Hooked for Life

New team supports alumni throughout their careers.

By Judie Kinonen

With a bold vision to provide members of the Texas McCombs community with lifelong career support, the school launched Alumni Career Management on June 1, 2021.

Degreed McCombs alumni at any career stage can log in to a McCombs-specific hub on UT’s HookedIn alumni connection platform or explore the McCombs Alumni Career Management team’s website to schedule appointments with highly credentialed coaches, find networking opportunities, access résumé and interview resources, and search a dedicated job board.

“Whether they’re first-time job seekers, they just lost a job, or they’d like to change careers, McCombs alumni will now have key resources at their fingertips,” says Ellen Bartkowiak, who heads the new team of career coaches.

Alumni Career Management first rolled out in April for the classes of 2020 and 2021. Now, any alumni needing career support can find it by reaching out via email or the team’s website.

Janet Huang, senior assistant dean for career management and corporate relations, says the team’s creation was driven by feedback from alumni to support their career goals beyond graduation.

During the pandemic last year and the resulting economic downturn, the need became clear for a holistic approach to career support. “It has become more important than ever to provide our McCombs community with an opportunity to reconnect, learn from each other, and build mentoring relationships,” Huang says.

“We are proud to provide alumni with these services during any moment of their career journey,” says Stefani Sereboff, senior managing director of the McCombs employer and corporate ecosystem. She helped build and plan the creation of this team and online resources as a “one-stop shop” for alumni career support.

The team offers two coaching sessions per year, along with webinars and small-group workshops; the website provides links to resources and a McCombs-specific HookedIn hub, where alumni can network and connect with students to mentor.

“The top two alumni requests the alumni relations staff shared are, number one, career coaching and, number two, a job board just for them,” Sereboff says. “They’ll now have both of those, plus multiple avenues to network with other alumni and students to create meaningful connections for career growth.”

Coaching sessions will aim to help alumni understand their value proposition as they market themselves, said Sarita Soldz, senior director of career education and coaching for working professional programs and alumni.

That value proposition is not static, as workers today change jobs on average every 4.2 years, according to a recent report on employee tenure from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Lifelong alumni career management gives students the reassurance that you don’t have to have it all figured out right now,” Soldz says. “We know that career transition isn’t a one-time occurrence, and we want to meet our alumni where they need us most.”

Building that lifelong connection with alumni is at the heart of this team, says Huang: “McCombs is already known to have the strongest community of alumni, but let’s make it even stronger. Let’s make it unstoppable.”

To get connected via HookedIn, visit https://uthookedin.com; to reach out to Alumni Career Management, visit https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/Alumni/Network-and-Career-Resources, or email MSB-AlumniCareer@mccombs.utexas.edu.