I dunno … I am very active with my alma mater, but but if a kid from a random (good) school
has guile to cold-contact me for opptys, I’d consider helping them as much as if they were from Big Red. So maybe “having a network” just gives enough of an initial “pretense” to cold-contact someone.
I agree with the other postings that a strong alumni network just expands the opportunities for connections and job leads.
What we are seeing with our engineering D is that some companies have affinities for certain schools so the number of alumni builds on itself. D’s co-op company only recruits on campus at two schools. She’s now on their recruiting team and the point person for co-ops from her school. I expect she’ll always have some level of alumni involvement with her school in that regard after she graduates.
D’s internship company is much larger, but they have an R&D facility and plant in her college’s industrial park so again, lots of employees from her school. One of the things HR did during her onboarding week was give her the contact information of all the alumni that work for them and recommended she reach out. All the alumni she talked to were eager to share their experiences and spend time talking to her about how to be successful at the company.
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