To expand your network, you need to find people with whom you have something in common, so you can quickly establish rapport. You want some shared values, common history, and possibly an overlap in knowledge and skills. What better place to find all of those qualities than in your college or university alumni group? In addition, the purpose of the alumni organization is to help you get and stay connected.
In the Twin Cities, the University of Minnesota is inherently the biggest of the alumni associations (www.minnesotalumni. org). There are 21 alumni societies within the larger organization, representing everything from the medical school to the band. The events calendar is crowded and diverse: You can learn the top retail trends or go to the annual Etiquette Dinner that provides tips for handling dining situations (while enjoying a three-course meal).
Facebook pages and LinkedIn groups are common alumni tools for almost every college and university, from the University of St. Thomas to Metropolitan State.
Twin Cities chapters
Of course, people who went to school in the Twin Cities might have fairly well-developed networks of friends and family already. If your college or university is out-state, or out of state, chances are it has a Twin Cities alumni chapter - and it might be an even better source of contacts.
Dan Rutman, a Twin Cities corporate financial consultant, is an active member of his alumni chapters from both the Wharton School of Business and Columbia University. Like many people, he first explored the option when he was looking for a job back in 2001. "I knew a few people who liked to go to networking meetings, so I gave it a try. I do it now because I think it's really fun," he says.
Rutman can trace several of his consulting projects directly to his alumni contacts. In one case, a Wharton grad that Rutman met at an event got in touch with him about opportunities three or four times over the course of a year until Rutman was finally available for a project.
`Easy to build rapport'
"The people who went to Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania who live in the Twin Cities bend over backwards to help other alums. I'm sure that's true with anyone who went to school out of town," Rutman says. What creates that special allegiance? "These are very special schools, really tough schools. We had similar experiences and we can all relate to the same things. It's easy to build rapport," he says.
"To me, it doesn't matter what the alumni event is," Rutman says. "If it's a play I absolutely don't want to see, I'll at least go to the happy hour." As a result, Rutman says, "When I first started networking, I was the one calling people and asking other Columbia and Penn people to meet with me. Now they call me."