Vandal Mentorship Program

• Once you are matched with your mentee, you should expect to meet with them once a month for 30 to 60 minutes. You'll offer academic and professional guidance along with insight and coaching to help them as they transition from college to the working world.
• Find the best way to communicate with your mentee(s). Phone and video chatting, rather than texting or email, will promote a stronger rapport and better results. What matters most is that both parties are comfortable with the way you communicate and agree that it will accomplish the mentorship goals.
• Building an effective working relationship takes time; develop rapport by learning about your mentee(s) beyond their professional goals (provided they are comfortable sharing information about their hobbies, families, etc.).
• At your first meeting, your mentee will be asking you a number of sample questions. Remain open and honest during this time to start your mentorship off on the right foot.
• After the first meeting, there are a number of activities you can complete with your students to increase their scholastic and professional development. 

Academic and co-curricular

• Review options for classes during upcoming semesters. Share your own class choices and relate the curriculum to internship and job searches.
• Discuss possible major and minor choices as well as classes that will help your students meet their career goals.
• Discuss global experience opportunities.
• Review Career Services resources and program offerings.
• Talk about organizations on campus and national associations.

Professional

• Provide a job shadowing opportunity. Discuss best practices for workplace etiquette.
• Review your students’ resumes and cover letters together and provide feedback.
• Research summer jobs and internships and identify places to apply.
• Encourage your students to attend career fairs, on-campus programming and other career development events.
• Practice interviewing by conducting a mock interview and sharing constructive feedback.

Post-graduation preparation

• Discuss internship and/or job offers.
• Talk about graduate school and review programs and draft application essays together.
• Keep a mentoring journal to record details. Reflect and evaluate.
• Talk about post-graduation life and what to expect. 

Issue: The student is not responding to emails in a timely manner.

Response: Ask your students how their academics are going; it is possible they are feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities. Remind your students that they should respond to messages.

Issue: The student has run out of questions beyond getting-to-know-you inquiries.

Response: Ask your student(s) questions about them. Encourage them to prepare specific talking points about a certain topic (i.e. internship search, networking, grad school prep, etc.).

Issue: The student is not sure what they would like to do after college.

Response: Talk to the students about co-curricular activities they have enjoyed at University of Idaho. If appropriate, introduce your students to people in your network; this may lead to post-graduation ideas.

Issue: The student is not prepared for meetings and does not complete agreed-upon assignments.

Response: Relate your mentor relationship to post-graduation life — in the real world, your student will be expected to come to meetings prepared and complete assignments. Encourage them to treat the mentor program like a class or extracurricular activity.

Issue: The student seems to be having personal difficulties that you feel unequipped to address.

Response: Encourage your mentee to take advantage of the resources available at U of I that apply to their situation.

You can always reach out to Kendra Chilbert at kchilbert@uidaho.edu for advice on other issues.