The NetworQ web site at alumni.queensu.ca/networq

When history student Matthew Halliwell, Artsci’10, signed up for Queen’s online career mentoring community, NetworQ, last winter, he never expected to get career advice from the future principal, Daniel Woolf, Artsci’80.

Launched by the Queen’s University Alumni Association in 2004, NetworQ gives students and alumni the opportunity to connect online and share career experiences and advice, to ask questions, and to make contacts in their fields of interest.

After learning about NetworQ at a Queen’s Student Alumni Association Career Conference, Matthew logged in, hoping for some advice about what to do with his degree, and started an email conversation with the Dean of Arts at the University of Alberta.

“Like a lot of arts students,” said Matthew, “I wasn’t sure what I could use my degree for. But when I started using NetworQ and emailing Dr. Woolf, I realized there were more options than I thought.”

It was a bit of a surprise for Matthew when he heard a few months later that Woolf had been named Principal. “He was really helpful and quick to respond and answer my questions,” he said. “It was a great experience.”

On NetworQ, alumni volunteers can create profiles outlining their educational backgrounds, career progression and changes, interests, and any specific topics they would like to discuss. Students and alumni who visit NetworQ can view the various profiles – which is the most popular use of the tool – and some, like Matthew, choose to make contact with specific volunteers.

Daniel Woolf was an active alumnus long before he returned to campus. “I think it is very useful for alumni to talk about what they do,” he says. “It is just a great way to feel that you are contributing to that multi-generational aspect that is so much part of Queen’s.”

For more information on NetworQ, or to create a profile, visit alumni.queensu.ca/networq