Mentorship is an important experience. Unfortunately many college students miss out on what could be a life changing experience.
Many think they have nothing to give back (which isn’t true) and some are too shy to ask. From the mentors’ side sometimes they’re not sure exactly HOW to help students or WHAT advice to give and WHY.
This interview with Michelle Dieschbourg brings light to how EVERY college student can become a meaningful mentor to someone and she also shares how to avoid mistakes that some mentors accidentally make.
HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS CAN BECOME MENTORS
While college students might not have the connections to help someone 20 years into their career with networking introductions, they DO have the opportunity to help other ways.
● College students can offer a millennial’s perspective for a project that their mentor is working on
● College SENIORS can mentor college freshman and help them get acclimated to college life
● College FRESHMAN can mentor high school seniors as they navigate applying to colleges
Michele shares more ideas in the video. She also mentions…
ONE MENTORING PITFALL TO AVOID
While it might be tempting to share THE answer to a career path someone should take or the “right way” to handle a professional career situation, the fact remains: There isn’t the “ONE path to figuring life out”. Mentors can share stories about their experiences and let the students draw their own conclusions and create their own direction.
That empowers the mentee and helps them develop the all-important life skill of making educated and well thought out decisions when they face a problem or they are presented with an opportunity. Michelle also mentions…
A GREAT MENTORING STRATEGY
During mentoring and basic networking conversations it’s easy to get stuck in the “usual business talk” about what you do, resume advice and other routine topics. What can you do instead? Talk about something that you’re passionate about. Talk about a greater purpose and WHY you have a certain career or WHY you love volunteering for a specific cause.
…Find those pieces of information about things that you’re passionate about or (very) interested in. They can turn into longer (more meaningful) conversations than just about your job”
~Michelle Dieschbourg
When you tap into purpose and passion you’re creating the foundation for a longer, meaningful relationship instead of just coffee talk. That makes a world of difference because networking and mentoring is about more than “who you know”; it’s about who knows YOU and what they know you FOR.
Michelle is a mentor in Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business’ “Q Mentorship Program”. To learn more about it click here. To learn more about Michelle click here.
