Cadet鈥揂lumni Networking Forum Focuses on Opportunities
More than 50 alumni and nearly 1,100 cadets gathered in Memorial Hall and Cocke Hall Saturday, Sept. 29, for the Cadet鈥揂lumni Career Networking Forum, an annual event designed to help cadets take advantage of one of VMI鈥檚 top resources: The alumni network.
Ongoing now for more than 15 years, the forum offers cadets the chance to mix and mingle, either in small groups or one-on-one, with alumni representing a wide range of fields. This year, career fields represented included health and healthcare, information technology and cybersecurity, law enforcement, banking and finance, government, National Guard/reserve, and more.
New this year was an event specially designed for members of the Rat Mass of 2024+3. They gathered in Memorial Hall to hear from two alumni鈥攔etired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. J.D. Johnson 鈥77 and Bill Miller III 鈥89鈥攁bout how to start the process of preparing for life after VMI.
Miller, the father of both an alumnus and a current cadet, urged his listeners to focus on the end goal of employment from the beginning of their cadetships. 鈥淓very college student needs to get multiple full-time job offers,鈥 he said. To that end, it鈥檚 important to focus on internship season, which begins in the summer after a cadet鈥檚 3rd Class year, and make sure to reach out to alumni working for companies offering internships.
鈥淥lder VMI people help younger VMI people,鈥 said Miller, a founding partner of the boutique investment firm 1839 Capital. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what makes VMI people unique and different.鈥
Johnson, who was attending the event for the first time because he鈥檇 been overseas in years past, echoed Miller鈥檚 statement about the importance of not putting off career preparation. 鈥淭his is important to start as early as possible, helping the cadets to think about what鈥檚 next, whether it鈥檚 a military career or a career in business, and how to go about doing that,鈥 he stated. 鈥淚t鈥檚 spooky, sometimes intimidating to people to get started, so to have an opportunity to speak to people who鈥檝e been through that and have managed to make it out alive is an opportunity that cadets need to have.鈥
Johnson noted that he graduated in the era of mandatory commissioning鈥攂ut now, with a multitude of opportunities available to them, cadets need guidance in navigating those opportunities. 鈥淓specially nowadays, it鈥檚 a competitive world,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think VMI sets the cadets up to compete in ways with all kinds of advantages. But they need to understand how to take advantage of that, and they have to be willing to step forward.鈥
In Cocke Hall, upperclass cadets had the chance to speak directly with alumni and sit down one-on-one with select alumni for resume reviews.
Whitney Matthews 鈥07, a professional chef who鈥檇 attended the forum in the past, said she makes the event a priority on her calendar. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 important that the female cadets see female alums,鈥 she stated. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I hope to accomplish. In addition to talking to all the cadets, I try to show the female cadets that we are here … that there鈥檚 [an] alumnae base that wants to support them.鈥
Also attending the forum was Chuck Story 鈥91, who works in sales for Wesco Distribution, a global wholesale distributor of electronic equipment. 鈥淚鈥檓 finding that most cadets don鈥檛 really understand what the alumni network is,鈥 he commented.
Story鈥檚 message to cadets was simple鈥攎ake those connections, attend local chapter events back home, and for those commissioning, attend officer calls when they have the chance, as connections made now can be of enormous benefit down the road. 鈥淚 know handfuls of brother rats that were in the service that can say, 鈥楬ey, I served with Major General Wins [鈥85] when we were in the Army,鈥欌 he said.
Cadets attending the networking forum said the event was well worth attending. 鈥淚鈥檓 going into the Army, but it鈥檚 great to hear about career paths after the Army because I don鈥檛 plan on staying in that long,鈥 said Cadet Rachel Roberson 鈥25, a psychology major who was attending the forum for the first time this year. Roberson is still weighing her options in terms of post-Army careers with thoughts toward either law or nursing and was very appreciative of the chance to meet with so many alumni.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot of schools that have [events like these],鈥 she commented. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really lucky at VMI鈥攖hey care where we go after [graduation] and want us to succeed.鈥
Cadet Nathan Vanness 鈥25, a physics major, also noted his appreciation for the 鈥渟pectacular鈥 opportunity the networking forum provided. 鈥淭his is an opportunity that a lot of people don鈥檛 realize is useful until they come down here and see it,鈥 he said. Vanness added that one of his roommates, who is interested in law, took some coaxing to come to the networking forum but was fully engrossed in the event from the moment he arrived.
After VMI, Vanness plans to commission into the Air Force鈥攁nd while his initial career path is set, he was very glad to have help with soft skills like networking. 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to look at making a resume and connecting and doing networking with the rest of the alumni network, which I鈥檓 sure is like 100% a useful skill that I鈥檓 going to need to know,鈥 he stated. 鈥淰MI is a place that provides opportunities that are unexpected.鈥
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