ND’s LinkedIn Group Hits Milestone

Last spring, the Alumni Association joined with the Notre Dame Career Center to create the official Notre Dame Alumni Network on the professional networking site LinkedIn, and recently, the network added its 10,000^th member—Joe Spagnolo. Spagnolo is in his second year of Notre Dame’s Executive M.B.A. program in the Mendoza College of Business.

LinkedIn enables the posting and sharing of professional profiles, including résumés and job postings. The ND group specifically allows these connections within the alumni circle, the demography of which spans the globe and professions, from teachers and lawyers to writers and information technicians.

Particularly for jobs in technology-related industries, LinkedIn is replacing more traditional forms of self-presentation such as the paper résumé. After all, LinkedIn allows a multi-faceted view of a person: education and employment background, professional recommendations, and often the writing style and priorities of the applicant. This allows employers to save time during interviews, as well as ensures a good personality fit. It also means that the applicant need not feel limited by the traditional single page of the résumé.

How does the ND Group specifically help its members? First, it keeps them connected to Notre Dame and each other through news links and discussion posts. Some recent discussions included a search for fellow alumni attending a New York conference and a question about certification programs in a given area.

Second, job seekers and employees need only click on the “Jobs” tab to find or create postings. On a given day you can find an MBA searching for a new career and a Wall Street investment firm looking for accountants. One 2007 graduate was simply asking for career advice. He was answered by the ND Career Center, a lawyer, and two consultants, one in software, one in communications. All responses were from fellow Domers and each one spoke to the graduate’s particular problem and request, with offers for more help if needed. One even commended him for his insight in reaching out to his network.

With such a resource at every alum’s fingertips, the job search becomes far less difficult to navigate. And the application is simple: in order to join LinkedIn, one must simply create a profile, then visit the Notre Dame Alumni Network and provide a professional e-mail address.

Learn more about navigating the Notre Dame Alumni Network on LinkedIn.