Is there any value being the part of the alumni network?

"We have already graduated. We don't need anything from our college. I met you there and that is the only good thing about that place. They taught us because it was their duty. We have already paid our tuition fees for it." - This must not be a new conversation for many of us. Some of us share the same feeling towards the college. But here's a thing!

Humans are social organisms. If this is true then feeling the need to interact with other humans is a very natural feeling. It is rooted deeply among everyone. The people close to us automatically form the invisible community and share things within this community.

The alumni network is one such community, where people are eager to help each other for just one reason that they share the same alma mater.

I have had two first-hand experiences of this recently.

I met my super-senior at the recently conducted Alumni Meet event at our college. He was working in one of the top 5 IT services companies. We were discussing the resource crunch issue in the IT industry. I told him that I was looking for some help with my recruitment initiatives. My super-senior immediately agreed to connect me with his company's recruitment vendor. He most likely did this because he felt for me as we were sharing the same college on our degrees. And, I should mention this that this was the first time I met this person. People don't show this kind of generosity for the people out of their network.

Last weekend, I met three persons from my college with no agenda. We had worked together recently for one of the college events. One person was kind enough to call us for lunch. This was one of the great no-agenda meetings I have had in the last few years. Only one person from this group was my batch-mate. This was the first time I was sharing table with the other two. When I expressed my 5-years goal with this group, the very next moment I was told that it shouldn't take this long. One of the new persons had all the resources and connects to make it happen way ahead of my deadline. Except for an event we had worked on as a group and the same college listed in our LinkedIn profiles, there was nothing in common.

I have always received great help from all my school-mates, college-mates and colleagues but for some unknown reason, these communities are not turned to a formal community. There are so many benefits that such formal groups offer, which makes it a win-win proposition for both, an institute and its alumni.

If you are not part of the alumni network then please register yourself for it. If there is no formal alumni network then become a founder member of it. After all, humans are social organisms.