Talk to Young St. Lawrence Alums This March

Alumni will return to campus to speak to students about their careers and life after college next Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Hannon Room for Laurentians in Residence. The five alums, who graduated in the past ten years, will participate in a panel and coffee chats with students.

This panel features alum from a range of career paths, such as communications, art, business, and healthcare.  

Career Services and the Office of University Advancement work together on Laurentians in Residence each semester. Director of Career Services Jillian McKernan-Walley believes bringing alumni to campus is very helpful for St. Lawrence. 

“We feel it’s an important way to engage alumni with the university, but its also more important that we engage alumni with students,” she said. “We’ve also seen our students really get a lot out of the engagement.”

The spring Laurentians in Residence panels feature young alums, who have graduated. “We’ve really felt it helps students as they transition out of St. Lawrence into the summer, either going full time into a job or into an internship or summer job,” McKernan-Walley said. “It’s nice to have the young alumni perspective, those who have been there more recently.”

Young alumni are considered those who graduated 10 years ago or less. “We typically say two to ten years when were looking because we want them to have a little bit of experience since graduation, so we typically start looking from 2018 to 2010,” McKernan-Walley said. 

There is a Laurentians in Residence Committee who invites the alumni back. “We develop a list of young alumni who have either been great volunteers in their areas, who have just kind of risen up through the ranks and people know them, who have done really outstanding things in their profession, who have come as recommendation from faculty, from other staff,” McKernan-Walley said. 

Each year they try to get a new range of industries to be different than the panel from previous semesters. “[We’re] always looking to bring back as much diversity across all areas of diversity, from class year, to major, to industry,” McKernan-Walley said.

While Career Services tries to have a variety of industries represented, McKernan-Walley believes other factors are more important when meeting alums. “It’s really about the connections, because regardless of what industries and careers come back those individuals can be a part of anyone’s network,” she said. “They can set up with other individuals.”

Erica Byrne ’21, president of the Student-Alumni Association, has attended Laurentians in Residence panels in the past. “I feel as though from all of them I’ve gained not only a lot of great career insight but also just general life advice,” she said. “They give a lot of great advice and insight on not only how to get jobs and how to network and kind of start your life after SLU, but the other side of things too.”

Byrne thinks other students should attend so they can take advantage of St. Lawrence’s alumni network. “I found that just as we’re excited by what the alums have to offer they are also very excited about our experiences at St. Lawrence and how they can help us.”

The Student-Alumni Association is involved with Laurentians in Residence, as well as Homecoming and thank you letter writing to donors. “As a member of SAA, you get to go to a pre-panel dinner with the alums so thats another fun opportunity to be able to meet with them,” Byrne said.

McKernan-Walley and Byrne both encourage students to talk with alums at the panel. “Students should ask the questions they are most afraid to ask,” McKernan-Walley said. 

“Ask questions about their work, ask questions about their backgrounds but it doesn’t always have to be about their specific jobs or specific industries. But don’t be afraid to ask about their time at St. Lawrence.”

Byrne has noticed alums love talking about their time as a student. “I think a fun question that I’ve asked in the past is one of their favorite things they did at St. Lawrence and how it helped them in their future career,” she said. 

McKernan-Wally encourages students to continue conversations with alum after events like this, even though it can be challenging. 

“It’s easier to do when you’re in college because you have key dates you can use,” she said. McKernan-Walley recommends the beginning and the end of semesters as good times to start conversations. 

“Always try to end it with an open ended question so they have a chance to respond,” she also says. “Every three to six months you’re gonna want to do a touchbase.”

Coffee chats are also available for students to get a more personal interaction with the alums. Registration is on Handshake. The panel is Thursday, March 5 at 7 p.m. in the Hannon Room.