The College of Business and Economics Undergraduate Programs Office and the Junior Class Council are collaborating to provide Young Professional Peer Mentors, a mentorship program to help students navigate their classes, internships and jobs. There are 20 peer mentors this year.
Jake Martin, ’19, learned about the program through his involvement on the CBE Senior Board of Advisors. He said the shared experience of handling the demands and fissures of the financial job application process and the need for student-driven career mentorship inspired the group to launch the mentorship initiative in spring 2018.
“The finance interview process has an intense timeline where the key to success is awareness, which was lacking on our end,” Martin said. “Due to this, naturally, we began noticing a need in all of the majors for peer-to-peer career mentorship that was up-to-date, comfortable, personal and fully transparent.”
While the long-term effects of the program cannot yet be measured, Martin said it has received positive feedback and high attendance.
“Our advertising has really become a focus for our efforts this year,” he said. “We have been promoting the mentor program in various (BUS 001) recitation sessions, as well as hosting coffee and doughnuts in the Rauch atrium on Friday.”
Michael Wu, ’20, said a few of his friends who are mentors in the program meet every two weeks with advisees to discuss their goals.
The program also helps CBE students gain international experience. Tiffany Chan, ’20, a member of the Junior CBE Council, said an element of the initiative is to create more abroad opportunities for students.
“Right now, we’re thinking of trying to find more business classes and programs at other universities that can transfer over when you study abroad,” she said. “Even if they’re offered abroad, they’re not easily transferable.”
By establishing personal relationships between peers, mentors said they aim to make the future seem less foreboding and help students decide what they want for their educations and future careers.
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