Tough Times? Call Your B-School Counselor

As the economy goes sour, alumni are reconnecting with career services offices. Here's how counselors' expertise can help

by Alina Dizik

Has your high-paying finance job just evaporated? It may be time to go back to school—not to take classes, but to check in with the career counseling office. Free career services for life are a perk for most MBA graduates. And while most MBAs may not need them, in an economic downturn like the one we're facing, they're a valuable resource.

Career services offices, which are reporting an increase in calls from alumni, are ramping up their offerings for MBAs. "There will be a demand stepping up for these kinds of services and to a certain level we have a feeling of confidence," says Tom Kozicki, executive director of the career center at UC Irvine's Merage School of Business and board president of the MBA Career Services Council, the umbrella organization for MBA career services offices. "Having someone that you can sit down with objectively in order to get some good advice and honest feedback is important."

There are many ways an MBA career center can help in an economic downturn. Jobless alums can polish a résumé, connect with hiring managers, attend networking events, or simply get a needed confidence boost. Recently, USC Marshall invited alumni to participate in a job fair that was traditionally reserved for current students, in order to cope with the downturn. The staff at Duke's Fuqua is working on getting their alumni a reduced rate at a career consultancy in order to help them manage careers after they are out of school and globally dispersed, says Sheryle Dirks, Fuqua's career management director.

Here are some other ways career centers are helping graduates:

Consultations "When you are laid off, you're in shock, it may be the first time in your career that it's happened to you," says Scott Turner, the associate director at the Keenan MBA career resource center at Marshall. He advises MBAs who are out of work to turn to the professionals at their alma mater as a resource. After losing a job, a consultation with a member of the business school's career management team can help students realign their focus, Turner says.

For instance, Turner typically conducts two or three 45-minute sessions with interested alums in order to help them get back on their feet. In those sessions they can sharpen their job-hunting skills by having Turner review their résumé and practice a "branding statement," which he describes as "a 30-second elevator pitch" to help during an interview or a networking situation.

Mock Interviews While practicing interview techniques is commonplace for current B-school students as they go through recruiting, brushing up on skills and learning to remain confident after being laid off can be tough, school officials say. Thomas Monaco, the director of MBA career services at Fordham University, says recent alums should take advantage of the service, which is usually offered on an unlimited basis and is a good starting point to refresh interview skills. Monaco warns that it's not always easy for schools to respond because of the workload involved. "We've been able to manage it because it's not a very well-known service," says Monaco.