Success Story
Meeting Students Where They Are: 24/7 Access to Career Connections
Discover how a private liberal arts college leverages PeopleGrove to give students 24/7 access to alumni career connections, driving higher engagement, equitable access, and measurable outcomes.
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65%
of student outreach results in meaningful alumni engagement
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3,000
active community members on the platform
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Institution Type
Private Liberal Arts College
The Setting
At a private liberal arts college enrolling nearly 3,000 students, the Career Center plays a vital role in preparing students for meaningful careers. With more than 30,000 alumni around the world, the college has long relied on its alumni network as a cornerstone of student success. The Career Center partnered with PeopleGrove to launch a closed, college-branded networking platform designed to make alumni access easier, safer, and always available. The goal was to democratize opportunity, putting the power of the alumni network directly into the hands of students, whenever and wherever they’re ready to explore their future.
The Challenge
“Our students are busy. They are double majors, they’re in three or four clubs, they’re athletes. They need career guidance, but they often can’t get to us during business hours.”
Like many institutions, the Career Center recognized that the traditional 8-to-5 model wasn’t aligned with students’ schedules or expectations. Students needed flexible, secure, and self-service access to alumni who could offer insights, introductions, and encouragement outside of office hours.
The center’s leadership also wanted a system that moved beyond static lists of alumni contacts — one that could use algorithmic matching to help students find relevant connections and give them confidence in making outreach. Finally, any solution had to ensure privacy and safety for both students and alumni.
The Solution
“PeopleGrove democratizes access to our alumni. It provides anytime, anyplace interaction. Without it, you shut down opportunity.”
The Career Center launched its PeopleGrove network, as a flash mentorship and networking platform that allows students to connect with alumni for brief, meaningful conversations about career paths, industries, and experiences.
Within this secure, college-only environment, students can search for alumni profiles based on interests, major, or career field, thereby connecting in ways that feel natural and immediate. Nearly 3,000 members are active on the platform, including nearly 1,000 students, the PeopleGrove network is by far the most highly leveraged resource in the Career Center. With a two to one ratio of alumni to student users, making a meaningful connection is significantly more likely for students.
Weekly emails promote the platform to students, while alumni spotlights — drawn from PeopleGrove’s data — highlight real-world career journeys.
Alumni who join do so through an opt-in model, signaling their genuine willingness to engage. This approach has produced strong results: 65 percent of student outreach results in meaningful engagement with an alum.
PeopleGrove is now ranked the #2 method students use to access alumni in the college’s biennial career survey.
The Results
“You can’t create barriers for students today or think that they will not expect a technology-driven solution. If you want them to use your service, you have to provide it the way they want it, not the way you’ve always done it.”
Quantitative impact
- 65% of student outreach results in meaningful engagement
- Ranked #2 vehicle for alumni access in student survey
- Ten percent of living alumni are participating on platform
- Nearly 1 in 3 students are participating on the platform
- Engagement is growing at double-digit rates year over year
Qualitative impact
Gateway Link has expanded the reach of the Career Center far beyond office hours, giving students 24/7 access to career insight and mentorship. The opt-in model ensures authenticity and trust, while algorithmic matching increases confidence in outreach and the likelihood of successful connections.
The platform’s analytics are also helping the Career Center refine its approach, reviewing participation by class year, first-generation status, discipline, and athletic involvement to ensure every student can benefit from an alumni network that is as diverse as it is engaged.
As one leader put it, “PeopleGrove is not just a networking tool — it’s a career readiness vehicle that extends the reach of our services and puts opportunity in the hands of every student.”
We live in a world where information flows at warp speed, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our students have grown up in this world. We need to provide them access to networking and mentorship on their timetable — not on business hours. PeopleGrove allows us to meet them where they are.
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