October 2004

CareerPort Benefits

Fall is the perfect time to think about networking with other alumni. The Alumni Association features several programs that help you connect with other alumni:

• Alumni NetWorks offers graduates and current students a chance to find other alumni who might mentor them with career advice for their fields. You can volunteer to be a mentor or take advantage of the program yourself. And, you can search for mentors by career field and specialty, city, state, degree, major and more.
• inCircle, the exclusive networking tool for Michigan alumni, is the best place to make valuable connections for social and professional networking. You can use inCircle to find long-lost college friends, find others who share your interests and network with alumni in your industry. Click here to get started today!

On the Job

Networking is about more than just making contacts—it’s about maintaining them. The key to successful networking is to build relationships over the long term. Karen Susman, author of “Networking: Nine Creative Ways to Keep in Touch,” offers some tips on how to nurture your professional relationships:

• Create opportunities to talk. Invite someone in your network to join you at a business event. You’ll have a chance to talk and make new contacts.
• Offer your resources to others. Lend a book, tape or article to a contact—and then follow up to see how the person liked it.
• Ask for a critique. Request a colleague or contact to review and comment on something you’ve written. By doing so, you show that you value the person’s opinion.
• Write out a note. Take advantage of every occasion to send a handwritten note. Whether you're thanking someone for a referral or congratulating someone on a promotion, the personal touch is always remembered.

With the presidential election fast approaching, water cooler conversations are changing from discussions of the latest box-office blockbuster to the latest campaign ad. However you feel about discussing politics in the workplace, you don’t want to let such discussions hamper your career. Here’s what the experts say about how to handle “non-office” politics:

• Avoid joking about divisive issues. Don’t assume everyone in the office agrees with your political opinion. To avoid alienating a colleague or supervisor, stick to “bipartisan” humor.
• Politely excuse yourself. If the discussion heads in a direction that makes you feel uncomfortable, try changing the subject or walking away. If that doesn’t work, stay silent.
• Don’t take the bait. If someone makes an outrageous assertion or claim, don’t respond to it. Ignoring inflammatory statements is the best way to deal with them.
• Take it up with human resources. If the political talk turns offensive, gets excessive or just out of hand, talk to your company’s HR department. Many organizations offer a written policy outlining its expectations about political activities at work.

Featured Article

This month, we continue our “Lessons in Leadership” series with Borders Group professionals. We talked with Suzann Trevisan, ’93, manager of specialty recruiting and retention at Borders Group, about diversity in the workplace. Suzann shares her insight and experience in our featured article.

Recent Postings

The Alumni CareerPort has almost 200 jobs listed right now. Below are some recently posted positions. If these aren’t right for you, search the job board and you may just find your next job.

Business Analyst at JD Edwards
This and other positions can be found in the Computer/Software category.

Consumer Market Manager at Bank of America
This and other positions can be found in the Retail/Wholesale category.

Payroll Supervisor at Venator
This and other positions can be found in the Accounting/Auditing category.

This Month’s Poll

Do you talk about politics at work? Tell us your thoughts in our new poll on the Alumni CareerPort.