During its 12-year existence, the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) has awarded more than 1,400 scholarships to meet its goal of helping students take their first steps in the automotive aftermarket industry.

Now, through its scholarship Web site, GAAS offers its scholarship alumni a new service that can assist them in networking and beginning their aftermarket careers.

The GAAS Scholarship Web site now offers past scholarship recipients the opportunity to post a personal profile in the new “Scholarship Alumni” section. This profile can include contact information, an “about me” area, a photo and a resume.

On their profile page, GAAS scholarship alumni also can check the “seeking employment” box. Employers seeking young professionals for their organizations can search the “Scholarship Alumni” section to recruit new employees.

Eli Allgood, 2008 GAAS Scholarship recipient and designer, has volunteered to be an example. Allgood’s listing can be found by going to www.automotivescholarships.com and following these steps:

Click on the Scholarship Alumni link at the top of the home page. In the Search window, check the “seeking employment” box and click the “GO” button.

Allgood’s listing is shown, along with all other GAAS scholarship alumni seeking employment. Employers may click on Allgood’s link to view his profile and resume, and to contact him.

“If anyone is looking for an outstanding young designer, Eli could be your candidate,” says Pete Kornafel, chairman of the GAAS Scholarship Committee. “We hope this new Alumni section will provide an additional service to scholarship recipients, and be a first step toward building a community of these outstanding young professionals in our industry."

To respect personal privacy, each scholarship alumnus must “opt in” to this new service. They can log-in at the “Alumni Sign Up” link on the home page, update their profile and, if they opt in, check the box to make their profile visible. The listings have been populated from 2004 to 2008. Scholarship recipients from 2003 and earlier who want to be listed, or anyone whose listing is inaccurate or missing should e-mail Pete Kornafel (pete@carquest.com).

To be eligible for a GAAS scholarship, applicants must be enrolled full-time in a college-level program or an ASE/NATEF (National Automotive Technician Education Foundation) certified automotive technical program. Graduate programs and part-time undergraduate programs do not qualify.

Additional scholarship funding comes from industry contributions from individuals, companies and foundations. Contributions can be made to the GAAS Scholarship Fund, c/o Susan Medick at AAIA, (301) 654-6664, or susan.medick@aftermarket.org.