By Chelsea Xu, UL Marketing and Communications.
Sometimes the hardest part of breaking into a career isn’t the resume; it’s the room — knowing how to get in one, and what to do once you’re there.
On April 16, George Mason University Career Services (UCS) and the George Mason Alumni Association brought 57 alumni and 67 students together at the Johnson Center Bistro to work on exactly that. Open to all George Mason students, the third annual Student and Alumni Networking Mixer has become a much-anticipated opportunity to foster the kind of in-person human connection that career development often requires but rarely guarantees.
“Attending the mixer gave me a real sense of belonging because it created space for genuine relationship-building and personal conversations with George Mason alumni who were once in the same shoes as me,” said Mariam Zamir, a business analytics senior at the Costello College of Business. “I connected with professionals I would not have met otherwise, and one of those connections led to an invitation to attend the Women Shaping Business Connect event.”
“The job market doesn’t care about how polished your resume looks if no one knows who you are,” wrote Linh Trinh-An (DMA Piano Performance ’22), one of the alumni attendees, in a reflection posted after the event. “In-person networking still wins. Every time. No algorithm. No application portal. No ‘easy apply’ button. Just presence, conversation, and human connection.”
That ethos shaped the room. Alumni and students from across the university moved through conversations that, by multiple accounts, extended well past the event itself — contact information exchanged, follow-ups committed to, mentorships initiated.
The evening also marked a transition for at least one attendee. Zayd Hamid (BS Public Administration ’24) attended last year as a student. This year, he returned as an alumnus volunteer, delivering opening remarks on networking strategy and icebreaker tactics. “There’s something powerful about a first-generation student being able to build and extend the ladder for others,” Hamid said.
The 2026 Career Connection Alumni Award, presented to an alumnus who demonstrates exceptional commitment to student career development, went to Riley Vespoli (BA Communication ’15), a senior consultant on the Early Career Programs team at CGI. “My career path hasn’t been a straight line,” Vespoli said upon receiving the honor, “and that’s what makes this recognition even more meaningful.”
“Seeing this room full of vibrant conversation is a beautiful reminder that our George Mason alumni are eager to help students launch their professional careers,” said Mary Claire Kraft, senior manager for Employer & Alumni Engagement at UCS. “Through our strong partnership with the George Mason Alumni Association, we hope to continue hosting events that help students develop the networking skills they need to access the job market and find the opportunities they are working so hard for.”
To learn more about UCS’s events and programming, visit https://careers.gmu.edu/events.