How can you maximise the benefits of an alumni network?
‘Dedicated to supporting continued learning’, ‘career support services’, ‘access to senior business leaders’, ‘sharing best practice’ - Every business school claims to have a global alumni network that will help you in your quest to become a successful business leader, but is this really the case and how do you get the most out of being part of a network of fellow MBA graduates?
London Business School has an organisation called the The International Alumni Council (IAC), which is dedicated to enhancing the alumni experience and supporting the business school. One of its key functions is to ‘foster an alumni network that creates a culture of lifelong support and belonging’, but what does this look like in real life?
Well, here are some of the activities and initiatives provided by top business schools from around the world:
London Business School
- Access to business intelligence through an online library
- Over 80 alumni clubs across the globe
- A lifelong email forwarding address enabling alumni to keep in contact even years after graduation
Stanford Graduate School of Business
- Over 200 different alumni clubs
- Sharing of business intelligence and best practice through bulletin boards
- Career Management Centre providing a wide range of tools and resources
IE Business School
- Bilingual quarterly magazine called IDEA maintains the link between alumni and the school as well as sharing ideas and best practice
- Promotes continuous learning to enable alumni to stay ahead of the game as they pursue their career goals