The smile, long hugs and trying-to-reconnect talk are the sparks that fly in the air as soon as we unexpectedly stumble into an alumnus.
But that incredible feeling that leaves you smiling from cheek to cheek can soon fade away as soon as you two reconnect, and they start to ask for money for one thing or the other.
Next thing, you're starting to feel like it may just be a waste of time, and in the twinkle of an eye, you two are strangers again, and everyone is back to minding their business.
What if I tell you that rather than follow the trend of asking for help (loans) or let the conversation fade away, you can turn around things and make it wax stronger?
This article will teach you some secrets you can use to connect with your alumnus on LinkedIn and make every minute worthwhile.
It may be hard to explain, but you see, there's always something about our alma maters to look back at and smile.
Be it the memories (both good and bad), the lectures, the experience and sometimes the people you spent your earlier days in life.
All of these little things may not make much sense to you when you're about graduating, but years down the line and they become pieces of the puzzle that makes for a great memory.
But then, the secret is to change the conversation.
Rather than dwelling on raising money, talk about how you can make money together as a group that would be more beneficial to everyone.
You can do this by first asking how many of them are on LinkedIn.
And then formally introduce and encourage others to join.
Learn them know some of its benefits, and you're on the path to building a long-term relationship with these people.
And you can also trust that word of mouth will quickly spread, and it will also give the older alums an excellent reason to connect with you guys.
So how do you go about this?
First, get your old time pals to either sign up or join LinkedIn.
The next thing is to get them to join your alumni community, this time on LinkedIn.
Almost every university and college has one or two of them, while some have five to six of them on LinkedIn.
So from here, what you need to do is go to the group's directory and search for your school's name.
Once you become a member of the most dominant groups, the next thing you need to do is scan through the group's main discussion.
If all they talk about is childish memories and fundraising, bring them up to speed with the latest happening in your industry.
Share a few articles that will inform and educate them in the line of work.
And if there are others in your field, they will be motivated to comment or share a couple of things related to your industry.
It will also encourage others in the alumni group to talk about certain things about their industry.
By sharing ideas, they will learn from you, and you will also learn from them.
Despite you all not being in the same work line, there are a few advice and tips that you can pick up and apply to your industry.
It will also give you a chance to what each one does for referencing and building connections.
Another added advantage to this is that it may also provide job opportunities for your alumnus that maybe still job hunting.
You should note that LinkedIn allows you to either send a message or request a connection with anyone that you share a group.
So if you're searching for a job or you're looking forward to establishing a personal business-to-business (B2B) relationship, this will be of tremendous help to you.
Despite LinkedIn being a professional business channel, it's still a social media platform.
And like other platforms, there is a need to socialize and build a reliable network of professionals that will push your brand or business forward.
This can be a good talking point for alumni.
With the level of experience that you have gathered on LinkedIn over the years, guide them through the profile setup process and the essence of building a strong network.
To assist them through this step, you can create LinkedIn groups for your alumni based on the things that they find interesting.
Creating a group for business is essential, but then, you shouldn't forget that it was a school that brought you all together.
Since school is a shared interest in everyone in the group, you can encourage your school discussions.
Still, it would help if you also encouraged your alumni group members to share ideas and trends in their various industries.
The purpose is to strike a balance between keeping professional alumni LinkedIn pages and having fun discussions.
Again, you can also set up a LinkedIn group for old-time buddies for the sake of linking employers that you have established a connection with to job-seekers.
You can also help your alumni connect with prospects in other cities.
After we have talked about getting your alumni to join LinkedIn and teaching them the essence of building a network, it's time to talk about the next big thing, making fair use of the LinkedIn Alumni tool.
You see, this very tool provides you with the necessary information that will help you strategize properly.
Now I know that you might be wondering how we intend to achieve that, right?
Now, that's where the LinkedIn alumni tool comes in handy.
With this tool, you will get to know where your fellow alums work, the type of job they do and also the city where they live.
Let's pretend you're searching for a job in a nonprofit organization or public relations at a university.
The LinkedIn Alumni tool will help you narrow down your broad alumni search to only those that live around your locality and those that also work in public relations offices.
Once it displays the result, you can surf the universities or nonprofit organizations that your fellow alums work.
If you have plans to relocate, say you want to move from Chicago to Illinois, all you need is to start a new search and then click on the region under "Where they live."
Once you have done that, the entire data will adjust and display your fellow alumni in the area.
If you attended more than one school while growing up, use the "change school" feature at the beginning of the page to explore other universities and colleges' options.
IN CONCLUSION
Connecting with your alumni on LinkedIn is a practical and enjoyable experience for everyone.
So rather than join the bandwagon of past alums that only beg for money or only talk about fundraising, use the platform to connect.
But don't stop there;
take it a step further by endorsing and recommending each other and seeing how this move will positively impact your brand.
Finally, I'm not against fundraising requests because I believe it's for our alma mater;
All I'm saying is that you shouldn't let it be the only thing that you all discuss and debate about in your alumni group.
