| Systems
Engineering Alumni Reunion
Following the first
systems engineering reunion on Saturday 7th July, it was decided (before
the partaking of any alcohol!) to join forces and activate an old school
tie network for everyone's advantage.
The requirement for membership is simple –- you have to have studied
systems engineering at Loughborough. No matter what you are doing now,
if you're an LU SyE grad you are IN!
Agreed benefits are
wide ranging and both professional and social. Social ones first.
The obvious ones,
of course - keeping in touch with mates (not as easy as everyone thinks
it will be) and hearing all the gossip (tricky if you're not in touch!).
Then there're reunions, socials, small ads, Wii ladder, whatever else
that's fun...
Professional benefits
are another matter. Wikipedia is very dull about ‘"Old Boy
Networks" (and strangely unforthcoming) so don't bother. It was immediately
clear to the grads at the reunion however that the real
reason ‘"old school tie" associations exist is for world
domination, whiskey and secret handshakes...
Then they came up
with their own list of professional perks. So here's the sensible bit:
Firstly,
there's a whole load of knowledge related stuff
- Sharing knowledge
–- giving and getting vital bits of information; help with your
professional problems, challenges;
- Insider knowledge
–- knowing what's going on in systems engineering whether events,
conferences, initiatives and progress or changes - no matter what sector
you're working in at the moment.
- Getting new knowledge
- finding CPD and training opportunities, brokering research projects
and consultancy deals.
Secondly,
helping each other's careers progress
- Spreading the
word about what SyE is –- using your critical mass and collective
powers to get the rest of the world to understand why you are so important!
- Mentoring, shadowing
- Job news –-
both filling vacancies and finding vacancies
- Chartership support
and general career progression
- In fact, your
own private pool of SyE expertise from many different domains and from
all over the world
Thirdly,
helping the next generation
- LU would always
be pleased to hear from you. For example, you might be interested in
offering projects or guest lecturing, or your employers might want more
visibility on campus for future recruitment.
- Why not adopt
a student?!
- If you've got
an idea. just get in touch via Amanda.
You can almost certainly
add to these benefits. The amount of time you want to spend on networking
is completely up to you. No downside then, just the usual cliche of "the
more you put in the more you get out". And you'll be pleased
to know how cheap it is–- free in fact.
Now the important
bit –- how to join in
- All you have to
do is go to www.facebook.com and look up the group “"Systems
Survivors". The rest is up to you. Have fun!
PS If you want a
real ‘"old school tie" you'd better send Amanda a design!
PPS Doesn't have to be a tie….... |
