3 Reasons EverTrue is Awesome for Alumni Networking

Cultivating a strong network is critical when it comes to building a successful, fulfilling career. Things move quickly in the digital age, today’s most coveted skillset may be obsolete tomorrow. Even if you manage to stay relevant by continuing to develop your skills and adapting your career plans as you progress, you will fail if you lack a network. As co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman states in his book, The Startup of You, “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing the game solo, you’ll always lose out to a team.”

For many, alumni networks can be the most valuable and underutilized networks we have. Your shared experience of attending the same the educational institution is powerful thread that ties you to thousands of professional contacts. At Startup Institute, we are building a powerful network of innovators, technologists, and startup enthusiasts— a network of individuals committed to helping one another navigate through (the sometimes turbulent waters of) their career. Making it easy for our alumni to connect and build relationships with one another is extremely important which is why we offer them EverTrue.

In addition to being one of our rockstar Partner Companies in Boston, EverTrue is a mobile app that provides access to an alumni network right on your smartphone. It’s a fast an easy way for alumni to discover people that can help and support them professionally. While many alumni communities struggle to provide value due to the outdated information they provide, EverTrue’s preferred partnership with LinkedIn allows alumni access professional data updated in real-time.

Here are 3 reasons why we think EverTrue is awesome for connecting our alumni network:

1. You can sort by industry, company, or location. EverTrue recently launched version 3.0 of their app, offering deeper LinkedIn integration, including this new feature. We’re loving this ability to sort and filter your network on these key criteria. Want to identify Startup Institute alumni that work in e-learning or do market research? Easy. Click over to the directory view and apply a filter to view alumni in those industries. Trying to find a contact at a specific startup where you’re trying to get a foot in the door? Filter by company to see who in the SI network works there. I used Vsnap as an example below; as you’ll see, we currently have 3 alumni that works there.

2. It makes connecting a cinch. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is an email address worth? We think it’s more than that. With 182.9 billion emails sent per day worldwide, according to the Email Statistics Report by Radicati Group, having a proper email address can be the most important factor in forming an initial connection. With access to your alumni community on EverTrue, you also have access to everyone’s email address—just click on an individual’s profile it’s right there along with your common connections and their work, educational, and SI cohort history. To make connecting even easier, EverTrue gives you the ability to email directly through the app. (No, they won’t hold your hand and write they email for you, but you can check out this post for advice on how to send a cold email.)

3. Users can visualize their whole alumni network. Location. Location. Location. We hear this over and over again when it comes to house hunting, but what about networking? The location of your network matters. Luckily for Startup Institute alumni, EverTrue is location-aware and their mapping feature lets you visualize the network. Search nearby or find alumni in other locations by doing a quick search based on city or zip code. Traveling or moving to another city? Use this feature to connect with SI alumni in the area. Did you know we have at least 4 alumni in Seattle?

So there you have it, access to our ever-growing network in the palm of your hand. If you haven’t already, take advantage of this free tool and download it from the app store today.

PS. This post wouldn’t be complete without a quick shout out to our three alumni currently working at EverTrue: David Ohayon, Kathryn Crimmins, and Joanna Vinick. Keep up the good work!

This post is by Caroline da Cunha, Marketing Manager at Startup Institute Boston and proud SI alumni. Connect with her on twitter @dacunhac.