Debunking Mentoring Myths

With the deadline to apply to our Graduate Mentoring Scheme approaching, we wanted to breakdown some of the myths around mentoring and share the experiences of some of our students and graduates who have previously taken part in the scheme.

To first provide you with an overview, the scheme is an exclusive opportunity for recent graduates to be mentored by industry professionals for a 6 month period. You meet with your mentor on a 1–2–1 basis (virtually at the moment) and have conversations focused around your career development. The mentor is there to empower and motivate you. They share their experiences to guide you to answers that are right for you.

So let’s go through some of the myths that may be stopping you from applying.

Myth 1 — “I don’t know what I want to do career-wise so wouldn’t have anything to talk to my mentor about”

You don’t need to have a career path figured out to have a mentor. You might have a few options in mind and simply talking these through with someone who is separate from your family, friends and peers can be so enlightening.

Here’s Evie, a UoB graduate who is now one of our mentors. Evie tells us about her journey from not knowing what she wanted to do in her final year and not having had much experience with recruitment processes, to now being a Senior Marketing Executive.

Myth 2 — “There won’t be a mentor relevant to what I want do”

We have hundreds of mentors from a wide range of sectors and job roles including; accountants, barristers, engineers, doctors, teachers, creative producers, musicians, business consultants, HR advisers, PhD Researchers and so many more! Check out our mentor webpages for further examples.

Remember to think bigger picture. Whilst your mentor might not be in the exact job role you want to go into, they can still support you with things like preparing for job applications, helping you developing your professional network, enhancing key skills such as leadership skills, presentation skills and resilience.

Here’s Hannah, one of our Law students, talking about how her mentor was able to support her:

Myth 3 — “All mentors are in senior leadership positions and graduated a long time ago”

Wrong! Remember Evie, our Senior Marketing Executive? She graduated in 2017 and has gained a huge amount of experience and is continuing her learning with professional development courses.

We do have mentors who are further into their careers and even those who have retired and now have more time to pass on their knowledge and wisdom. Meet John, who spent most of his career working for Shell Chemicals:

John has mentored four students since joining the mentoring scheme and thanks to his help each have secured their dream jobs! Erika is one of those students:

Myth 4 — “I won’t be able to build a rapport with my mentor virtually”

We would usually encourage mentoring meetings to happen face-to-face where possible. However, the pandemic has meant that mentorships have happened virtually via Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp. Whilst this might fill you with dread initially, don’t worry as we offer training as part of your application process to ensure you feel ready for your virtual meetings.

The other benefit is that the world is your oyster! We have mentors based in the USA, India, China, Singapore and many more. You can connect with people you wouldn’t necessarily have been able to previously. Ellen was on her year abroad when she joined the scheme. Here she is talking about her experience:

So what’s stopping you from applying?

Applications are open until Monday 15th February, 12pm. You can apply here.

If you have any further questions or would like any support with your application please email mentoring@contacts.bham.ac.uk