アレックスの話じゃないか！？

12月に卒業したアレックスは、Cummins Inc社からオファーを貰っていたのだが、プロボを出発する前日に、会社から解雇通知を貰うという、とんでもない経験をしている。もう家財も、車も現地に送った後で、家の契約も済ましていたはずだ。その彼が、そこから、どうやって仕事見つけたのか、詳しく書いてある。

So Cavallini turned to his school, which turned to Brian Hancock, a vice-president at Whirlpool whom Cavallini had worked for and impressed during his internship the summer before. As important as that good impression, Cavallini says, was that Hancock was a fellow alumnus of Brigham Young University. The alum sympathized with Cavallini's plight, and placed a call that afternoon to the CEO of a Whirlpool supplier. Company executives interviewed Cavallini within days and then offered him a job. He accepted, and in less than a week the 28-year-old went from being unemployed to being upwardly mobile.

The MBA alumni network is an integral part of the package at most business schools. Stories like Cavallini's, involving an alumnus making a crucial introduction or putting in a good word, were never uncommon, but they're becoming increasingly critical as companies tighten their belts and more traditional recruitment forums such as career fairs run dry.

An old saying, "It's not what you know, it's who you know," rings particularly true as recruiters are deluged with qualified applicants and seemingly flawless résumés get lost in the shuffle. But even absent a professional connection, schools are turning toward alumni as a source for fresh job offers, relying on the foundation of trust many school networks automatically confer. InCircle, an alumni networking site used at several U.S. schools, reflects a common sentiment with its revision of the old axiom: "It's not who you know," InCircle's slogan says, "it's how you know them."

Kevin Knox, director of the alumni association at Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business, puts it even more directly: "The network has never been more important."