An alumni mentoring programme linking students to alumni mentors is pass the 100 partnership mark in 2013/14.
Set up in 2012 as a partnership between the Philanthropy and Alumni Relations Team, Careers & Employability Service and Educational Development, the programme matches students with an alumni mentor for the duration of the academic year.
Enhancing skills
The relationship gives students an insight into the changing employment market, helps enhance their employability skills and provides information about the field that interests them.
All campus-based MBA students and a group of second-year students are currently involved, enabling them to access tangible support for enhancing their marketability in the workplace. An online platform, made possible by a £25,400 grant from the Benefactors’ Fund, links students with mentors world-wide.
Professional expertise
Karen Brady, Director of Philanthropy and Alumni Relations, said: “No matter when our alumni graduated or where they live in the world, Liverpool students can benefit from their professional expertise. In today’s jobs market, there is nothing more helpful than advice from someone who has been there before.
“Many students simply require the chance to speak to alumni who have gone into professions or companies that interest them, people with a first-hand insight into the 21st century job market.”
Dr Trish Lunt, My Liverpool Lead/Educational Developer, said: “The first year of the programme has been a resounding success and has been so well received by both students and alumni. This success is testimony to the hard work of the departments who have collaborated to enable our students to benefit from the expertise and experience of our graduates.”
Mentor
Mentor Brian Kinkead (MBA 2009) said: “I wanted to take part in the mentoring scheme to help others, not just by sharing my experience or allowing my mentee to tap into my network but to help them see things differently. The role of the mentor, at least how I approached it, was not to remind him what he already knew but to help him broaden his horizons given the knowledge he is gaining in his MBA. The role has given me a new opportunity to learn, to re-connect and to widen my existing network and ultimately the satisfaction of helping others.”
In 2012/2013, there were 44 matched pairs. In 2013/2014, this will rise to around 100 with long-term plans to roll the programme to other areas of the University.
The mentor programme is currently recruiting students and mentors for the 2013/2014 programme. For more information, contact Chris Bayes by emailing: chrisb@liverpool.ac.uk.