Our location isn't a secret: in rural Jasper County and exactly half way between Chicago and Indianapolis. In 2002, we set out to make this location work for our students by initiating the SJC Business Networks of Chicago and Indianapolis. These formal receptions offer chances twice a year for our best junior and senior students to practice the art of neworking with our SJC alumni in the two cities.

THE ART OF NETWORKING: How many undergraduate business programs offer students four opporunities for professional networking? We're guessing just one.

What happens at the Networks?

First, we get a great deal of real, professional networking. What else would you expect from 75 or 80 working professionals and sharp, eager business students?

Second, we get a lot of sharing of some very crucial information: experiences with job searches and career management. Hearing directly from successful professionals is an essential element to a modern business education.

Third, the receptions have turned into excellent grounds for alumni-to-alumni networking as well.

-- Indianapolis: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 6:00 to 8:00 pm - Place announced soon!
-- Chicago: TBA.

For more information about upcoming Chicago and Indianapolis receptions in 2009-2010, please contact:

Terra Maienbrook
Associate Professor of Accounting
Saint Joseph's College
219-866-6240

See also news and infromation on the SJC Alumni Connections Web site, where you can register for the receptions when the dates are posted.

Puma Alumni: What Can You Do for the Receptions?

Meet the students. Make a point of meeting them all and engaging them about their Saint Joe lives.

Ask them about their career plans. Work on them a little: Do they have some career direction? Are they communicating that direction well?

Help them out. Give them advice; suggest things they may not have considered about a particular career or job search strategy.

Exchange contact information. Offer to be of further assistance to students by leaving them your business card and encouraging them to call or e-mail if they have questions.

Look for someone for whom you might be a mentor. At every reception? Probably not. But as we continue these receptions, perhaps every few years you might meet a student in whom you can take a more direct interest and assist with their early career moves.

Have fun and enjoy the company. This is a gathering of three groups with Saint Joseph's College in common. Enjoy the company and reconnect with your alma mater.