Bowdoin ranks high for the strength of its connections among alumni and students. But what does that look like in person?
A recent LinkedIn analysis ranked Bowdoin fifth in a top ten list of the most connected alumni networks, based on associations between alumni and students on its platform.
The ranking caught the attention of Forbes, which noted that in today’s challenging job market, the people you meet in college can be just as helpful in job searches and hiring as the skills and knowledge you gain in the classroom.
Kristin Brennan, executvie director of Bowdoin’s Office of Career Development and Exploration (CXD), has seen the power of the College community play out repeatedly.
“It is a magical thing we’re all lucky to walk into,” she said. “None of us who are here now could possibly take credit for it—it's a community making itself.”
Brennan listed a few of Bowdoin's qualities that she believes reinforce that bond across generations: “It is very hard to get lost here—you have to really try. There’s a close-knit smallness to the place. Students care for one another. Staff care for students. There is a genuineness about people—students want to make a difference and staff and faculty want to help students make a difference.”
Many alumni, too, are willing to lend a hand to students. When CXD reaches out to graduates for help with its programs, the office receives hundreds of responses—whether to take networking calls with students, post opportunities on the Bowdoin jobs and internships board, or host students for professional visits through programs like CXD Treks.
“They want to help someone whose shoes they once wore,” Brennan said.
Brennan urges alumni to sign up for The Network, a platform Bowdoin created to make it easier for the College's 25,497 alumni to find one another and current students by location, interest, or occupation.
The alumni network has played a significant role in the career of Rachel Tavel ’05. A freelance writer, Tavel posted a message last year on LinkedIn saying she was looking for freelance or full-time work. Sherry Mason, a former CXD career adviser, saw the post and steered her to Irfan Alam ’18, founder and CEO of FrontrowMD. The startup leverages medical experts to support health shoppers.
When the two alumni connected, Alam told Tavel that he was looking to hire a medical writer with her exact background and skills. “It’s been almost a year now that I’ve been working with them, and it’s been an absolute delight,” Tavel said, adding that Frontrow now has several Bowdoin graduates on staff.
Tavel has also benefited from the network on the hiring end. At her previous startup, she offered a job to 2021 graduate Grace Pettengill.
“She was the best person ever—so smart, and kind, and sweet, and we’re still in touch now. She was amazing at her job, amazing at every job we asked of her,” Tavel said. “My point is, I think the Bowdoin network is so helpful and can be such an accelerator to finding a good fit for a role.”
This past year, as Uriel López-Serrano ’20 contemplated some major life decisions, he used the new map feature on The Network to find alumni who could offer him advice. He was considering attending divinity school to become a Marine Corps chaplain.
Despite the specificity of his goal, he found an alumnus living just ten minutes away from him in Denton, Texas, who he thought could speak to his plans—Robert Evans ’76.
“He majored in religion, I majored in religion,” López-Serrano said. “He went to divinity school and then joined the Navy.”
“It was so nice to find someone so close,” López-Serrano added. “We had a great conversation, which was super valuable.”
In the end, López-Serrano decided to put his plans for divinity school on hold and pursue law school. In the meantime, he is training to become a Marine Corps officer, with the goal of becoming a lawyer for the Marines.
George Ellzey ’13 was so pleased with how Bowdoin connections helped him this summer that he reached out to the College's communications office to share the story. After being connected to senior Saruul Jagdagdorj ’27 through Professor of Theater Davis Robinson, Ellzey had coffee with her in Chicago. The meeting led to him inviting Jagdagdorj to join the Chicago-based production team for his new movie, Human Noise.
“She saw what it takes to build a production from the ground up, from preparation through principal photography, and had the opportunity to learn by being inside the process,” Ellzey said. “What excites me is that this was an example of the Bowdoin network functioning as a bridge between education and professional opportunity.”
Jagdagorj, a theater major, said her experience on the production crew will help her with her own independent film this year for her senior capstone project.
“Something that stood out for me in the way George directs is he makes sure everyone feels cared for and supported on set. He made sure to say hi to everyone every day—all eighty-two people,” she said, and then added a little inside joke: “I think that is considered the Bowdoin hello?!”
Bowdoin alumni: Join The Network so students and fellow alumni can find you for advice and connection.
