Alumni Insiders View Program offers unique connections

The Alumni Insider’s View Program, which was started over 30 years ago with a student trip to Washington, D.C., is offering multiple events for students to network with St. John’s graduates this February.

The Alumni Insider’s View program is constantly growing and looking for student input on what students want to see, said Victor Ramos, associate vice president of Institutional Advancement.

Upcoming events this month include TCB Alumni Speed Networking and Psychology Connection on Tues. Feb. 8, Young Alumni Success Stories on Wed., Feb. 9, and College to Career on Tues. Feb. 15.

The first trip to Washington D.C. was designed to give students the “inside view of what it’s like to work in Washington,” Ramos said. Alumni from St. John’s working in D.C. gave panels on

different industries in Washington.

According to Ramos, the Office of Alumni Relations wants to show St. John’s students that we have willing alumni all over that constantly want students of their Alma Mater to do well in life and have an edge in the business world.

 “You are a part of the alumni network once you come on campus,” said Ramos. “Once you’re here, you’re a part of the St. John’s family. The alumni want to get involved and want you to succeed like they are.”

The “Day on Wall Street” event is one of the programs big trips. Forty students from both the Queens and Staten Island campuses travel to Manhattan to see the Stock Exchange, Federal Department of Trust and other financial companies

such as Fidelity Insurance.

“Alumni who were helping with the event and showing students around brought their human resources people who took resumes on the spot because they had the mentality of ‘We want to hire our own,” Ramos said.

The Insider’s View Program also offers a variety of events from etiquette classes to interviewing skills in order to prep St. John’s students for the professional world. The workshops are run by alumni that specialize in each particular field.

Freshman Nicole Apps works as a “student insider” for the program and creates videos at the AIV events she attends in order to share them with her fellow classmates.

“I have tons of fun asking our alumni questions about how the students can benefit their futures and make a path for success,”

Apps said.”I learned so much about how to make connections that can benefit my future and what I need to do while

I’m here at St. John’s.”