Toolkit - Career in focus
Invite an alumnus to give a talk about their career and give tips and advice about their field of work and suitable career paths. Career in focus is an event that serves as a source of inspiration for students and newly graduated alumni. The event gives students the opportunity to ask questions and get to know working alumni.
We recommend organising the event as a collaboration between an alumni association, a department and a student association.
Purpose and target groups
- To give students and newly graduated alumni insight into a professional area, how the labor market works and advice and tips for a future career path.
- To give students and alumni the opportunity to create valuable contacts.
- That the department resumes contact with its alumni and highlights them to increase interest in courses and programmes.
- To inspire students to become members of Uppsala University Alumni Network after completing their studies.
Suggestions for target groups to invite
- Alumni association/Chapter members
- Newly graduated alumni
- Faculty/Department staff
- Students
Instructions
A moderator, preferably a person from the alumni association or department, welcomes everyone, talks briefly about the event and presents the lecturer (approx. 2 minutes).
An alumnus gives a talk about his/her profession and how they got to where they are today. During the event, the alumnus highlights, for example, what the current labor market is like, what is important to keep in mind when applying for a job and what a day at work may look like.
The alumnus may also talk about their background, previous employments and experiences. Important decisions, events that have affected their career and professional life can also be addressed, as well as how their time at Uppsala University has influenced their career.
The talk ends with a moderated Q&A session. The moderator starts the session with a couple of pre-prepared questions and then takes in questions from the audience (approx. 20 minutes).
The talk is followed by a mingle where the audience can continue the discussion, ask questions to the lecturer and network (approx. 45 minutes).
Find a speaker
The alumni team can assist with finding contact details for alumni. Please contact info@alumni.uu.se. You can also get in touch with the programme manager or study counselor at the department and see if they have tips on interesting alumni.
LinkedIn is a good tool for finding suitable alumni and a good starting point for information about the alumni's profession and where they are employed.
By being clear about what you are looking for in the alumnus speaker, it will be easier to find someone who fits.
Prepare the speaker
In order for the lecturer to prepare well, it is important that the lecturer receives information from you well ahead of the event about what you want them to talk about. You should also them about the conditions of the venue and which groups you expect will make up the audience.
Ask the lecturer for permission to take photographs during the lecture beforehand, and make sure it is alright to publish the presentation and the pictures on the web or in mailings after the lecture.
In order for Q&A session to get a good start, we suggest that you prepare some questions in advance that the moderator can ask. We recommend sending these to the lecturer so they can prepare their answers.
Material
- Event checklist Excel, 12 kB. (Excel)
- Instragram banner (jpg)
- Facebook banner (jpg)
- Invitation template Powerpoint, 3 MB. (PowerPoint)
- Save-the-date template Powerpoint, 2 MB. (PowerPoint)
- Powerpoint template Powerpoint, 2 MB.
