Table of Contents
At some point in our lives, we all need a mentor to guide us through a professional career or educational learning days at school or college. Mentors have a significant role to play in the students’ lives especially. They form the backbone of structuring the viewpoint of life situations; in the case of ups and downs, it is the mentors a person looks up to. We highly depend on them to make better career choices and take a lesson by not repeating the mistakes they made in their lives. In sports, we get to see the crucial role they play in the life of an athlete. In the same way, as students, we need guidance, a direction to the career we want to pursue, and that guidance and direction are provided by a mentor. Alumni mentorship programs are the best in this case. The alumni members of the school and college remain more connected with students via such programs, thus introducing them to new opportunities in their respective fields.
Benefits of Alumni Mentorship programs:
- Students get to learn more about the insides of the company their alumni are a part of. They have the opportunity to ask more questions and learn better from their mentor’s work experience. Mentors provide career guidance and encouragement in academic developments, which become a strong foundation for their professional careers. Work experience gives an insight into the profession the students are going to venture into and also a smart way to prepare for the tactics they’ll have to face and get used to.
- Mentors can help a student establish more contacts from the beginning, later helping them in their lives. Contacts help you to establish contacts with numerous field experts. For example, if an engineering student wishes to become a corporate leader, which is a trend these days, then to switch from science to business, they’ll need a study guide along with a holistic approach to accomplish their goals. Mentors will help you with plan A and plan B.
- Mentorship programs are best known for providing students with diverse career options. It helps students to prepare for plan B if the situation arises. In case a student is not able to get plan A done in a way he or she thought of, plan B comes as a savior. Things always don’t work out the way we plan them to be, so plan B is just another option to save you from the professional haze of confusion. When we are not so clear about the career we want to pursue, we get distracted by other options, which certainly were never the first choice. So plan B is a cut-through to reach plan A eventually.
- Students get to understand the semantics of professionalism. A mentorship program is an excellent plethora of such opportunities. Students idealize their mentors and get a perception of who they wish to be six years down the line.
- The motivation levels increase as the students become part of the mentorship programs. Students, on getting guidance and direction, become more enthusiastic about who they wish to become. They have their idols guiding them all the way through in a mentorship program, and so they feel motivated to do the same in the future.
- Students become self-aware. They understand what they should be doing and whatnot. They also get a better perspective of the field. They channel their time and energy efficiently. They do not indulge in time-consuming activities, which are not going to benefit them anyhow. They try to find creative ways to accomplish their goals.
- Mentors become a part of your sounding plan. You have someone to discuss your ideas with. You have an edge for improvement. If your plan has chances of going wrong somewhere, you have someone to discuss and improvise it.
- Students get a wider perspective of industrial standards. They get a closer look into the workings of an industry they are soon going to be a part of.
- They get advanced knowledge of how to strike a balance between work and personal life. The entire schedule becomes hectic, so having knowledge of the chaos and how to maintain peace with it is necessary. Who could be better to provide them with the proficiency they seek other than their mentors.
- Getting your desired job is not enough, you’ll be earning money, but if you don’t know how to manage it, then it certainly will find its way out sooner than it came. Money management is one such exceptional part of alumni mentorship programs.
- Professional growth is not easy. It takes a lot of time and hard work. But if you already know the tactics, it gets simpler for you. Alumni membership programs are excellent forums to train yourself in the domain.
- Alumni mentorship programs will help the alumni to connect with their alma mater. And you never know if they become your recruiters. Thus the entire system could benefit from the entire process. Alumni Mentorship is one such promising program for students, institutions, and alumni.
Also read: Time Management In Exam
Frequently Asked Questions
How to make contacts in a professional career?
Join alumni membership programs. It is an excellent forum to provide such opportunities. It will provide you with exposure to the industrial world, its semantics, and various other tactics. Your alumni networking will help you make a lot of contacts.
Is an alumni network the only way to be the best in my professional career?
No, not exactly. You have to be competent enough to be the best in your professional career. It all depends on how persistent, diligent, and committed you are when it comes to your career. The Alumni network is just another means to have more contacts and a wider view of the market.
We don't have an alumni mentorship program in our college. What to do in such a case?
Talk to your professors to help you initiate an alumni mentorship program in your college so that students can benefit from it.
