Are you a Schar School alumni looking for ways to give back? Or a recent graduate or current Schar School student looking to develop or grow your professional network, receive advice on job applications, graduate school options, or simply to explore different career paths? Consider joining the Schar School Alumni Mentorship Program as a mentor or mentee!
The Mentorship Program is designed to bring together alumni, current students, and recent graduates in purposeful and rewarding relationships to help bridge the gap between the classroom and the professional world. With the world of business and government changing quickly, having the input and advice of working professionals can help students and new alumni discover rewarding ways to put their degrees to work.
Established alumni will be paired with current students or recent graduates to help them with professional development, career advice, or discuss opportunities for academic pursuits. Aside from personal advising, the program offers networking opportunities to enable participants to further connect with the Schar School alumni community both inside and outside the Washington, D.C. area. Mentors meet regularly with their mentees either in-person or virtually, and cover a range of professional development topics from women in the workplace to leadership development, networking skills, and more.
The Schar School mentorship program offers a full semester of engagement between mentors and mentees, from September through December. The Mentorship Program will offer a new line-up of programming during the Spring Semester. This programming will include career and networking nights, along with presentations and talks from Schar School Alumni, Staff, and Professors on different professional development topics. The schedule for Spring Semester programming will be available via the Schar School Mentorship email listserv later in the Fall Semester.
If you’re looking for a meaningful experience serving as either a mentor or mentee, please complete one or both of these forms by August 21, 2023 (for mentors) or by September 4, 2023 (for mentees):
I am interested in being a mentor.
I am interested in being a mentee.
QUALIFICATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR BEING A MENTEE
The Schar School Mentorship Program is open to current Schar Graduate or Undergraduate students, and all Schar alumni within 3 years of graduation.
To be a mentee, please review the following program guidelines:
- Volunteer Commitment: One Semester (September-December), with monthly (suggested frequency) communication with your mentor (virtual or in person).
- Mentees should be prepared when they attend their meetings to be respectful of their mentor’s time. All mentors are volunteers, please be mindful of their time.
- Prepare for meetings.
- Bring your resume and other relevant documents.
- Have a topic prepared that you would like to discuss.
- Schar School Mentoring Program will send emails on suggested conversation topics in October and November.
- Be prompt and on-time.
- If applicable, provide your mentor read-ahead materials before meetings.
- Continuously show progress as to how you have applied what you learned.
- This can be improvements on your resume or job applications, edits or changes to academic papers or publications, graduate school programs you are interested in exploring, or any other topics covered in meetings.
- Attend the Mentoring Orientation on September 18, 2023 at 6PM EST and other networking events with your mentor.
- Provide feedback to the Mentorship Program. If there are any concerns or issues between you and your mentor, please reach out to the Program Coordinators as soon as possible. The Mentorship Program will also issue a mid-semester survey requesting your feedback.
Program note: The goal of this relationship is not to gain employment through your mentor or their connections. While we understand many participants may be actively seeking employment or other career opportunities during the course of the semester, the mentor serves to help provide general professional advice and guidance, not to actively help a mentee secure employment.
QUALIFICATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR BEING A MENTOR
Open to all current Schar Alumni who have 3+ years of experience in the professional field they want to mentor in.
- Volunteer Commitment: One semester, with monthly (suggested frequency) communication with your mentee(s). Mentors outside the Washington, DC area are encouraged to participate with the understanding they will likely have virtual meetings with mentees.
- If you are a mentor outside of the Washington, DC area, please be sure to communicate any time differences with mentees to ensure appropriate scheduling for your meetings.
- Provide regular, ongoing professional assistance with resumes, identifying career opportunities, and career counseling.
- Attend Mentoring Orientation on September 18, 2023 at 6PM EST and other networking events with your mentee.
- Provide feedback to the Mentorship Program. If there are any issues or concerns between you and your mentor, please reach out to the Program Coordinators as soon as possible. The Mentorship Program will also issue a mid-semester survey requesting feedback.
MENTORSHIP PROGRAM TIPS
- Use the matching form to your advantage
- Please detail the type of mentor/mentee you are looking for. What type of experience do you want them to have? What can you specifically offer?
- Establish goals for the relationship
- Discuss and agree upon the goals of the relationship from the outset.
- Establish communication methods and frequency of contact
- Will you meet virtually, in-person or both?
- How often will you meet? It can be helpful to agree on a schedule and select placeholder dates from the outset.
Thank you for your interest! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Mentorship Program Coordinators with any questions.
Mentorship Program Coordinators:
Paul Goodfellow '17 MPA
paul.goodfellow.8.1986@gmail.com
Ashley Raphael Cole '17 MPA
araphae4@gmail.com