When you think of alumni, perhaps your first thought is of networks for graduates in higher education? That's one possibility. For recruitment, however, you should focus on so-called corporate alumni, i.e. former employees. With dedicated alumni management software, you can leverage incredible potential.
Why are alumni networks interesting for recruitment?
If your first reaction is: 'Former employees are former employees for a good reason', you should take a step back and have a closer look at the "good reasons". Good employees are looking for career opportunities. If they haven't found them in your company, they will put out feelers to other employers. But this doesn't mean that they will not want to return if you offer them good prospects. The benefit to you: through experience in another company, your alumni expand their skill sets and, as so-called 'boomerang' hires, bring fresh impetus to your organisation.
Which former employees should you include in your alumni relations?
Not all former employees fall into the above mentioned category. That's why it is sensible to invite only selected contacts from your alumni database to join your alumni community. With careful membership management right from the start, you ensure that applications from this network meet certain quality standards, thus reducing the administrative effort resulting from unsuitable applications.
What are the advantages of a dedicated alumni management platform?
Alumni communities are often managed through groups in business networks such as LinkedIn or Xing. However, the possibilities here are very limited. Alumni management software such as the one from Talentry is a classic 'software as a service' solution (SaaS). Just like these social media networks, it is cloud-based and therefore maintainance-free. Such alumni management systems also offer functionality for event registrations & event management, email marketing, community management and general alumni engagement. So you have much more than just an alumni database or a loose online community. The connection to your applicant tracking system turns it into a valuable and measurable recruitment channel. At the same time, you also have the opportunity to turn your alumni into ambassadors and, in doing so, generate applications through referrals. What's more, the sharing of employer branding content by your alumni boosts your employer brand.
What types of alumni communities are there?
There is basic distinction between open and closed communities - and alumni networks are no exception. Both require registration, but the registration page for an open community is, in principle, available to everyone. Membership of a closed community is by invitation only. We recommend a closed community for your alumni management solution - especially if you want to offer your alumni community the opportunity of sharing content and job postings. Talentry Alumni Management focuses on the multiplier effect of alumni networking to maximise the ROI on the activities of your former employees. Open communities are mainly used as sources of information. For this, you can use Talentry Recruiting Events & Communities or a candidate relationship management solution (the recruitment equivalent of customer relationship management, also known as CRM).
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