Business mentoring for students
Birmingham City University's Professional Mentoring programme links students from across the University with working professionals. With mentors from a wide range of sectors, including finance, law, education, business, IT and the creative services, we aim to match students and graduates with someone who can give that all important industry insight.
Our mentoring programmes are for students in second and third year, post-graduates and recent graduates, who are looking to gain further insight into a particular industry or career path.
How does the mentoring programme work?
Upon registration to the programme, mentees outline the support they require and their career aspirations. They are assigned a mentor who has the professional experience and skillset to support them through a 10 week programme, meeting for a minimum of 5 hours on a 1-2-1 basis. Sessions can be held face to face or virtually, and each participant has access to a bespoke platform, MentorNet, which acts as a communication hub and resource area. Mentors plan session content to support their mentee’s development needs, from CV reviews, networking tools and interview practice. Upon completion, mentor and mentee will receive a certificate from the Vice-Chancellor and entry into the Mentoring Awards! Training and support is provided by the mentoring team.
Benefits of mentoring a student:
- Spot future talent for organisation
- Develop mentoring skills
- Raise business and personal profile working with BCU
- Build CPD
- Rewarding experience supporting students
- Promote Corporate Social Responsibility within organisation
- Certificate upon completion
- Entry into BCU Mentor Awards!
Testimonial
Making a difference to someone's first steps into the industry is very fulfilling. Interacting with the next generation helps me see the world and industry through their eyes. Mentors are so needed and can really make a difference to young people's futures. At the start some mentees are unsure about their abilities and almost apologetic about their work. It's great to see this change into confidence.
How long does a mentoring programme last?
The programmes run for periods of ten weeks, and once matched, there is a minimum of five hours of 1-2-1 sessions between mentor and mentee.
Testimonial
Starting your career is an exciting time but can be daunting, particularly if you are moving into an unfamiliar environment. From my experience of working in a wide range of companies, I help mentees think about the sort of company they want to work for. We work on preparing for interviews and starting work. We review LinkedIn profiles, CVs, applications and cover letters to ensure they are professional and stand out. The best thing about mentoring is seeing the development and increasing depth of questions from the mentee. I would advise people considering being a mentor to take part. It's so rewarding and the enablement through the BCU team and platform makes it easy to participate and communicate.
Did you know?
We celebrate the year’s successes with a virtual awards ceremony, where we celebrate everyone’s participation, showcase some of the fantastic highlights from both mentees and mentors, and confirm multiple award winners!
Interested in Business Mentoring?
If you would like to learn more about our mentoring programme, please click the button below to complete our service request form and a friendly member of our team will get back In touch with you.