Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hy!
Tech, Tech, VPI
Sol-a-rex, Sol-a-rah
Poly Tech Vir-gin-ia
Ray rah VPI
Team! Team! Team!
Okay, so obviously as a graduate of Virginia Tech, I am a Hokie at heart! Maybe you’ve cheered on the Terrapin’s basketball team against rival Duke, or you’re rocking Clemson Orange and Regalia on football Saturdays. In your eyes, no one is better than YOUR TEAM. No college is better than YOUR COLLEGE. Your alma mater is KING.
All kidding aside, college is more than just frat parties and the occasional all night study session. You were given the opportunity to connect with the most diverse group of individuals!
But what happened after graduation? Did you lose touch like so many of us do?
If you’ve never tapped into the LinkedIn Alumni Tool, here’s how you can use it!
From your home screen on LinkedIn, go to Connections – Find Alumni
Your college and alumni will automatically show up if you’re linked to your alma mater in your personal profile (if you haven’t linked to your college, do it now!)
Notice the following from the image below:
1. The number of alumni that are connected to your college. (i.e. 123,541)
2. You can search the years in which someone attended the school.
3. Sort by where other alumni live, where they work and what they do – simply click on the blue bars and watch your connections change instantly.
4. Don’t forget to click the area to the right to see three more filters you can dig into.
Last week I narrowed my search by clicking on “Baltimore, Maryland Area” and “Marketing” – 88 marketing professionals in my area popped up. Note that some people have included the year they graduated, which can be helpful if you’re targeting a certain demographic. You can also see how many connections you have in common with each person by looking at the bottom right corner of their picture. Hover over this number and LinkedIn will show your common connections. Now you can ask for an introduction!
So why is the LinkedIn Alumni tool so helpful? Because people like to connect with people that they have something in common with! I found a fellow Hokie last week that graduated a year before me with the same degree and I sent her a message. She responded within an hour and we’re having coffee next week. It’s that simple.
There’s something to be said about college pride! Whether you’re looking for a new job, or prospecting for new business, try connecting with other alumni.
And for anyone who is not a graduate of Virginia Tech, whatever you do, please don’t say that a Hokie bird is just a turkey! Turkeys don’t have swagger, but our alumni do!
