Flash Networking Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who are the students that I will be connected with? Is the student expecting to hear from me?

The students are second-year (sophomore) Smeal students who are currently at a Commonwealth Campus and are "tracking" toward coming to Smeal in their junior year. They are taking a class called BA297 "Career Planning & Strategies", and one of their assignments is to network with a Smeal alumnus/na. They will likely be interested in chatting about fine-tuning their resume, exploring future student organization involvement, considering various career paths, discovering key resources and sites to pay attention to, and advice for planning their summer & fall internship experiences. A conversation with an alumni volunteer can help boost their confidence and give them guidance in a few of these areas. 

Because this is a class assignment, the students are expecting to be connected with an alumni volunteer. 

2. What is the time commitment for this volunteer opportunity?

The number of alumni volunteers will ultimately determine the number of students that each volunteer is assigned to, but we estimate that each volunteer will be assigned to one student. Volunteers will be asked to take part in a 30-minute phone or Zoom call with their assigned student during the month of March.

3. Do I need to come to campus to volunteer?

No, volunteers can participate from anywhere!

4. Who should schedule the meeting? What platform should we use?

The students are encouraged to use their personal PSU Zoom account for this assignment. If the alumni volunteer does not have access to Zoom, please let the student know and another platform (or phone call) can be used to conduct the session.

5. What are some key topics or themes we should be discussing?

1. Your personal experiences and advice are some of the most valuable points you can touch on. Simply having a no-pressure conversation about what is on the student's mind and allowing them a comfortable forum for practicing the art of networking is a wonderful opportunity. 
2. The Smeal Business Career Center website has terrific information and resources to share with the students and could be a place that volunteers can gain knowledge from or simply just share with the students to make sure they know it exists. While they are at their campus, there are virtual events and endless career prep resources they can take advantage of, but if they know they will be at University Park next year, pointing out some of the in-person events can be great too. 
3. At the end of each meeting, volunteers should share the opportunity to sign up for the formal Smeal Mentoring Program. If they apply before the end of the spring semester (application will be open in the coming weeks), they will be matched with an alumni mentor for next academic year.  

6. What if a student asks to connect again in the future?

Volunteers are not expected to be long-term mentors to the students they connect with. The purpose is to give the students a chance to gain a one-time outside perspective on what they can be doing to get ahead. However, if a volunteer feels like they have the time, they are welcome to offer another meeting.