In the current industrial landscape, where fluctuations are rampant, market inconsistencies are constant, and companies are hesitant to hire, institutions are finding it increasingly difficult to place their students. Even premier colleges like IITs and IIMs are at their wit’s end trying to secure employment for recent graduates. While institutions are making every effort to attract recruiters, they often overlook a powerful resource that can ease the burden on placement cells and create significant job opportunities – alumni.
Leveraging alumni for placements isn’t new, yet it remains heavily underutilized. Many institutions understand that alumni can help but struggle with the correct approach. When asked the right way, alumni are more than willing to support their alma mater in providing placement opportunities.
Let’s explore five effective ways to approach alumni for placements:
1. Targeted Outreach
While reaching out to alumni for placements is the go-to approach for institutions, it is often done mechanically. Bulk emails and generic messages usually receive minimal response because they fail to resonate with recipients. Your alumni community is diverse, and a one-size-fits-all approach won’t be effective. Identifying alumni who can actually provide placements will help you reach out more strategically.
Send personalized emails or messages to shortlisted alumni or even connect with them via phone. Your institution must have clarity on whom to approach, and segmentation helps achieve that. For instance, if you’re trying to place students in data analytics, reaching out to alumni in the same field will be far more effective than sending emails to every alumnus.
While not every alumnus can directly provide placements, some can provide support in other crucial ways, such as mentoring students, offering interview prep, or providing industry project guidance to help them acquire the necessary skills. Reaching out to them for these contributions can make a significant difference.
Vaave Magic instantly identifies top alumni for mentorship, placements, and internships, saving you valuable time so you can focus on meaningful outreach.
2. Alumni Mentoring & Placement Training Sessions
Your institution can leverage alumni expertise to bridge skill gaps through mentoring. Organize skill development sessions, professional workshops on industry trends and emerging technologies, and AMA sessions where students can ask alumni about their career journeys. Experienced alumni can also help with resume reviews and mock interviews, significantly improving students’ employability.
2.1 Focused Alumni Mentoring Sessions
While general mentoring sessions are valuable, focused alumni mentoring programs provide deeper insights into industry functions, in-demand skills, and career pathways. These sessions empower students to make informed career choices within their chosen fields.
For example, students interested in drone manufacturing and programming would benefit immensely from alumni working in the same field. These alumni can offer specialized knowledge, industry best practices, and hands-on guidance, equipping students with a clearer understanding of their career prospects.
3. Alumni as Student Project Guides
Students undertaking major projects aligned with their career goals have a strong chance of getting placed, as these projects showcase their technical expertise. Having alumni as project guides can make a real difference; belonging to the same domain, they are well-equipped to mentor students, from selecting the right area to ensuring flawless execution.
Beyond technical guidance, initiatives like mentoring and project guidance create a platform for alumni to connect with their juniors on a deeper level. By spending time with students, alumni gain firsthand insights into their skills, work ethic, and problem-solving abilities, making them the best judges of their potential. If impressed, they can directly offer internships or job opportunities, easing the burden on your placement cell.
4. Internship Opportunities by Alumni
For students in their final or pre-final years, securing an internship is a crucial step as it provides hands-on experience, enhances skills, strengthens resumes, and ultimately boosts their placement readiness. Your top alumni, especially CXOs and HR professionals, can easily offer these opportunities or refer students to their company’s HR team by forwarding resumes and opening more doors for placements.
One way to attract alumni attention is by showcasing student achievements on LinkedIn. When institutions highlight standout projects, research work, or competition wins, they not only celebrate student talent but also make it easier for alumni to recognize and engage with potential interns.
Internships serve as a proving ground for students. They get a taste of real-world work, while alumni get to assess their juniors’ skills, adaptability, and work ethic. If a student excels, alumni can go a step further and offer full-time roles.
Your alumni can generate a significant number of internship opportunities for students. Let’s say your institution has a total alumni base of 2,000. Even if just 10%, i.e., around 200 top alumni, including CXOs and HR professionals, offer three internships each, that’s 600 confirmed internships readily available for your students.
5. Recognize Alumni’s Efforts
Recognizing alumni contributions, whether in placements, internships, mentoring, or project guidance, on networking platforms like LinkedIn encourages other alumni to do their part. These branding exercises increase the visibility of alumni in their networking circles. When you highlight their efforts, it not only makes them feel valued but also inspires others to do their part.
Beyond contributions, celebrating alumni achievements such as professional milestones, breakthroughs, leadership roles, entrepreneurial ventures, or industry awards tells them their alma mater still remembers them. This strengthens their connection, making them more likely to offer placements. It also signals to companies and talent heads that your institution produces top-tier graduates, encouraging them to collaborate on hiring.
Promoting alumni success reinforces your institution’s branding, catching recruiter’s attention thus increasing the chances of campus recruitment.
6. Recruiter – Student Mixer
Your institution can host exclusive networking events for students with alumni CXOs and HRs, along with alumni-referred recruiters. These events give recruiters a platform to explain how their companies function, the skills they prioritize, and what they expect from students. At the same time, your institution can showcase student talent by highlighting standout projects, hackathon wins, and other achievements, making it easier for recruiters to recognize top candidates and offer placements.
These events work as a strategic matchmaking opportunity where both sides get exactly what they need. Students gain a clear understanding of industry expectations, while recruiters connect with potential hires who fit their requirements. By facilitating these direct interactions, your institution simplifies the hiring process for recruiters while giving students a significant edge in securing placements.
In a Nutshell
Engaging alumni for placements isn’t just an option; it’s inevitable. When approached the right way, alumni can open doors to job opportunities and internships that no cold outreach can match. The key lies in strategic outreach, meaningful engagement, and recognizing their contributions. Do it well, and you won’t just place students; you’ll build an alumni network that fuels placements for years to come.
Vaave helps institutions and corporate entities across the globe in realizing the power of alumni and offers strategies for engaging them. We offer a full-fledged alumni management ecosystem that helps you to leverage alumni to its fullest.
Drop in your details at hello@vaave.com & +91 91006 88850, we will get in touch with you at the drop of a hat!