Oklahoma State University students will soon have a new tool to help them make more informed career decisions. The College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources student career services will unveil the Alumni Career Network in the 2001 fall semester.
     "The Alumni Career Network is a pilot program designed to encourage and facilitate a more professional way to develop relationships between CASNR alumni and current agricultural students," said Louann Waldner, director of CASNR student career services.
     Waldner said the idea for this networking program developed because students were looking for a more formal method to approach alumni who have established a career in a particular field.
     "Alumni will complete some general paperwork describing their career and job," said Waldner. "We can then match students with the alumni who have similar career interests."
     Waldner said that in the past there was no formal program in place to provide students the opportunities to network with alumni. Students would often come to her office interested in connecting with alumni who had graduated in their field. Without prior consent from the alumni, she could not always give out their information.
    "With this program, we will have a more structured way to assist students in their career exploration," Waldner said. "It is also an effort by our office to get alumni involved in a different way."
     The Alumni Career Network will include a database that provides information about the careers of recent CASNR graduates as well as alumni who have been working for many years. Students looking for summer jobs, internships or full-time careers can use this database to find alumni who are willing to help them take the necessary steps to explore career areas.
     Waldner said the Alumni Career Network at OSU would be structured similarly to a program at Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
     "Last summer when I visited Cornell, I came up with several ideas for the program we were starting up at OSU," Waldner said.
     "They have a very established program, and the concept is very similar to the one we were developing here; I just borrowed some of their ideas," she said. "For instance, I liked how they incorporated it into their classes."
    Waldner said she would like to see younger students, particularly freshmen and sophomores, develop the necessary networking skills in a controlled environment.
     "Our goal is to pilot it in the fall in an orientation class," Waldner said. "I would like to see the students have an actual assignment to contact these alumni."
     "This program is just in the beginning stages," Waldner said. "The only limiting factor to this program is that we need alumni to work with us to get the program started."
     In addition to the database, the Alumni Career Network will feature a shadow program. Students will have the chance to get a firsthand look at what a typical day is like for a professional with a career that interests them.
     "The most important thing about this program is that it really prepares the students for the work force," said Casey Bell, CASNR graduate and unit supervisor in human resources with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. "It prepares you because you are actually interacting with such a diverse group of people."
     CASNR graduates also can provide help to students from outside their offices. Alumni can offer job search advice specific to their expertise.
     "A lot of students need perspective on what is out there," Bell said. "I can offer some advice toward a career path because I have been there and made many of those same decisions."
     The program also will encourage alumni to relate their own experiences and observations to potential OSU agricultural students and their parents. Alumni can call these prospective students or their parents to discuss how their experiences at OSU helped them to find a career.
     "Alumni are great resources to describe what entry-level jobs are out there and what career choices are out there," Waldner said.
     However, the Alumni Career Network is not just for students. The program can also offer alumni of the college a way to rekindle or maintain contact with fellow graduates.
     "That is the basis for why alumni groups stick together—we all have a common thread," said Don Roberts, CASNR graduate and agricultural business management training coordinator with Autry Tech in Enid, Okla.
     "The OSU alumni group really is a small family." Roberts said. "There are times when I wonder what happened to an old friend. With this kind of system, it can be really easy to just pick up the phone and find him."
     "The program really is a win-win situation. Students benefit from the advice of the alumni, and the alumni benefit from the ability to rekindle relationships with CASNR and OSU," Waldner said.
    CASNR graduates searching for a new job can also use the network in the same manner as the students would.
     "Right now it is not uncommon for people to change careers two or three times. You don't have to be a 21-year-old student to use a system like this one," Roberts said.
     "It really can be a networking possibility for anyone who wants to use it," Waldner said.
     Waldner said students have a tremendous advantage when searching for a job just by networking with alumni. However, she said students should not rely solely on the Alumni Career Network, or CASNR student career services.
     "Students must do things on their own," said Waldner. "They should research companies in the library, go to club meetings or look at industry magazines. This program is just another piece of the puzzle."
     According to career services, whether students use this program or another method of job searching, one key to a successful job hunt can simply be forming relationships with alumni.
     "When you are a freshman or a sophomore in college, you never know who you are going to meet and what relationships you will develop," Bell said. "That is why networking is so important. It's about developing relationships with people, which will prove to be positive for you."
     The Alumni Career Network will help those students who have not previously concentrated on networking with alumni develop relationships that can be advantageous in their career explorations.
     "This program is a tool for the student who might be a little less networked," Waldner said.
     Finally, Waldner said that waiting until the end of the student's senior year to begin the career search process can put that person at a disadvantage.
      "Career development begins the first day students walk on campus, not when they are seniors," Waldner said. "It's okay not to know what to do with the rest of your life, but it's unacceptable not to attempt to figure it out."