While HBS reunions are a time to get reacquainted with old friends, they also give graduates a chance to evaluate their professional lives. Inspiring many alumni to take a good look at their careers and think about their goals is Robert S. (“Bob”) Gardella, assistant director of HBS Alumni Career Services and author of The Harvard Business School Guide to Finding Your Next Job.

Holding numerous seminars during reunion weekends, Gardella — with easel, flip chart, and Magic Marker at the ready — usually begins by reminding graduates that conducting a job search has both intellectual and emotional components. “This pep talk portion of the presentation can be particularly useful for those in a time of transition,” says Gardella.

“Bob gave us a chance to share personal experiences,” notes 5th Reunion attendee Thierry R. Foucaut (MBA 1994), who left France in 1999 to join a San Francisco dot-com. “Psychological support is important,” he adds.

Beyond emotional support, Gardella and his colleagues also offer countless services. He notes that ACS provides the best possible job-search tools — everything from résumé reviewing, to career counseling sessions, to linking graduates to other resources available to them as alumni. In fact, during reunions, Gardella devotes much of his time to thirty-minute one-on-one sessions with graduates.

A big believer in the power of networks, Gardella reminds all graduates that using networks — including HBS alumni from their undergraduate institutions, with whom ACS can help them get in touch — is key to getting results. “Graduates should keep up with Alumni Career Services whether or not they are looking for a new career,” recommends Foucaut, who attributes his own success in the gourmet import business (after his dot-com folded) to Gardella’s advice. “I keep a copy of his book on my bedside table,” says the enthusiastic reunion attendee.

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