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With his enthusiasm and expertise in helping others polish their résumés, plot job search strategies, and execute savvy career moves, Robert S. ("Bob") Gardella has become a popular contact for HBS alumni since assuming the role of assistant director of Alumni Career Services (ACS) eighteen months ago. "My first priority is to respond directly to the needs of alumni customers," says the congenial Gardella. "I work hard to show them the value of calling on us."
The demand for ACS's services is steady, with between fifteen and thirty graduates receiving information packets each week. Gardella says he has interacted with more than 750 alumni since coming to HBS, "not including attendees at HBS presentations I've given on campus and on the road."
Many of ACS's most avid customers are newer graduates, who began their careers in an unpredictable environment of mergers and reengineering. Job changes are common among these younger managers, Gardella discovered from a poll that members of the MBA Class of 1993 conducted last year as part of their fifth reunion. Sixty percent had changed jobs at least once, 30 to 40 percent had done so at least twice, and 13 to 17 percent were on their third transition in five years. While the careers of many alumni shift frequently, 71 percent of the graduates who contact Gardella's office are currently employed while they consider their next career move.
"Often alumni call just to explore what we offer," Gardella notes, "and almost across the board, they're amazed at the breadth of the School's career services for graduates." In addition to a twice-monthly Jobs newsletter, available by subscription or free to alumni on the Web, these services include:
- Access to a list of more than 25,000 alumni who have volunteered to offer their wisdom as part of the HBS Alumni Advisory Network
- Contact with the worldwide network of some one hundred HBS alumni clubs
- Baker Library's Career Resources Center's individualized research assistance to alumni in the job market
- An upgraded work area in Wilder 300, equipped with copier, fax, and television/VCR for alumni use
"But the most valuable service we provide is to support the incredible willingness of alumni to help each other," says Gardella. The online alumni directory, for instance, allows alumni to search jobs by categories such as industry, company, and geographic location. ACS is also available to help alumni fine-tune their résumés. Over three hundred graduates have taken advantage of this service in the last fifteen months.
Looking to the future, Gardella says that alumni will soon see a sleeker, more flexible version of the ACS online Jobs newsletter that will allow them to search for their dream jobs by categories such as function, geographic location, and salary.
Contact Information:
Alumni Career Services, Wilder 302
Harvard Business School
Boston, MA 02163
Telephone: 617-495-6587
Fax: 617-496-5699
Web site: www.alumni.hbs.edu
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