Guides: Career Research & Resources: Finding ALUMNI

Finding ALUMNI

In this section of the LAMP method, you can find resources that will direct you toward the alumni or relevant contacts in your network.

Connections

LinkedIn is a powerful social networking tool designed for professionals. By creating and maintaining your LinkedIn profile, you are extending your potential network to include McGill alumni, but also other relevant contacts you will meet along the way. You can take advantage of this platform in the following ways:

On your LinkedIn account, select Network
From the left hand navigation box, select Connections
On this page you will see you list of contacts, use the Search with filters option
Narrow down by contacts at McGill, other schools, or businesses where you may have connections.

Career Interests

LinkedIn also allows you to search for job listings and update your career interests. This will help you find posting postings and may even attract you to potential recruiters.

On your LinkedIn account, select Jobs
Update your Career Interests
Find open postings

Alumni

Use linkedin.com/alumni to see more information about your potential network. Take advantage of the search within function to see if any connections can be found by company, job title, or keywords. Make sure that you are searching within the alumni box and not the larger LinkedIn search bar at the very top of the page.

Note: If you are an alumni at more than one institution you can change to that institution by editing the URL. Highlight the section of the URL that includes the institution name and enter in the new one you want to find. You will only be able to see alumni lists for institutions that you are a part of.

Joining Groups

If you haven't already, we recommend joining interest groups on LinkedIn. These are a great way to expand your network and improve your knowledge about your industry. By joining a group you will have the capability of messaging any of the members within that circle, this can be a very powerful tool when used correctly.

In the LinkedIn top menu select the Work dropdown and switch to groups or use the URL linkedin.com/groups

You will see a menu of the groups you've already joined, or requested to join. You can also "search other trusted communities that share and support your goals."

This should populate a list of perspective groups based on your interests, however, you can also keyword search for groups using LinkedIn's search bar.

Social Networks

Another tool you can use to find alumni is your own social media networks. You can use tools like Facebook groups to join topics related to your profession or job boards.