Career Mentoring - FAQs

• When I sign on as a volunteer, can others on the web see my e-mail address?
• My e-mail address is not up to date. How can I change it?
• What happens when I change jobs?
• How do I remove myself from searches when I can't participate or when my workload is too high?
• What if I get too much e-mail from students or alumni?
• What if nobody contacts me?
• Am I expected to help the student or alum find a job?
• What kind of information will the student or alum want from me?
• If I'm looking to hire someone (either for the summer or permanently) and I'm considering Queen's students or alumni, what should I do?
• I run a small business. Can I contact other volunteers to do business networking?

When I sign on as a volunteer, can others on the web see my e-mail address?

No. The Queen's site is password protected. In order to gain access to the site a person must have a user ID and password.

In order to maintain a further level of privacy, we have elected to provide a method of e-mail communication that does not display an individual's e-mail address. uses a blind messaging system in which users see a "Contact this person via e-mail" link rather than an actual e-mail address. Thus, your primary e-mail address will never be revealed until you send a reply to an e-mail question. At that point, the recipient of the reply will see your e-mail address.

My e-mail address is not up to date. How can I change it?

There are two ways to do this: through the Common Room @ Queen's or through the site.

• In the Common Room, you can update your e-mail address by clicking on "Update my profile" in the left navigation bar. Scroll down to the "Personal" section and select "Click to update", change your e-mail address and click on the "Update" button at the top of that section.
• In the site click on "Manage your networking profile". Under "Networking Contact Information" select "Click to update." Update your "Contact E-mail Address" and click on "Update."
• If you would prefer to e-mail your change of address, please send your name, degree, year, current mailing address and new mailing address, phone number and e-mail address to records@queensu.ca or call 1-800-267-7837.

Please note that changes made in one site will automatically be updated in the other, so there is no need to update your address in both locations.

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To update your job title, go into "My Profile" and "Click to update" under "Current Professional Information." At the top of the page there is a section that indicates "Click here and your current job position info will automatically be listed as your most previous job position." You will see the message "Do you really want to make your current job info your most recent past job position?" Click "OK," and you will be prompted to update your profile to reflect your new position. Your current job position information will now be listed as your most recent past job position. Both of these positions will be included in searches completed by users of the system.

How do I remove myself from searches when I can't participate or when my workload is too high?

You can manage your participation in at any time by changing your profile status. You can temporarily deactivate your profile, making your profile unavailable in searches of the NetworkQ volunteer database. If you decide to opt out until a specific date, you will be automatically reinstated on that date and you will be notified via e-mail about your reinstatement. You may also opt out indefinitely by selecting "Until further notice". "Active status" means other users can view your profile and contact you.

Inactive profiles are not erased or deleted from the system; other users simply cannot view them and your profile will not come up in any networking search.

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What if I get too much e-mail from students or alumni?

The program is driven entirely by the needs of the students and alumni who come looking for information, making it is impossible to predict how often any one volunteer will be contacted. If you are working in a career field that is very popular, you may get more contacts than the average volunteer. If you find that too many searchers are contacting you, you can reduce the level of contact simply by inactivating your profile for a specified amount of time. While your profile is inactive, your name will not appear on any searches.

The program is driven entirely by the needs of the students and alumni who come looking for information, making it is impossible to predict how often any one volunteer will be contacted. If you work in a career field that is highly specialized or not well-known, you may not be contacted for quite some time. If this happens to you, please don't be discouraged. You are providing a very valuable service by having your name stand in the database for those individuals who may eventually find it there. Please also remember that even if searchers don't contact you, they may still be looking at your profile and benefiting from it. On , you can monitor how many times your profile has been viewed by going into your profile and looking at the "Total Views" section.

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Am I expected to help the student or alum find a job?

As a volunteer, you agree to spend time sharing information with Queen's students and alumni by e-mail. You are not required to spend additional time helping them to find work in your field or in your company, though you may choose to refer a student or alum to someone who can help them with this search. Also, Queen's students and alumni can always be referred to the Queen's Career Services web site.

What kind of information will the student or alum want from me?

The type of questions you will receive will vary greatly. Many of them may resemble questions identified by Queen's Career Services in "the art of the information interview". Click here to find out more about the information interview.

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Queen's Career Services is set up to assist employers who have a placement to offer. Click here to get more information on how to go about posting your placement.

is designed to facilitate students-alumni and alumni-alumni connections. Yes, you are encouraged to use to connect with volunteers for the purposes of business networking. However, it is not acceptable to use the database to advertise your product or service to the community.

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Searchers

• Where do I go if I am looking for a job?
• What's the best way to perform a search?
• What if I can't find someone who matches my interest?
• Can I ask to meet a volunteer in person?
• Can I ask a volunteer to help me find a job or placement?
• Are there any questions I shouldn't ask the volunteer?
• Can I ask the volunteer to comment on my resume?
• I'm planning to travel. Can I ask a volunteer to give me advice about their city?
• I'm thinking of starting a new company, can I ask a volunteer about my proposed new product?
• How does the "Send an e-mail" form work?

Career Services Navigator (CSN) is a dynamic on-line connection to a variety of the features of the Queen's Career Services web site. This application allows alumni to: search for jobs online, submit applications online (where requested by employers), sign up for counseling appointments and workshops (where alumni are eligible), search for special events and employer information sessions online, place resumes in a resume pool and more. For more information check out CSN .

is an online platform for students and alumni to connect, network and share career experiences, opportunities and issues. Its purpose is to enable students and alumni to benefit from the working experience of Queen's alumni volunteers, who can provide them with an invaluable source of information, advice, and encouragement. Students and alumni who are looking to get career-related information can search the volunteer database to find alumni who have experience in their field of interest. After reviewing the volunteer profiles, students and alumni may contact volunteers by e-mail to ask questions.

To get the best results from a search, start by identifying the criteria that interest you and select them in the search module. If your search results obtain a volunteer list that is too long or too short, you can repeat the search by using more general criteria to increase the length of the resulting list, or more specific criteria to reduce it.

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If your search is unsuccessful, try using different search criteria to see if you can find a volunteer in your general area of interest. If that doesn't work, e-mail @queensu.ca and we will try to find a volunteer for you. Please be aware that this may take some time.

Make sure to check back often, as new profiles are added every day!

The program is intended primarily as an e-mail communication program involving students and volunteers. In-person meetings are outside the intent of this program and neither a student nor a volunteer is expected to participate in such a meeting. In most cases, in-person meetings are not possible for geographic reasons. In those cases where an in-person meeting is possible, and where both parties agree, they may choose to do so at their own discretion. In such a case, in order to prevent any misunderstandings and for everyone's protection, we strongly recommend that meetings occur in a public place and not in a private place (such as in someone's home or in an office behind closed doors). This suggestion is not intended to frighten or embarrass anyone; we have never had any problems when students and volunteers have met in person. However, it is a prudent precaution that is in everyone's best interest. We strongly recommend that those volunteers and students choosing to meet in person abide by it.

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volunteers agree to spend time sharing information with Queen's students and alumni by e-mail. They are not required to spend additional time helping you to find work in their field or in their company, though they may choose to refer you to someone who can help you with this type of search. Please be aware that you can always search for job postings on the Queen's Career Services Web site.

The kinds of questions you would be asking the volunteer are outlined in Queen's Career Services article "the art of the information interview". Click here to get more information about the "information interview." In general, volunteers are asked to offer advice based on their own working experience. Volunteers are not expected to dispense their professional services free of charge. For example, a volunteer who is a lawyer may relay information about a career in the legal field but is not expected to offer legal advice.

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Can I ask the volunteer to comment on my resume?

Yes, you can ask the volunteer to comment on your resume. However, please keep in mind that most volunteers are not professional career counselors. Their comments and suggestions will be based on their own career experience. You may still want to seek input from a career counseling professional.

Yes, you can. is designed to facilitate student-alumni and alumni-alumni connections. However, please be aware that volunteers have agreed to take time to converse with students and alumni in the area of career development. Please do not impose upon them to help you find local accommodations or other such tasks. That would fall outside the scope of this program.

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I'm thinking of starting a new company.  Can I ask a volunteer about my proposed new product?

Yes, you can ask a volunteer to comment on your new product. Please bear in mind, however, that volunteers are only expected to give you advice or suggestions based on their own career experience. The rule is not to provide professional market research services. For that you will need to consult a professional market research firm.

When you use the "Send an e-mail" form, your message will be forwarded to the volunteer's e-mail address. The volunteer will be able to reply to you directly, as your e-mail address will appear in the reply address line.

Please note: If you do not receive a response to your e-mail, either the address we have on file is no longer valid, the recipient may not check the account frequently, or the recipient may have chosen not to respond. Please do not be discouraged. There may be another volunteer waiting to make a connection.

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