Making the Most out of your Major with a Mentor
By Spencer Williams
Are you looking to expand your current knowledge on your major past the bounds of the classroom? Are you looking for real-world experience that sets you apart from all your other peers? If your answers are yes, then Villanova’s mentorship program is perfect for you! I recently was lucky enough to attend one of the program’s informational events in which leaders in the program explain how exactly it works. Three of our fellow classmates as well as one current mentor discussed their experiences with the program and how beneficial the opportunity is for students hoping to enter the professional world. Each mentor is a trained professional with at least five years of experience in the mentee’s desired industry. Through continuous contact, mentor’s provide valuable information to students that is useful in the work world while also offering assistance to students in preparing adequately while still in school. Examples of this assistance range all the way from helping students pick the best possible classes for a career to teaching students how to land promising internships and even jobs. Contact between mentors and mentees occurs initially once a month through skype or other video-contacting software, but nearly all participants can tell you that this contact grows into face-to-face meetings much more often than once a month.
Outside of offering direct knowledge, the program also allows students to create professional relationships with different individuals in the workforce that may benefit both students and professionals later on. When it comes time for employers to hire employees, mentors can be assured that the students whom they mentored are adequately prepared to work in their field, which can be a key factor that puts you above your competitors. Additionally, mentors can be assured that the students whom they mentored know how to properly interact and communicate with their peers within the business world, another offered edge to participation. Mentees graduate with not only handfuls of information they would have never received otherwise, but also the prospect of finding a position at some of the top companies in the world. Events providing information on finding a mentor are held multiple times throughout the year and the schedule for these events is posted on the business school’s website here. For more information today on the program specifically, you can visit the Villanova Center for Professional Development’s website at this link here.
Backpack to Briefcase 