Alumni Associations Step Up as Employment Declines

There seems to be a new trend emerging among colleges, to help combat the unemployment epidemic sweeping our nation. As professionals young and old find themselves suddenly out of work, more and more are turning to the colleges and universities from whence they came for career counseling and assistance in job-hunting–and, what’s more, many of those colleges and universities are going the extra mile to pick up the slack.

It looked like a typical happy hour at the neighborhood sports bar, with a twist: jukebox blaring, waitresses weaving through knots of men and women knocking back drinks and exchanging … resumes.

The monthly Tuesday night social of the Farmingdale State College Alumni Association was in full swing, transformed by the economic crisis into a professional networking session for laid-off alumni.

Colleges across the country are reportedly seeing unprecedented numbers of alumni coming back for help with careers, help with resumes, and even just advice on how to proceed, leaving counselors overwhelmed and forcing many colleges to rethink how their career centers are structured and come up with more creative and effective ways to help former students in the current economic crisis.

Even at St. John’s, which has had a full-time alumni career counselor since 2005, officials are expanding services. This month, St. John’s announced half-price graduate school tuition for alumni who’ve lost jobs in the past six months, and a series of career workshops for them. “Sometimes it’s a little hand-holding, a little nudging,” said Patricia McManus, director of the career center, “and sometimes it’s, ‘I need to rethink my life and go into a new direction.’”

If you’re feeling a bit frantic about your current career situation, don’t forget: the resources you had as a student are there for you now, every bit as much as they were there for you then. Check in with your school’s career services center and see what they have to offer!

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