As financiers continue to seek stability in the current markets, alumni whose job futures are uncertain may find some help from Duke.
The Career Center, Duke Alumni Association and the Fuqua School of Business are organizing programs to assist young alumni affected by market turmoil.
The Career Center and DAA are discussing a partnership to provide outreach, said William Wright-Swadel, Fannie Mitchell executive director of career services. The two, however, have not yet decided on a specific course of action.
"We are engaged in conversation right now to see what [response] makes the most sense," Wright-Swadel said. "We try to work very hard to do things that are coordinated and that use our resources-in terms of expertise-quite effectively."
George Dorfman, associate director of alumni affairs, said the financial situation will affect all alumni, and ultimately DAA hopes to provide assistance with the help of older alumni as well as the Career Center.
"What we hope for in the next few weeks is to A. determine the need, and B. determine what the best way is to respond, because one of the things we have learned over the years is providing programming without asking doesn't always work," he said.
Yet several alumni who are now working for Wachovia and are concerned about job security said they would appreciate increased communication from Duke.
Mike Cooper, Trinity '08, said he would have liked the Career Center and DAA to extend their services and support. He said he tried to contact the Career Center but was unable to find out what resources might be available to him.
"The response has been kind of sparse to be honest, it has been less than I would hope for," he said. "[The Career Center has not] made any announcements. I didn't even know how to go about contacting them.... I don't know what my future's going to be in a couple months.... I had to go through a lot of references to try to find how to contact them, what to do, what they could actually do for me."
The Career Center and DAA are considering possibly providing services for alumni in New York City, Wright-Swadel said. He said it is unlikely the Career Center and DAA will open on-campus recruiting to alumni because no alumni have requested it, and the distance makes on-campus assistance unrealistic for alumni struggling in financial centers like New York City.
Fuqua's career services, however, are actively developing networking opportunities outside Duke to benefit its struggling alumni, said Sheryle Dirks, Fuqua's associate dean for career management.
She said that in addition to hiring two additional career coaches, Fuqua is in the process of partnering with former Wall Street bankers who could offer specialized coaching to laid-off alumni.
Dirks added that Fuqua's new partnership with Lee Hecht Harrison, a worldwide career services corporation, will offer a discount to Fuqua alumni participating in the corporation's programs.
In the last three months, Fuqua has also sponsored several workshops for its alumni in Charlotte, Atlanta, New York and Chicago, as well as a virtual workshop in which 150 alumni participated.
Fuqua's Director of Alumni Relations Erin Gasch, Trinity '95 and Fuqua '03, said the regional workshops are an attempt to help alumni considering a career transition focus on topics like prioritizing job opportunities and finding the best employment in the current market.
In addition to its local and regional counseling and programming, Gasch said a major goal is to help alumni access support from other alumni who are in more stable positions.
"We started a communication campaign to really try to let our alumni know that we know that there is a lot of turmoil and that we care about where they are in their careers," she said. "And we've tried to keep reinforcing that we have services, we're here to support [them], and we're also trying to send the message for them to support each other."
Other schools, like the University of Pennsylvania, have started to provide on-campus recruiting for alumni affected by the economic downturn. UPenn has opened its on-campus recruiting to former students within one year of their graduation, said Barbara Hewitt, senior associate director of Career Services at UPenn.
UPenn and Harvard University have also already increased career advising for their alumni. In response to increasing numbers of UPenn alumni who have requested advising sessions, UPenn sent four counselors to New York City last Monday to hold one-on-one sessions with alumni.
Although UPenn and officials from Fuqua's career services both reported that requests for help from alumni are increasing, Dorfman said DAA has not seen communications from alumni increase significantly.
Dorfman said though he is aware of how schools like UPenn are reacting to their alumni's needs, Duke is still identifying and assessing the most effective way to respond.
"We are in an evaluation process because the nature of this is still changing," he said. "We haven't really heard a lot from our alums in the last few weeks saying, 'Hey, help me, can you do this for me,' and I think that's because... everyone is trying to watch and observe and see where the chips fall."
Most of the alumni interviewed for this article said they had not been actively trying to tap Duke resources, adding that they were primarily working with others within their respective firms.
"I am not sure what resources [Duke's centers] offer," said Atin Garg, Trinity '07, who works for Wachovia. "Maybe if I knew more about them, I might use them. I just find that it is easier to get jobs through people you know."
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