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FAQ FOR STUDENTS

Your profile is sent out to volunteers within your selected career category(ies) each Wednesday, beginning January 16th and ending February 27th.  Each alumni/parent volunteer will receive 5 student profiles per week via email.

Feel free to make adjustments at any time! Keep in mind, though, that the number of times your profile is distributed each week may vary. In other words, it may be wise to wait a couple weeks before making changes to your profile or career field category(ies). That way, your profile has had sufficient opportunity to reach volunteers. Click here to view your profile and/or make changes/updates.

The Career Network for Oles sponsors (Piper Center for Vocation and Career, Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, and Office of the President) require that you respond to volunteers via email within 24 hours of receiving a response. If we hear of students who do not respond within 24 hours, their profiles will be automatically removed from the program. If you know that you will be unable to manage this commitment at any point throughout the program, log into the Career Network for Oles database to inactivate your profile by un-clicking the "profile complete" box and then clicking "save". 

You can expect to hear from volunteers at any time during the week throughout the course of the 7 week program. It is entirely possible for alumni to have a busy week and be unable to reach out to you as soon as you (or they) would like. Understand that they are busy professionals.  If you receive a response from an volunteer and write them back with follow-up questions, give them at least one week to respond.

If more than one week has gone by and you still have not heard back from a volunteer, feel free to stop into the Piper Center duringCareer Network for Oles walk-in hours (listed below), or email careernetworkhelp@stolaf.edu with questions concerning your specific situation. 

Or, if a couple weeks have gone by and you haven't received any responses to your profile, consider making changes to your profile and/or career field category. Again, feel free to stop into the Piper Center during Career Network for Oles walk-in hours (listed below) or email careernetworkhelp@stolaf.edu with questions concerning your specific situation. 

It can be difficult to determine the level of formality that should be used in correspondence with alumni who you hope to add to our professional network.  When in doubt, err on the formal side. The best rule of thumb is to mirror the language and tone alumni use in their initial response to your profile. For example, if Mr. John Anderson, '80 signs his email with "John," you are welcome to address him as "John" and not "Mr. Anderson" in future emails and conversations. 

The single best way to develop relationships and establish connections with people in your network is to meet with them in person (if possible). Meeting in person can serve as the perfect opportunity for an informational interview or job shadowing experience, so do not hesitate to suggest in your initial correspondence that the two of you go to coffee or to meet for lunch! If meeting in person isn't possible, suggest a telephone or Skype conversation instead. Alumni appreciate efficiency -- that you don't expect to exchange lengthy strings of email. 

For more detailed information about informational interviewing and more, visit the Piper Center for Vocation and Career's webpage onnetworking. 

For any and all questions related to Career Network for Oles and networking, please email careernetworkhelp@stolaf.edu or talk with Kirsten Cahoon or Mandy Sirek during Career Network for Oles office hours: Mondays 1:30-4:00pm, Tuesdays 1:30-3:00pm, Wednesdays 1:30-3:30pm, and Fridays 10:00-12:00pm.

For other important vocation/career-related items, stop by the Piper Center for Vocation and Career (TOH 270) Monday-Friday from 9:00am-5:00pm.