Alicia Syrett W99 experienced a moment of School-inspired serendipity in early 2014 at the Wharton Women in Business lunch. She came across a promotion for, the new Wharton Board of Directors’ Resume Book, encouraging her to submit her resume. After getting more information from Cara Costello, director of alumni services for Wharton MBA Career Management, Syrett realized that she should be the one flipping through resumes.

Syrett, CEO of Pantegrion Capital and board member of NY Angels, is involved in seed- and early-stage investments. She says the need for qualified, skilled and suitable candidates for board positions always exists. This time, her portfolio company HeTexted—an online relationship advice platform at www.hetexted.com—was in need of an advisory board member. Within 48 hours of contacting Costello, Syrett had a book of Wharton resumes at her disposal.

One resume “jumped out” at her, recalls Syrett—Alicia Dai W08. Dai participated in the Wharton Board of Directors’ Resume Book because she was interested in applying the fundraising skills she’d gained in her position at a major Internet company in a different way. Within the month, Dai earned an appointment to the HeTexted advisory board.

The exchange was very beneficial for both parties.

“They were really appreciative of her input and told me she was the best introduction I had made,” Syrett says of Dai and the startup founders.

For Dai, the experience was an amazing learning opportunity.

“It’s great to be exposed to more than I am at my current job,” she says.

The Resume Book was conceived in 2012 when Costello perceived a need. Senior-level alumni sought a way to advance their careers by serving on boards—to fulfill a particular area of personal passion or to take on a leadership role and add breadth and depth to their professional experience and network, Costello explains.

Wharton MBA Career Management starts the process by collecting resumes from alumni. When a company or search firm reaches out, Costello works to send qualified, matching resumes from the Resume Book within 48 hours of the request.

So far, over 20 searches have taken place, and 850 resumes have been sent. Several successful matches have already occurred, including placements at a major corporation, startups and nonprofits, ranging from executive-level positions to junior board positions. Companies conducting searches include top executive search firms, smaller private equity shops, and firms in across 15 industries and regions (e.g., social impact/impact investing, technology, startups and nonprofits). As of this writing, there are 310 resumes in the book.

Connect With Us: To hire board talent, visit http://whr.tn/resume-book. To participate in the Wharton Board Book, visit http://whr.tn/join-board.