Some colleges implementing virtual alumni gig economy
Colleges around the globe are trying to help students navigate the worst job market in modern memory.
For the University of Pittsburgh and 64 other colleges, the answer may lie in a virtual gig economy connecting alumni, students and recent graduates.
New software, called Bridges, allows alumni to post remote work tasks for their businesses — projects like building a website, analyzing company data or constructing a social media strategy. Students and grads from the same school can sign up to complete the tasks. Many are compensated, and some projects go for upward of $500.
The Bridges platform was created by PeopleGrove, a San Francisco company that sells a careerdriven social network service to colleges — much like a localized LinkedIn for students and alumni.
On PeopleGrove, students can connect with alumni and set up mentoring relationships. On Bridges, students use those same alumni networks to find work, and it’s free for colleges.
The company hopes the free Bridges software attracts non-client schools to their software, but there aren’t any ads on the interface.
“It’s in essence the service to the higher-ed community,” said Bryan Landaburu, marketing director for PeopleGrove.
“You have all these living alumni and you have all these students in need right now. The living alumni don’t have to just give them checks for nothing. [Students] really want experience, that’s what they lack.”
On July 15, Pitt became one of the first 42 schools to sign up for the job-posting software. University officials are still reaching out to alumni to fill the platform with postings before making it available to students.
They have plenty of online grads to work with. Pitt’s iteration of PeopleGrove, called “Pitt Commons,” has more than 7,000 alumni and student users — a number that has “dramatically increased” during the pandemic, said Lisa Belczyk, the university’s program manager of digital engagement initiatives.
In their efforts to help students find work this summer and fall, other Pittsburgh colleges and their career centers have also prioritized alumni outreach.
Chatham University is far smaller than some of its neighboring colleges, with roughly 1,000 undergrads compared to Pitt’s 19,000. Its size gives its students an edge on the job search because they have easier access to alumni networks, career center director Kate Sheridan said.
All Chatham students are required to complete an internship before graduation. Ms. Sheridan and her two coworkers have been working with around 30 alumni this summer, who’ve helped set up 36 virtual internships forChatham students in the fall.
And other university career centers are working overtime to provide jobsearch advice. Duquesne University doesn’t usually offer summer programming, but COVID-19 times have spurred a worthy exception, said career center director Nicole Feldhues.
Ms. Feldhues’ team set up virtual career talks with alumni and corporate reps every Tuesday, called “Zooms at Noon.” The events drew solid crowds. Sometimes, it was the alumni themselves seeking help.
“We have people in their 60s who are retiring from one career but are doing something new and want their resume looked at,” she said. “It doesn’t matter when they graduated, just as long as they’ve graduated.”
Some colleges have been emphasizing student-to-student connections. Carnegie Mellon University’s career center held five “job-search work groups” in July, and advisers and students discussed how to prepare application materials, find job openings and follow up with employers in a virtual environment.
“The main thing right now is to be proactive in the job search. You can’t just sit back and wait for postings to appear,” said Kevin Collins, senior assistant director of Carnegie Mellon’s career center. “It might be that you need to network more, talk with classmates, friends, use platforms like LinkedIn, look for virtual employer webinars.”
Proactivity is important, because the reality has been brutal for 2020 grads.
According to a June survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, nearly 8% of surveyed employers said they had revoked or were considering revoking full-time job offers for the class of 2020.
The national unemployment rate has surged from 3.6% in January to 11.1% in June. In Pennsylvania, June unemployment was at 13%.
“All these students that are entering the worst job market in memory, and on top of them entering having limited experience and high unemployment, the folks that have been furloughed are highly qualified,” Mr. Landaburu said. “How are students supposed to compete with that, when people are applying for manager jobs that have 15 years marketing experience?”
When schools leverage their alumni networks, student work often follows. Wellesley College, a women’s liberal arts school in Massachusetts, piloted the Bridges product in early June. To date, over 300 Wellesley students have signed onto or completed alumni projects, and thousands of dollars have been exchanged.
While career development centers hold events discussing proper virtual work etiquette, they themselves are going through the same phase change. Pre-pandemic, 69% of career centers only offered their drop-in services in person. Only 5% said they’d do the same in fall 2020, according to NACE’s data from 477 colleges.
Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne, Chatham and Pitt will join the 55% of schools moving this year’s career fairs to a virtual format.
But not every student can wait that long. Some students need money and experience now.
“Some students and recent grads are not in a position to take it slow,” Ms. Sheridan said. “The biggest thing is expanding students’ concept of what’s the right next step for them.”