Another workday has ended in Boston and instead of heading for the comforts of home, men and women of different ages and professions make their way through city traffic to attend a Career Connections workshop coordinated by the UMass Amherst Alumni Association. As they approach the registration table, they hear the welcoming chatter of fellow graduates, and happily ease into the crowd to hear the alumni guest speaker, Glenn Mangurian ’70, ’73G.

“Do you think of networking as a noun or a verb?” asks Mangurian, as he starts his presentation on “Building Social Capital: How to Network Effectively.” The principal of FrontierWorks, an industry and management consulting firm in Hingham, Mangurian draws from his extensive business background along with his experiences overcoming personal adversity, to share networking tips that have allowed him to achieve extraordinary results.
Month after month, the Alumni Association presents similar Career Connections events to bring career-related resources to alumni around the country. “We want to help alumni stay competitive in today’s difficult job market,” says Colleen Condon, associate director of Career Connections. “We’ve also expanded our online career center at UMassAlumni.com and will soon offer webinars on a variety of topics for those alumni who can’t attend our workshops.”

Helping alumni find personal satisfaction and balance through their work is also a goal of the program. Jill Starishevsky ’92, a mother of two and an assistant district attorney in the New York City Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Bureau, will participate on an alumni panel in New York focused on work/life balance for parents. “The biggest challenge facing working parents today is finding safe, reliable child care and making the most out of the quality time you spend with your child,” said Starishevsky. She is the founder of HowsMyNanny.com, an online nanny reporting service to support parents and their children.

The Career Connections program is just one way that the UMass Amherst Alumni Association continues to deliver added value to your degree. Through our Alumni Clubs, a year-round calendar of events, volunteer opportunities, and online community, MaroonCentral, we promote learning, connectivity, and UMass Amherst pride. Visit UMassAlumni.com to learn more about our programs, services, upcoming events, and ways to show your support.