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The Isenberg School and the Office of Career Success are thankful for our strong, successful, and resourceful alumni. We applaud your accomplishments and appreciate your ongoing commitment to the School and its many current students.
For alumni who have recently graduated, we provide career support services for up to six months post-graduation. Access to our career support services means you can work with our coaches in one-to-one appointments and take advantage of our many resources, which are housed on our career and professional development site IConnect, for six months post-graduation. However, career fairs and employer-centered events are for current students only.
Whether alumni are six months or six years post-graduation, the University of Massachusetts and its Alumni Relations team provide additional resources and support services.
Career and Professional Development Resources Available to Alumni
1) Lifetime access to UMass Handshake our platform for searching for full-time jobs, as well as career fairs and employer events at UMass or with outside organizations you can attend. Follow the instructions below for accessing Handshake.
Do not log in as a Current UMass Student, as within 6 months of graduation, your UMass email is discontinued. You can log in with a non-UMass email and set up an account as an alum. You’ll want to click on “sign in with your email address”:
After entering your email address, you’ll be asked if you want to log in using your Handshake credentials, go ahead and click that.
After this, you’ll be asked to set a password with your account. Click Get Started to do that:
After you’ve created your password, you will get a verification email which will confirm your password and you’ll then be able to access Handshake.
Once you are in Handshake, you can attend employer events online or in person, search for jobs or find employer contact information for networking.
2) Free Resources on the central Career Development and Professional Connections Hub website.
If reassessing career plans, we recommend you consider an assessment tool, some of which are free and can be found here.
3) Alumni Relations Resources
Below are some resources the University’s Alumni Relations provides. In particular, Connect UMass and LinkedIn can be a great tools to help you in your job search. You can check out our Alumni Career Services page to learn more.
CONNECT UMASS – a networking site exclusive to UMass alumni and students.
It’s easy to set up a freeConnect UMass account. A few suggestions:
- To find people, click Explore the Community, then use the filters to focus your search. You could also join a Group, including our career communities. Groups tend to have the most engaged Connect UMass users. If you look in the Events tab, you can sign up for a Connect UMass Ambassador training to learn more about how to use Connect UMass.
LINKEDIN – for researching and connecting.
If you don’t have an active LinkedIn page, we recommend you build a profile.
- The UMass Amherst LinkedIn page’s alumni feature allows you to find alumni by keyword, class year, company name, as well as where they live, what they do, and what they studied. In addition, the UMass Alumni Association page has over 27,000 members, and is a great resource for networking and performing research on alumni and their careers.
ALUMNI CAREER COUNSELORS – personalized assistance to help you make decisions and pursue what’s next.
Alumni career counselors can help with resumes, cover letters, job searching, interviewing, and connecting your interests, skills and career goals to opportunities. Each offers a free first session, with discounted follow-ups. (IMPORTANT: you’re under no obligation to purchase a career counseling package after your first session).
- To set up an appointment: view the counselors’ profiles and reach out to the counselor of your choice with their provided information. To make the best use of your time, be sure to explain in advance that you are a UMass alum, your graduation date, and the assistance you seek.
