Webinar
The Human Advantage: Why Networking Matters More in an AI-Driven Job Market
An inside connection can make a job seeker nearly 7x more likely to get hired. Higher ed has the alumni network. More than ever, students need the know-how and access to unlock its potential.
Date: October 21, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Trusted by innovative institutions worldwide
10,000,000+ alumni ready to volunteer across our partners
Webinar Overview
The evidence is hard to ignore: an inside connection can make a job seeker nearly 7x more likely to get hired. Yet many young professionals say they don’t know how to build the relationships that can create those opportunities.
Now add AI. Researching companies, tailoring résumés, and submitting applications are becoming easier to automate. So what happens when everyone can apply to everything? We’ll take a look at what we think the job search could look like by 2030, and why the traditional application may become less useful as a way for candidates to stand out.
That makes knowing how to network more important. Join Steve Dalton, author of The 2-Hour Job Search, and Max Leisten, founder and CEO of Protopia, for a conversation about what students need to navigate that future. Timed with the launch of the third edition of The 2-Hour Job Search, Steve will share why networking matters even more in an AI-driven job market, what good networking actually looks like, and what he changed in the new edition to reflect the world students are entering.
But knowing how is only half the equation. Students also need access to people worth knowing. We’ll explore what institutions can do to make their alumni networks easier to use, more inclusive, and available at scale, giving every student the skills and the access to benefit from the networking advantage higher ed already has.
What you’ll learn:
What recent data tells us about the growing advantage of an inside connection
What we think AI could do to the traditional job application process by 2030
Why networking may become even more important as applying becomes easier
What Steve changed in the third edition of The 2-Hour Job Search, and what students need to know about networking now
How institutions can give every student the skills and access to take advantage of their alumni network
How career and alumni teams can make networking more inclusive and scale it without creating thousands of formal mentoring relationships
