The University of Connecticut Center for Career Development launched HuskyLink last semester, a new networking and mentoring platform designed to facilitate meaningful conversations between students and alumni.
HuskyLink allows students to send direct messages and request virtual meetings with alumni, said Mary Malerba, assistant director of alumni relations at the Career Center.
“This provides students an opportunity to access a diverse network of alumni who are eager to share career guidance and who have been in their shoes,” Malerba said.
Students can filter their alumni search by different fields, including industry, career, location, hobby and major. Students can also filter by race and identity. This filtering feature enables students to receive tailored career advice.
Alicja Kurpinowicz, a UConn senior interested in human resources, referred to HuskyLink as a “big network of mentors that could answer my questions.”
Kurpinowicz recently set up a virtual meeting with an alum to learn more about human resources.
“I really wanted to gain more insight about my career field. I asked her about how she got into human resources, obstacles within the industry, and advice for new grads. She really helped me a lot,” Kurpinowicz said. “She happily answered my questions and connected me with people she used to work with.”
Our alumni are willing and interested in helping our students. They are a very approachable group, Malerba said.
“I wanted to join HuskyLink so I could be a helpful resource to students. I’m very connected to UConn still and I am always looking to increase my involvement and give back,” said alum Alyssa Suhr, assistant director of admissions at UConn.
This provides students an opportunity to access a diverse network of alumni who are eager to share career guidance and who have been in their shoes,
Mary Malerba, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations at the Career Center.
HuskyLink replaced the previous platform, Husky Mentor Network.
Husky Mentor Network interactions were “very transactional,” said Lee Hameroff, associate director of operations at the Career Center. Students only had the option to schedule meetings with alumni.
In addition to direct messaging, HuskyLink offers new features that the previous platform lacked. HuskyLink offers career paths, an updated job board and educational resources such as articles, videos and pathways. Pathways are experiences designed to help students navigate a particular career topic.
In addition, HuskyLink provides an improved user experience that is more intuitive, navigable and modern than the previous platform, Hameroff said.
“My favorite feature is the messaging feature and the alumni search feature. I’ve used those pretty extensively,” said Taylor Czmyr, a UConn senior.
“The search feature is helpful because I can filter to find exactly what I am looking for in alumni profiles,” Czmyr said.
The Career Center is seeing strong engagement. “The numbers are good. They are better than we were seeing in [Husky Mentor Link],” Hameroff said. As of last week, 3,986 users had signed up for HuskyLink.
“However, there have been challenges during the transition, such as moving alumni and student profiles over from the previous platform to the new platform. There is a lot of training that must be done,” Hameroff said.
Although primarily intended for students and alumni, HuskyLink is open to all of the UConn community, including faculty, staff and employer partners.
The platform soft launched in January. The Career Center is now focusing on advertising this semester.
“We are always looking for more and more students and alumni to join and make the most of it,” Malerba said.