Alumnus John Goble, (Electronic Engineering ‘86) is no stranger to networking. A management consultant by profession, he’s also a regular guest lecturer for the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department. What Goble didn’t expect was that when it comes to networking, many Cal Poly students have no idea no idea where to start.

“When somebody says, well you should ‘network’, if you’re a student that word has no meaning to you,” Goble explained.

Explaining the concept of networking and helping students get started is something Goble does often in his role as a volunteer alumni mentor on the university’s online mentoring and networking platform, Cal Poly Career Connections.

Cal Poly Career Connections is easy to sign up for, free to use and exclusive to Cal Poly alumni and students. When Goble, who has some past experience as a mentor, heard about the new online platform, he was excited to try it out.

“Anything that helps me get organized and makes it easier for me to mentor, I’m all in.” he said. “It also makes it easier for the students to reach out to me,” he added. “They’re not as comfortable with LinkedIn, but this works for them.”

I was worried that I would need to be specially trained to be a mentor and it wasn’t that at all. It’s simply talking with the students, and it’s amazing - all of the questions they’ve had have been ones that I could answer.
John Goble
Electronic Engineering, '86

Since May of 2019, Goble has mentored 10 students through Career Connections and his efforts have directly led to the hiring of at least one recent graduate so far. Some of the interactions have been as short as an email or two, none have required more than a phone or Zoom call, some emails and a bit of planning.

“I have time that I can give back and in doing so, make a difference in the lives of students,” Goble said. “Plus, it gives me an excuse to re-connect with people in my own network. It’s a win-win,” he said.

Giving back as an alumni mentor may sound like a commitment at first, Goble explained, but in his experience, mentoring students has been a lot less time consuming and less complicated than might be expected.

“I was worried that I would need to be specially trained to be a mentor and it wasn’t that at all,” Goble said. “It’s simply talking with the students, and it’s amazing - all of the questions they’ve had have been ones that I could answer.”

After the initial set up of his Career Connections account, which took around five minutes, Goble said he hasn’t had to log in. Students find him based on his profile and their queries are sent directly to his email. Goble said he gives a lot of the same advice to students: do your homework ahead of time, send a thank you email after an interview; follow up when you send a resume; and get your personal elevator pitch ready. He estimates he spends about 30 minutes on an initial call and then follows up with a few emails. Goble said many students need help with their job search and most of the time he’s able to offer assistance quickly and easily.

Most of his mentoring relationships have been quick, but rewarding, Goble said, made even easier by the use of Zoom conferencing calls. The experience has been one that Goble highly recommends to alumni who have advice to give and 30 minutes that they can spare.

“You need to want to give back and you need to want to help Cal Poly students,” Goble said. “If that’s you, then Cal Poly Career Connections makes it easy.”

To sign up for Career Connections and start mentoring students, go to careerconnections.calpoly.edu.