In a fiber optic system, a method for aligning an incoming beam of light (13) and a target fiber (3) that does not use light travelling down the core of the fiber to make adjustments to the relative positions of the beam of light and the fiber. According to the method of the invention, cladding mounted light detectors (23) detect light in the cladding as the beam of light sweeps across the fiber, and a miminum amount of light detected in the cladding is established during the course of the sweeps. The relative positions of the beam of light and the fiber are then adjusted so that the light detected in the cladding corresponds to the minimum detected during the sweeps.