Career Mentoring

1. Giving back feels great: I’ve had so many breaks, helpful colleagues and brilliant mentors myself during my career who have made a real difference helping to inform my decisions so it felt right that I might do the same in a formal structure rather than informally with colleagues.

2. It’s a win-win for all parties: The first career step seems tougher now than when I graduated back in the day. Social media has a major impact on how young people relate to the world. Student stress levels are much higher and there is significant growth in mental health issues reported across media. Mentoring helps to create another support bridge between young talent, the University and potentially business leaders through internships/placements. 

3. It's a skill refresh: If you're a leader then you're probably already committed to lifelong learning and my experience with undergraduates has been highly positive. They're bright, socially savvy and will teach you just as much as you’re likely to teach them especially when it comes to using the very latest collaborative tools. This will stretch you and you will grow. My last mentee is a keen content curator and blogger with aspirations to work in marketing/social marketing which means I’ve learnt a lot from her as well. 

4. The results are measurable: Setting goals at the start of the relationship means you can create measuring posts during a specified period. Doing this well means you push the mentee and yourself to make it work for both of you. Together we created a list of the KPIs (key performance indicators) that we would use to measure how the relationship was working. My last mentee found both spring and summer internships during our short relationship and is already considering roles at the end of her studies.

5. Watching people grow is one of life’s greatest gifts: The impact you will have on confidence, thinking styles, boundaries, independence of thought, creativity is immense. You can make a real difference and this is definitely a two-way street. I’ve picked up some great insights into different working styles, as well as a deeper understanding of the challenges facing our young talent. I think I’m better prepared to be valuable going forward.

6. You are supported in the role: Regular status check-ins by the University and short surveys help to focus your effort and provide the opportunity to ask questions about progress.

Young talent deserves our support, they are our future. My mentees are bold, self-demanding and will find a way to make it happen. All they need is encouragement and direction, helping them to build the soft skills needed to perform in the real world.