17.12.24
Wednesday 10 February 2021
Since 2019, St Catharine’s College has invested in providing a professional networking and e-mentoring platform known as CatzConnect for the exclusive use and benefit of St Catharine's students and alumni.
Around 950 members of the College community have already created CatzConnect accounts. From the breakdown of users, we know that there are roughly 790 alumni standing by to share advice and expertise with current students and recent graduates.
Deborah Loveluck, the College’s Director of Development, comments, “St Catharine’s is a family and over the years I have been asked many times by alumni – how can I help our students? That is why we invested in an online platform to allow this to happen, with one generation supporting the next.”
Benefits for students and recent graduates:
- Catz alumni work in every industry, all around the world, and can provide current students with valuable careers advice.
- CatzConnect is designed to help users identify prospective mentors using a variety of search filters and request advice via email or phone to help with:
- CV or applications
- Workplace visit
- Work shadowing and work placements
- Internships and jobs
Current undergraduate Mahi Shah (2018, Modern and Medieval Languages) explains, “CatzConnect is a fantastic platform, where you can connect with an entire range of alumni, both in terms of subject and field of work. I’ve found it really helpful to see how other Catz MMLers progressed after graduation, and the specific mentoring support that I’ve had has given me lots to think about!”
Recent graduate Jeroen Van Hautte (2018, Computer Science) adds, “While studying at Catz, I co-founded a start-up aimed at large enterprise customers, and CatzConnect has given me the opportunity to connect with several people that have helped us improve our value proposition, as well as giving access to their network. Above all, it keeps surprising me how these people, who are extremely busy as is, invest so much of their time and energy into helping us grow. I’d say my experience has nothing but positive, and I hope the platform can do the same for a lot of others!”
Benefits for alumni:
- Reconnect and keep in touch: Rekindle old friendships and make new ones through CatzConnect's directory and range of search filters.
- Interactive map: Whether traveling on business, planning a holiday or moving to another region or country, the CatzConnect map helps alumni find contacts anywhere in the world.
- Professional networking: CatzConnect can help alumni looking to build networks, find someone working in a particular industry, or contact someone with specialist expertise. Users can also sync a CatzConnect profile with a LinkedIn account to expand their professional networks.
- Mentoring: Alumni are encouraged to share professional insights and advice with students and other alumni – from answering questions by email to speaking with someone about a particular industry or even offering work experience. We have created a helpful guide for alumni interested in mentoring through CatzConnect.
Alumnus Nicky Lai (2007, Mathematics) comments, “I was incredibly lucky to have the support and guidance of a Catz alumnus when I was looking for a first job and after I started working – so signing up for CatzConnect is a great way for me to pay back. I have been approached by mathematicians who are keen to apply their quantitative skills in finance. We talk about different quantitative jobs in finance, relevant books they can read and things they can work on to improve their profile.”
