How Montclair University is using online career tools to serve alumni.

1. ALUMNI CAREER SERVICES CASE STUDY
MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY
OptimalResume helps Montclair State University serve alumni with a high-tech,
high-touch career center.
Modules used: Resume, Letter, Portfolio, Interview, Website, Skills Assessment
Challenge: Providing career help to alumni spread across the world
With alumni spread across the country and the globe, providing career services has always been a challenge for Montclair
University’s Center for Career Services and Cooperative Education staff. The staff knew there was a large segment of alumni that
simply wouldn’t ask for help, and those who did faced phone and email tag, and limited service after 5 o’clock.
Between requests from alumni for digital self-help resources and seeing the way online tools were taking shape, director Maralyn
Kinch knew her office could use the always-on web environment to expand and improve their services to alumni. That’s when she
set out on a mission to become a “high tech, high touch” office.
Solution: New website + online career tools
The team at Montclair didn’t want to abandon their personalized services for alumni, like coaching sessions and resume critiques,
but they wanted to expand their reach, improve the quality of their personal interactions and provide the after-hours and self-
service options alumni were requesting. That’s when they decided to offer more resources online — resources that would both
educate alumni to enhance the quality of their conversations with counselors, as well as provide after-hours and self-service
assistance.
She created a robust website with more than 260 pages of career resources, including recorded workshops and virtual career tools
like OptimalResume. This web-based content is available 24-7, which meets the needs of non-traditional students and expands the
reach of the career center.
Through her OptimalResume online career center, she is able to offer students and alumni six customized learning tools where they
can:
 Build resumes  Publish professional websites
 Write business letters  Create e-portfolios
 Assess their skills  Practice for interviews
Results: Great usage, happy alumni
OPTIMALRESUME.COM
When a visitor registers with OptimalResume, he or she self-selects either alumni or student 1415 WEST NC HIGHWAY 54
status, which allows Montclair to track usage of the software. To date, hundreds of alumni SUITE 103
have created documents using OptimalResume, DURHAM, NC 27707
Because Maralyn and her team customized each resource to match Montclair’s degree 877.998.7654
programs, style and language preferences, Maralyn knows that alumni are producing quality INFO@OPTIMALRESUME.COM
documents, even if they don’t submit them for review. “Alumni create and format resumes WWW.OPTIMALRESUME.COM
according to our rules,” Maralyn said.