An Ask An Alum volunteer is a Fisher alum who has agreed be a resource for Fisher students and provide important career information so that you can make more informed decisions about your career path and your work decisions. One advantage of using Ask an Alum is knowing that this person has agreed in advance to be a resource for you. Be sure to indicate that you obtained his/her contact information through Fisher’s Alumni Community "Ask an Alum" resource.

The information and advice falls in several categories:

• To link or connect with a professional who can discuss an occupation or occupational field that you would like to pursue, the skills you need to be successful, and the steps you might take on that career path
• To speak with an alum in a specific industry or company as you are interested in working in that industry/company and want an insider’s perspective
• To learn more about a specific geographic location as you are thinking of relocating to that area and want to know more about the lifestyle and resources in the area
• To get professional advice on a variety of professional and work related topics

All research shows that networking is the key to getting the internship or career you want; however, most alumni are not going to be in a position to hire you directly. They are more likely to provide you with the information you need to:

1. Learn how that industry/company actually does find talent and how you can become aware of opportunities
2. Present yourself as a professional well-informed candidate for any position
3. Connect with others you can add to your network
4. Connect you to a person in an organization who does do the hiring.

There certainly are times when a job seeker has gotten to know an alum well and that alum has put in a good word for him/her in the application process, but that was one fortunate outcome of the networking - not the sole purpose of the networking.

It depends on the questions you had in the beginning. Some conversations are one-time conversations while others will continue over time. However, in almost every instance, you want to get back with the alum to let him/her know how his/her advice helped you. A truly effective network is one that is not only developed but also maintained over time.

Absolutely. The earlier you use the resources the more you will have to gain. A first year student will be seeking advice and information about career paths, skills to obtain while in school, opportunities to take advantage of while in school, and when to begin internship and job searches. That same student will then be very comfortable using Ask an Alum to continue to get quality career-related information as he/she gets closer to graduation.

Make an appointment with one of the career consultants in the Office of Career Management. Call 614-292-6024 or come into 150 Gerlach Hall.

The query will treat all your choices as “and” choices. In other words, if you choose banking and you choose Ohio, you will only get those alumni who are in banking and are also in Ohio. You will not get alumni who are in banking and in any of the other forty-nine states. We recommend you be as broad as possible in your query. You can always narrow down who you want to talk to once you see the list of alumni contacts.

You can use Ask an Alum as long as you wish. When you are a student at Fisher, you only have access to the Ask an Alum volunteers. Once you graduate, you will be an alum yourself and will be able to use other Fisher Alumni Community resources and as well as Ask an Alum.

Yes, once you feel that you are in a position to give students advice and information on career, industry, company, or geographic location topics, please consider “paying forward” by becoming an Ask an Alum volunteer. At that time, contact the Fisher Alumni Relations Office.