Alumni linked in to old firms
This is a summary of an article originally published by L.M. SIXEL in the Houston Chronicle on Feb 3rd 2010.

Janet Roth wasn't looking for a new job.

But her neighbor, a former colleague at Deloitte, encouraged Roth to join the firm's online network for former employees and retirees. Roth had worked at Deloitte for seven years, leaving in 1996 to join one of its clients. 

Late one night Roth was scrolling through Deloitte's alumni site and saw a job opening that sounded interesting. She applied, went through a streamlined interview process and rejoined Deloitte in 2007. 

She joined the network mostly for social reasons, “but I ended up with a job,” said Roth, who is now senior manager in the mergers and acquisitions group in Houston.

It used to be that when you walked out the door, that was it. The working relationship was over once you turned in your ID badge and collected your last paycheck. 

But many companies are reconsidering that strategy. After all, skilled employees aren't that easy to find, especially ones who know the corporate culture. So companies have taken a page from social sites and launched their own alumni networks.

We may be down, but don’t let the seemingly constant barrage of poor economic indicators make you forget that some sectors are holding their own and even growing. That’s the message reverberating throughout the oil and gas industry.

Pemex, Petrobras, and CNOOC all recently announced hefty increases in their offshore budgets, despite low oil prices, according to the March 2009 OPC Newsletter. And according to Dow Jones Newswire, with nearly US $40 billion in its coffers, giant ExxonMobil is poised to change the landscape with what could be the biggest round of deal-making since a fertile period 10 years ago when oil sold for less than $10 a barrel. Simply put, oil companies are mindful of not repeating the errors of the ’90s when many companies reduced activity to such an extent that rebounding when prices rose was costly.