The Department Network
Alumni networks aren't built by university advancement offices. They're built in departments, between classmates, through real conversations. Guides on networking without the LinkedIn cringe, career moves that actually work, and how departments build professional communities that last.
Latest articles
New guides, strategies, and community stories.
Alumni Outreach
Alumni Networking for Introverts: A Practical Guide
Networking does not have to mean working a room full of strangers. Here are 5 introvert-friendly strategies for building real connections with department alumni, based on what actually works.
Department Stories
What 3 Department Chairs Learned from Launching Department Alumni Networks
Real lessons from department chairs at Stanford CS, UCLA Engineering, and MIT MechE who built active alumni networks from scratch. What worked, what failed, and what they would do differently.
Career Navigation
The Alumni Referral Advantage: How Department Connections Land Jobs
Why a referral from a department alumnus is 3x more likely to get you an interview than a cold application, plus the specific strategy I used to get referred into Stripe.
Platform Comparison
LinkedIn Groups vs. a Department Alumni Platform: What Actually Gets You Hired
A comparison of LinkedIn Groups, university alumni directories, and department-specific platforms based on response rates, referral outcomes, and time invested.
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Alumni Outreach
Alumni Networking for Introverts: A Practical Guide
Networking does not have to mean working a room full of strangers. Here are 5 introvert-friendly strategies for building real connections with department alumni, based on what actually works.
Department Stories
What 3 Department Chairs Learned from Launching Department Alumni Networks
Real lessons from department chairs at Stanford CS, UCLA Engineering, and MIT MechE who built active alumni networks from scratch. What worked, what failed, and what they would do differently.
Career Navigation
The Alumni Referral Advantage: How Department Connections Land Jobs
Why a referral from a department alumnus is 3x more likely to get you an interview than a cold application, plus the specific strategy I used to get referred into Stripe.
Department Stories
Why Your Department's Alumni Network Matters More Than the University-Wide One
University-wide alumni networks are too broad to be useful. Here is why department-level connections actually lead to jobs, mentors, and referrals — with data from 8 years of running a CS department program.
Platform Comparison
LinkedIn Groups vs. a Department Alumni Platform: What Actually Gets You Hired
A comparison of LinkedIn Groups, university alumni directories, and department-specific platforms based on response rates, referral outcomes, and time invested.
Giving Back
How to Be a Department Alum Who Actually Helps: A Mentor's Playbook
A practical guide for alumni who want to mentor current students effectively — without overcommitting or burning out.
Alumni Outreach
How to Reach Out to an Alumnus for Career Advice: Templates That Work
After sending 150+ cold emails to department alumni as a first-gen student, here are the exact templates and strategies that got me a 28% response rate and a referral into Stripe.
Alumni Outreach
Cold Email Templates That Actually Get Responses from Department Alumni
After sending 150+ cold emails to department alumni, here are the exact templates and strategies that got me a 28% response rate — and the mistakes that got me ignored.
Platform Comparison
LinkedIn vs Handshake vs Department Alumni Networks: Where Your Time Is Best Spent
A data-driven comparison of the three main channels for student job seekers, based on 200 outreach attempts across platforms and real response rate data.