Become a mentor: Inspire students to unlock their potential

Our Careers Network Mentoring Scheme provides students and recent graduates with the opportunity to be mentored by an industry professional who can support them with transitioning from University into employment.

Our scheme is about motivating and empowering our students and graduates to better understand themselves and their aims – and how they can get there.

Enhancing Skills

With the support of their mentor, our mentees have developed crucial skills for the work environment such as communication skills and learning how to manage professional relationships. They are also able to enhance the skills needed to enter the industry, many mentees have fed back that they are more able to identify and clearly articulate their experiences so they feel confident during the recruitment processes.

Real Insights

Our mentors, who have kindly volunteered their time, are from a wide range of sectors including; arts, theatre, business, charities, consultancy, law, engineering, entrepreneurship, government, healthcare and many more.

Daisy

English student mentored by an Editorial Assistant

“I feel my meetings and conversations with my mentor have provided me with a great understanding of the industry and the application processes for jobs and internships. I feel that this connection will be beneficial for me in the future as I will be able to take her advice forward for my future applications for jobs in the industry.”

Increasing Confidence

By our mentors guiding our students, helping them to set goals, navigating how to achieve these and generally being a ‘cheerleader’ for their mentee, this can be a huge self-confidence boost.

 “I gained so much confidence and perspective from my mentor and feel far more equipped to make decisions about my future” – Al, PhD student

But why volunteer your time to mentor our students? What are the benefits for you?

1. Professional Development

During your mentorship you will be motivating and encouraging your mentee, providing constructive feedback, building rapport, problem-solving and challenging assumptions, all of which can contribute to your professional development and those important leadership qualities. You may even develop skills you hadn’t considered before as one of our mentors.

“My mentee was a pleasure to mentor, she is very proactive and I felt was able to use any advice/information I provided to inform her own research into potential career options that she may be interested in. She will clearly go far in the future. I also learnt from my mentee about writing opportunities within social media and online content. This has enhanced my understanding of other ways to progress in the creative industries in a less traditional way, which I can hopefully pass on to others.” - Felicity, an Assistant Producer (Television)

2. Self-Reflection and Fresh Perspectives

Mentoring can provide an opportunity to reflect on your experiences and skills. By sharing what you have achieved and how you got there, this can prompt thoughts around how you can continue to learn and develop and also be a refreshing reminder of your accomplishments.

"I found it a humbling experience to get to know someone who in some ways looked up to me. We had interesting discussions and I feel like I also had an informative experience by seeing life from a different perspective.” - Gibran, a Clinical Research Fellow

Being exposed to new ways of thinking can introduce new ideas, different ways of thinking and problem-solving.

3. Nurture and Empower Future Talent

The scheme is a great chance to gain an insight into the future graduate talent. Find out what skills and knowledge they are developing during their degree, what are their perceptions of your industry and thoughts around current topics.

“My mentoring experience with my mentee I can only describe as being totally rewarding!! She demonstrates an inner confidence and passion for her business. With the qualities and attitude she exhibits I can only see her achieving great results and making a major impact within the business community.”- Jennifer, Chamber of Commerce

4. Fulfilment of helping someone realise their potential

Perhaps you have experienced the power of a mentoring relationships yourself, or maybe having a mentor is something you feel you missed whilst studying. Either way, it is chance to impart your experiences and insights as one of our mentors.

“Mentoring has been a great experience for me to give something back. For a relatively small amount of effort on my side, I have been able to help my mentee grow and support her on her professional journey.” - Toby, a Senior Business Consultant

Interested in getting involved?

If you would like to get involved and offer your time to support our students and recent graduates, please email mentoring@contacts.bham.ac.uk   

We’re looking forward to welcoming you to our mentoring community and helping us to unlock the potential of the future talent.