About my experience being a Mentee

The mentoring programme is based on the peer mentoring model as cooperation between alumni (a mentor) and a student (a mentee). Together, the mentor and the mentee form a mentoring / development pair with a goal-oriented bilateral interaction: open, committed and based on the mentee’s development needs. The idea of ​​the mentoring program is that the mentee (student) gets new ideas and sparring for his or her career.

The programme consists of 6 mentor-mentee meetings and 3 group meetings starting in September till February. At the end of the programme we had a Graduation when we all reflected on our thoughts and feelings about how it went and received our certificates.

I applied to the Programme as I wanted to hear others' opinions on my strengths and potential, find out about alumni's experience in finding jobs. My goal was to gain knowledge about job search, become more confident, network with alumni and other participants if possible.

Particularly, I was also interested in:

• how to be successful in a job hunt

• how to use your network properly

• how to "sell yourself" during a job interview

• how to succeed in a job hunt if you switched the profession

My Mentor successfully graduated with Bachelor's Degree in International Business from Haaga-Helia UAS. At first sight, we were quite different as I want to work as a UX/UI designer and she was a Content Wizard (A little spoiler: during the Mentoring Programme my mentor got a new job as a Marketing and Communication Manager in another company. So the Programme helps to develop for both parties :-) ). I have a technical mindset and I hate writing, while my mentor is so good at it.

At the first meeting, we got to know each other and agreed that we will try to meet every 3 weeks. During our following meetings, we created value from the fact that we are different. My Mentor helped me a lot with proofreading my CVs and cover letters. To be honest, we did not follow precisely the Programme structure. As we are the same age and both of us have a lot of experience behind, we decided that our meetings will be based on my needs at the particular moment. For example, once our meeting coincidentally preceded my job interview the following day. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and ask my Mentor to help me to prepare for an interview and have a so-called rehearsal. She was happy to help and collected the toughest questions that she was asked during her job-seeking processes. I must say that rehearsal was more complex than my actual interview.

I am glad that I participated in this Programme because I:

• became more confident about my skills and me

• implemented all ideas to improve my job applications that we brainstormed during our meetings

• met other wonderful Mentors and Mentees

• connected with Haaga-Helia alumni who shared their valuable experience about job-seeking

Some day, after I become an Alumni and get the working experience, I want to come back as a Mentor and help a student the same way as I was helped!