Give/Get Advice

A new feature is now available in SmealConnect that gives alumni the opportunity to provide advice to current Smeal students. This program will open up to students beginning in Fall 2013, but the Smeal Alumni Career Services office would like to populate the system with volunteers now in order to ensure there are enough alumni available to answer student questions.

If you are a Smeal alumnus who wishes to participate, you will need to register for an Alumni Account first before reading the instructions below. To be notified by email when a student has contacted you, please select "Yes" to "Receive Email Notification" when applying for your account.

Give/Get Advice Registration

In your SmealConnect account, there will be a tab marked "Give/Get Advice." Fill out the profile to become active. The information required is listed below:

1. Education Information: Degree, Major and Graduation Year for Smeal; listing other degrees is optional
2. Employment Information: Basic current employment information is required
3. Previous Work Experience: Optional
4. Advising Experience: Optional
5. Account Settings: This section allows you to:

• Determine how you want to be contacted by the student (i.e. email, phone, etc.)
• Set the number of students who will be able to reach out to you. For example, if you choose two students, and two have contacted you, your name will no longer show up in students' searches. Once the student's questions have been answered, he/she will be responsible for entering the system and clicking on the "Mentoring Complete" button. Your name will then be available for future student searches.

Please note that unless you have completed a profile under the Give/Get Advice tab, you are not an active mentor. The initial profile to set up an account is related to the job search function of SmealConnect and cannot be viewed by students.

Students will search for and reach out to alumni who have offered to give advice and who have similar backgrounds and experiences. Students typically have questions about career decisions and other business topics. If you are selected by a student, you will receive an email with information on how to proceed from the system with the subject "SmealConnect Student Interest Notification." We ask that you reach out to students within five days.

This service is only open to current students to get advice, and not for alumni seeking advice. If you are an alumnus and are seeking advice or networking opportunities, please join our official LinkedIn page.