as our subject matter experts in your individual fields.  We would love to see you engage with us on social media – particularly in our LinkedIn group or on AlumniFire – where your commentary can be seen by thousands of your fellow alumni, as well as current students.   If you would like information on how you can get involved with our office, and ways that you can contribute, feel free to contact us directly at lacount.7@osu.edu.

Buckeye to Buckeye – Top Free Career Resources to Help You Get Started

Below are just a few of the great offerings available to you through the OSUAA Office of Alumni Career Management. Your fellow Buckeyes have been utilizing these continuously in their own career search, and we invite you to take advantage of them as well.

  1. – AlumniFire

AlumniFire is Ohio State’s premier professional networking tool that allows you to connect directly with other alumni and students, as well as employers seeking to fill positions with Buckeyes like you!  Here you can find people volunteering to give general career advice, resume reviews, relocation assistance, and other fun topics – you can also raise your hand to help another Buckeye in need as well!

  1. – Alumni Career Connection

Alumni Career Connection is our Buckeye alumni exclusive job board.  With more than 20 new jobs posted every week from all around the country, you’re sure to find a position that fits what you’re looking for in terms of a next career move.

  1. – HireOhio Virtual Alumni Career Fair

Ohio State’s biggest alumni career fair will be going virtual once again this year! Join us in June and November as we provide opportunities to get in front of employers looking to hire someone like you.  Upcoming career fairs are posted regularly on our departmental webpage in the “Upcoming Events” section.

  1. – Goin’ Global

COVID got you thinking of taking a wander year somewhere outside of the United States?  As an alumnus of the university, you have free access to Goin’ Global, a database that contains country-specific career and employment resources for more than 90 locations worldwide.  Create a free account to access this resource and find your next great adventure abroad.

Job Search Tools You Can Use This Week – Part Two

Happy Monday all!  Here it a quick list of resources and tools to help you in your job search this week:

 

  1. – Versatile PhD

Versatile PhD is the oldest and largest online social community dedicated to assisting PhDs build careers outside of academia.  Specializing in PhDs with concentrations in humanities, social sciences, and STEM, the platform provides members with the opportunity to discover interesting career paths, network and consult with the larger PhD community, and see job listings appropriate for PhDs.

Why it’s great:  Versatile PhD focuses primarily on those PhDs who are not currently seeking work in academia – the focus is on non-academic, non-faculty careers.  There are more than 85,000 members that PhDs can connect and network with, even attending local meet-ups if they would like!  This is a great way to build community and find support as you take a non-traditional path toward a career outside of the academic world.

 Where you can get it:  For OSU alumni, visit the “Job Search Resources” page of the Career Management website here:  https://www.osu.edu/alumni/services/career-management/job-search-resources/  and log in with your OSU credentials to join the site!

  1. – AlumniFire

AlumniFire is Ohio State’s exclusive online professional networking site, where members can work with one another to support each other’s professional development and growth.  As a member, you’ll have the ability to search Buckeyes based on any number of variables, including industry, location, class year, college, and more.  You can seek them out for support based on what they are “offering”, and you have the ability to offer professional development support to others as well.  AlumniFire is what I often refer to as “LinkedIn Lite” – it allows for many of the same benefits of LinkedIn, including job listings, a bulletin board for announcements, and networking opportunities.  However, it is a much smaller, more contained online platform that is exclusive to Ohio State alumni, faculty/staff, and current students.  It also has a feature that LinkedIn doesn’t – offerings

Why it’s great:  Every person who is a member of the site is required to “offer” something to the general community – general career advice, networking assistance, resume reviews, etc.  This takes some of the pressure off when reaching out to someone to obtain their assistance, because they have already “raised their hand” to help you!

Where you can get it:  http://osu.alumnifire.com

  1. – Alumni Career Connection

By virtue of being an alumnus of this great institution, you are eligible for a number of benefits through the Office of Alumni Career Management.  One of those resources is Alumni Career Connection, our alumni-exclusive job board.  With as many as 20 companies per day posting opportunities specifically seeking to hire our graduates, there are many chances to explore and obtain work, regardless of your field or point in your career transition.  There are entry-level positions available, as well as professional-level opportunities for more seasoned workers.  This is a great benefit for any of our alumni who are currently seeking.

Why it’s great:  Job opportunities exclusive to OSU alumni?  What more do I need to say?  J

Where you can get it:  https://www.osu.edu/alumni/services/career-management/alumni-career-connection.html

  1. – Career Management Webinar Library

Another addition to the wealth of resources that we have available to you through this office is our webinar library.  Here you will find more than 25 webinars hosted by either our career consultants or select distinguished alumni, on topics ranging from doing well in an interview to networking in different ways.  There are also informative sessions that cater to specific areas of interest, such as women returning to work, or defining success on your own terms.

Why it’s great:  Lots and lots of career advice, for people at any stage in their career development.

Where you can get it:  https://www.osu.edu/alumni/services/career-management/webinars.html

 

I hope that these resources are valuable to you as you work your way through your job search – whatever stage you may be at currently.  Don’t forget that you can always reach out to our office for additional assistance, by calling 1.800.635.8944 as well.

Make it a great week!

Top Three Reasons You Should Be Using Alumnifire

 

If you follow any of the Office of Alumni Career Management’s social media accounts, or have visited our webpage lately, you’ve probably noticed information we’ve posted about Alumnifire.

Alumnifire is the premier social networking site for graduates and current students to meet and network with one another.  It’s dynamic platform and offerings are exclusive to the Ohio State community – meaning you have exclusive access to the tools and benefits of this great tool simply by virtue of having attended this great university!

Currently there are more than 5,000 students and alumni networking and growing their professional presence through Alumnifire, and whether you are among that number or have never even heard of this tool before reading this post, we are here to give you the top three reasons you should be using Alumnifire to jumpstart your networking and career development today!

 

  1. – Alumnifire takes the stress out of networking

We’ve all been in a situation where we were faced with the task of “networking” and it seemed like an overwhelming thing to take on.  Whether it was just that the sheer number of people around was simply too much, or perhaps that you were intimidated because you weren’t exactly clear on how to approach someone or what to ask – sometimes networking is just plain hard.

Alumnifire takes the pressure off, though, by letting you know upfront what the people you meet are looking to offer you.  Each time a person signs up for an account, they are asked if they are interested in offering any number of helpful tools to other Buckeyes.  This may include anything from general career advice to introductions and informational interviews to relocation assistance.  This way, when you come across someone you would like to connect with, you’re immediately given information on what kinds of assistance they are open to providing for you.  This means that connection with them is easy and painless, and you don’t have to worry about stressing or “bothering” someone for a connection.  They’ve already offered their expertise and time to you – you simply need to take advantage of it!

 

  1. – Jobs!

Not only does Alumnifire offer a job board where members are able to create postings based on current openings that they are responsible for within their companies, it also offers you access to job postings from each company that currently employs a registered Buckeye.

Alumnifire’s dynamic technology has the ability to capture company information about where your fellow Buckeyes are currently employed, and then cross reference that with any job postings for that company from all across the internet!  This way, not only do you have access to jobs posted by those fellow alumni who are in a position to make hiring decisions – you also have access to listings made at the companies of each registered Buckeye regardless of whether or not they actually posted the listings themselves.  Pretty cool right?

 

  1. – FREE and EASY Career Building Tool

Hands down the best thing about Alumnifire is that you have access to all of the resources and tools provided on the site absolutely free by virtue of being an alumnus of The Ohio State.  From a huge network of fellow alums nationwide looking to provide varying levels of support in your career, to information on career paths and jobs in general, to mentoring opportunities, Alumnifire has you covered in a free and easy way.

Now that you’ve heard a little about what there is to be gained from Alumnifire, we have just one question for you:

Why haven’t you joined yet?

Sign up here to get started today!