Real World Forum:
Utilizing Alumni for Career Preparation

                Alumni can be valuable resources when helping current students prepare to make decisions about their careers, as well as helping students prepare for the transition from college to the work force.  Having a network of selected alumni that students can contact is one way of getting former students involved, while having alumni return to campus is another effective and fun way to tap their experience.

                At the College of Textiles, alumni play a vital role in the career preparation process through an event known as the Real World Forum.

                Jointly sponsored by the Textile Alumni Society, the Textile Career Service's Office and Sigma Tau Sigma, the college's honor society, the Real World Forum brings five to seven selected alumni back to campus for a panel discussion and open forum.  Typically, alumni returning for the Forum have been out of school no longer than five years, but the make up of the panel varies from year to year.   The theme for this year's Forum was career diversity, so panelists from 1990 through 2001 participated. Panel members are also hand-selected in order to achieve a diverse mix in terms of gender, ethnicity, degree, and work experiences.

                 The student president of Sigma Tau Sigma, senior Tim Cherry, acted as the emcee, although the program typically ran itself.  Panel members take the first ten minutes of the forum to introduce themselves and to talk very briefly about their career paths.  Following the introductions, the panel fields questions from the audience, which is primarily made up of current students, faculty and staff of the college.  New freshmen are given extra credit for attending the event due to the beneficial information provided for those just entering the college. Approximately 130 students attended the Forum this year.

                Questions from the students range from "Why did you choose the career path you did?" to " What changes would you make if you could do it over again?" to "What advice would you give to us based on your experiences?"  Other questions are more specific to certain degrees, or are more personal in nature.  The general rule of thumb, however, is that no panelist should sugar coat their answers.  "Students learn the most from true answers…even if the answers are not positive for the college or the specific industry in discussion," stated Kent Hester, director of student and career services for the College of Textiles.  " All but one of these panelists have switched career paths at least once…some even out of the textile industry.  With current economic conditions and the state of the textile industry, students need to know about the variety of career options that exist…even with a specialized textile degree," added Hester. To make sure no lulls ruin the forum, a few questions are provided to several students which are to be asked if a prolonged quiet spell begins.

                Alumni enjoy returning to the college to help out current students.  Not only do they get to see one another and former faculty, but they also get to give back a little wisdom to those about to graduate.

2001 Real World participants: (from left to right) Alex Rossato (BSTE-1998) from Kirsch Levolor Window Fashions; Angie (Shepherd) Hill (BSTC/ChemE-1997) from Underwriters Laboratories; JiNan Glasgow (BSTE-1990) of Glasgow Law Firm; Emily (Paul) Parker (BSTXM-1996) of the College of Textiles, and Jeana Fitzgerald (BSTXD-2001) from Cotton, Inc.

Following the forum, panelists stay to interact more individually with attendees.  Free pizza, provided by the cosponsoring student group, is an added reward to students who remain for the whole event.

                A similar program focused around summer internships is held each spring. This forum allows current students and a host company representative to talk about the advantages of participating in a summer internship.

                If you, or your company, would be interested in participating in such a program, please feel free to contact Kent Hester at kent_hester@ncsu.edu, or 919-515-6530 r