LUSEM Alumni in safe hands!

LUSEM alumni make themselves heard, they are determined, find good jobs and are great ambassadors for the faculty. But good ambassadorship starts with satisfied alumni. How do they become satisfied and what does the alumni work look like at the School? We met with Sara Sari, Alumni Coordinator at the Dean's Office, to find out more.

Why alumni at LUSEM

Hi Sara, what's so good about the alumni activities at LUSEM?

“It’s great to highlight our education for external partners and friends but also within LUSEM by the means of our alumni. To be able to invite back former students, now as alumni working in different fields and companies, is rewarding. They can inspire, support and help students to develop and show the possibilities and the variety of career paths. And we give back things that may be important to them, for example through valuable insights via our research, getting to know how students think, and the opportunity to grow their network by connecting with fellow alumni as well as partner companies.“

At the LUSEM alumni website it says that the community offers lifelong learning, endless networking possibilities and a bridge between academia and business. And that the alumni are valuable ambassadors. Sara explains that the alumni often are interested in connecting and want to keep in contact with their 'alma mater' and to recruit LUSEM students to their companies. The alumni are well aware of the education at LUSEM, that the students are ambitious and attractive in the job market.  

To whom is the LUSEM Alumni Network available?

“The network itself is exclusive to those who are members, you won't be part of the alumni network before you have studied 30 credits. However, you are still invited to some of the alumni and career inspirational events as a student, as a 'preview' to broaden your perspective on career paths. When it comes to prospective students I can help them to get in touch with our UniBuddy ambassadors. The students can get information about studies at LUSEM, what they led to, career paths and so on. And as soon as you are a student at LUSEM, you can right from the start get in touch with an alum if you want to, before you become one yourself.“

When and how do you approach the students and tell about the alumni network?

“We try to introduce the Alumni Network very early to the students so that they know it exists and what it means to be a member and how they can benefit from it. We do that by hosting inspirational events with alumni from the programmes that can talk with current students about their student life, career journey after graduation and share their tips and tricks with the students. I also cooperate a lot with master coordinators, programme directors and Career services.“

LUSEM alumni can meet and connect all over the world. Here a group of former LUSEM students at an alumni after work in Amsterdam arranged by Alumni Coordinator Sara Sari during summer of 2022.

The vision

What do you want to accomplish with the alumni work at LUSEM?

“I would really like to increase the understanding about how important it is to stay connected and to get all the programmes, specifically the master to host and invite others to alumni events of their own. The reason being is that the majority of our master programmes are only 1 year long, so it is very intense which is why it’s extra important that they meet with alumni that can encourage and inspire them further on their next step. I also want to improve the engagement among alumni in the network. Usually the alumni are really engaged initially but I want that to continue. To increase the awareness of alumni activities and incorporate it as a part of the activities of each programme with the help of the programme coordinators and directors at LUSEM is also one of my main goals,“ Sara says.

Coming up during spring 

During spring some interesting activities are coming up like a get-together with the people connected to the so called LUSEM Mentorship Programme which is a rather new networking idea at LUSEM, involving alumni. It started a couple of years ago and the aim is to prepare students for working life through building relations with alumni mentors. This creates a reverse mentoring, leadership development and improved personal and career development. 

Different alumni events in cooperation with master programmes at LUSEM are also coming up, an alumni get-together in London in cooperation with the Lund University Alumni Network and an alumni event during the Sustainability week in April. 

Summarizing it seems as if the alumni activities are in safe hands at LUSEM, in Sara's hands that is. And it's clear she continues to hold onto it.