There are two ways you can connect with your alumni community to suit your needs, motivations and availability.
One-off meetings
These connections can be used to cover quick career topics and ask questions that can be answered in a single meeting (30 minutes - 1 hour)
Topics might include
- Industry awareness - 'What's happening in your industry at the moment?'
- Understanding career paths - 'Can you tell me about your career path?'
- Industry networking - 'What associations or other networking opportunities are relevant for your industry?'
- Quick CV, cover letter, social media profile reviews
Ongoing partnerships
Some career questions need more than one meeting to address and will benefit from the ongoing exchange of questions and reflections between mentor and mentee. The default duration of these partnership on the platform is three months, but individual partnerships can range from a couple of meetings over a couple of weeks to partnerships lasting several months.
- Career planning and progression (e.g. building an understanding of and plan for the mentee's future career path).
- Industry skills and experiences (e.g. knowing which skills and and experiences are valuable in the industry and how to develop them).
- Job hunting strategies (e.g. where are jobs advertised; how to demonstrate relevant skills and experiences sought by employers in the industry)
- Interview preparation (including mock interviews) and reviews
Making the most of the one-off meetings and ongoing partnerships
Mentees and mentors can choose to engage in either or both connection types, depending on their needs and availability, and the two types can complement each other.
A mentee and mentor engaged in an ongoing partnership might decide that the mentee should request one-off meetings with other mentors to gather information about the industry or typical career paths, to inform discussions in the partnership. This may also be valuable networking practice for the mentee.
Alternatively, a one-off meeting might extend into an ongoing partnership, inspire addition one-off meetings, or ongoing partnerships with other mentors.
Finally, some mentors may request that mentees start with a one-off meeting before committing to an ongoing partnership.