Alumni Contact Program
The alum contact program helps
students in contacting Lawrence alumni so they may seek practical
information about a particular career choice, industry, location, or other
information that will help the student make an informed career
decision. It is not the purpose of the program to provide job leads.
To participate in the program, follow these steps:
- Make an appointment with a career counselor by calling x6561. During
the appointment, the counselor and you will work to define the questions
to which you seek answers before locating the names and contact
information of alumni.
- Contact the alum through written correspondence. Inform him/her how
you learned of their name and the reason why you are writing as well as
the information you are seeking (see Networking Letter). Send
this letter with a copy of your resume. Only after sending this letter
should you contact the alum with a phone call.
- Contact the alum. Please be aware that alumni/ae, though typically eager
to help their fellow Lawrence colleagues, are rarely in a position to provide
on the spot job or internship leads.
A more effective strategy would be to approach them for information about your
targeted field and for advice about your resume, job or internship targets,
etc.
See Information Interviewing to
assist you with this process. Finally, be as specific as possible with your
request for assistance. It is difficult for
someone to know how to help you unless you can narrow
your field of interest or identify positions that match your skills and experience.
- Follow up with a Thank-You letter. See
Thank You Letters
for more details.
- Make a follow-up appointment with a counselor to assess information, review
goals and strategies and to create the next steps in your job planning
process.
