Cameron Executive Network Spring 2016 Mentor Guide to Mentoring
Cameron Executive Network
Mentor Guide to Mentoring
Spring 2016
Cameron School of Business
Office of External Programs
University of North Carolina Wilmington
With contributions by Cameron Executive Network Members
© 2015 Cameron School of Business, University of North Carolina Wilmington.
All rights reserved.
Considerations for each Mentee
Considerations for each Mentor
Joint Planning for Mentor and Mentee
Stage Two: Selecting Career Paths
Stage Three: Selecting Potential Employers or Grad School
Stage Four: Reaching Those Employers and Grad School
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic
Networking and Building Relationships
Finances and Workplace Benefits
Feedback and Requests and Suggestions
CEN Student Alumni Post-Graduation Contact Information
2.5.3.1
2.5.3.2
2.5.3.3
2.5.3.4
2.5.3.5
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
Section
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
2
2.1
2.1.1
2.1.2
2.1.3
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.5.1
2.5.2
2.5.3
Investors Round Table of Wilmington
3.7
3.8
3.9
10
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Generational Awareness for Mentors
This Guide embodies “best practices” developed by CEN’s mentors and
11 mentees. CEN does not require that its mentors and mentees follow these practices.
But CEN does require that they carefully consider these practices. The best results occur when mentor and mentee jointly pick the parts of this Guide that will best serve their mentoring relationship and fit the student’s individual needs.
Mentoring is interactive. A mentor shouldn’t simply “tell” information to a listener.
Nor should a mentee just listen passively. Both must actively work together to match the mentor’s experience and wisdom to the mentee’s talents and needs.
1.
Introduction
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This Guide is for mentors of the Cameron Executive Network (CEN) of the Cameron
School of Business (CSB) at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). Since
2002 CEN’s experienced business executives have worked with CSB students, staff and faculty to interact with and advise college juniors and seniors through resume assistance, job and career searches, developing skills and guest lecturing and, most importantly, mentoring. CEN executives have mentored on a one-on-one basis over 750 CSB students – a priceless contribution to students and a great reward to mentors.
1.1.
Considerations for Each Mentee
Take charge of your own career, including actively guiding your relationship with your mentor. Do not expect your mentor to find you a job; finding and landing a job is your responsibility.
CEN expects you to pick a career matched to your talents and passions, to become a leader in your career, to live a fulfilling life and to serve society well and ethically. To start towards these goals while at UNCW, CEN expects you to: o Contact your mentor within five days after you are matched and be prompt, diligent and professional in all your communications with your mentor. o Review this Guide carefully, agree with your mentor on objectives you should achieve to reach your goals, and meet those objectives on schedule. o Agree with your mentor on a schedule for your meetings, and meet as scheduled. o Unless excused by your mentor, attend scheduled meetings with your mentor and scheduled CEN events where all mentees are invited. o Grow and maintain your personal network as a resource for reaching your goals. o Continue to participate in CEN after graduation by keeping CEN up-to-date on how you can be reached and where you are working. Be available to CSB students to talk about your career and their interests.
Mentors are volunteers. They contribute their time, wisdom and experience. They want to help CSB students. Respect this. Use their time wisely. Thank them for their contributions.
Commit the time needed to develop and sustain a good relationship with your mentor and to reach your goals. Allow time to build the relationship.
Be professional. Give real thought to what you want to achieve. Make commitments only when you can live up to them. Live up to commitments you make.
Respond promptly to each contact by the mentor. Initiate contacts to keep your mentor up to date on your situation and progress. Adopt a “learning” attitude about the information shared. Acknowledge feedback about strengths and weaknesses. Express your thoughts and feelings about the feedback and directions you are receiving. Feel free to engage your mentor in a robust discussion. Whenever you do not understand what your mentor is saying, ask.
Go to the first meeting with ideas about what you want to accomplish from the relationship. Develop strong focused plans for action you and your mentor think should be accomplished. Take responsibility for implementing your action plan. Be accountable for your results, your behavior and any changes asked of you.
Attend each meeting on time with an idea of what you hope to accomplish at that meeting. Prepare your own agenda for each meeting. Report to the mentor your progress on the objectives set at the last meeting. At the end of each meeting reach an agreement with your mentor on objectives to be completed before the next meeting.
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If you are not satisfied with how your mentoring relationship is working, promptly notify a member of the CEN leadership group (see below).
1.2.
Considerations for Each Mentor
CEN expects you to lead each of your mentees to reach the goals describe above. In doing this you should lead them in learning appropriate values, processes and skills, in setting appropriate action plans and in making wise decisions. CEN relies on your integrity, wisdom, judgment, commitment, good will and professionalism in leading each mentee.
Don’t forget how busy the mentee’s schedule can be. Learn promptly what academic, work, family obligations and other extra-curricular activities impact each mentee’s schedule.
Allow time to build the relationship. Keep your mentee focused on the issues, yet keep it fun (enjoy getting to know them and sharing your life experiences). Help mentees find their own answers rather than telling them what to do. Maintain an appropriate balance between talking and listening to the mentee. Use questions to help mentees refine and improve their ideas and plans. Encourage comments by your mentee and questions about your thoughts.
Insure that the action plans developed are agreeable to both of you. Follow up on implementation. Encourage as necessary.
Remember they are students. They did not grow up in your household with your expectations. They do not have your experience. They don’t know what they don’t know, so they need you to teach them.
Maintain an appropriate professional yet personal relationship with each mentee. Set parameters for interaction. If your mentee has interests in subjects outside your expertise, work with the mentee to make that expertise available from other Mentors or from experts outside CEN.
Attend meetings of CEN and, when students are invited, make sure your mentees know of the meeting and, when possible, attend.
If you are not satisfied with how your mentoring relationship is working, promptly notify a member of the CEN leadership group (see below).
1.3.
Joint Planning for Mentor and Mentee.
The remainder of this Guide addresses some common issues in CEN mentoring relationships and presents materials to consider. Each mentee and mentor should review these materials independently, and then meet and discuss which, if any, of the Guide’s suggestions to adopt and implement. Please let CEN know what practices are most helpful, and least helpful, to your work together. CEN expects to revise this Guide periodically to capture the “best practices” in mentoring as members develop them.
2.
The Mentoring Process. The processes described below constitute CEN’s “best practices” for the mentor and mentee to work through their mentoring relationship before the mentee graduates.
2.1.
Stage One : Base Building. Mentor and mentee need to exchange significant information. What do you love to do? What do you hate to do? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are the mentee’s career interests?
2.1.1.
Initial Contact. Within 5 days after CEN emails the mentee with the name of his or her assigned mentor, the mentee should contact the mentor to agree
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on a time and place for their first face-to-face meeting. Ideally, that meeting should occur within 2 weeks. A mentor who fails to hear from the mentee within 30 days should notify CEN.
2.1.2.
First Meeting.
Mentor: Before the meeting, the mentor should review and consider whether or not to use some or all of the following:
Job Search Plan (Exhibit A; all Exhibit references are to attachments to this Guide and available on CEN’s resource page www.csb.uncw.edu/cen/resources .)
Mentee Exercise (Exhibit B)
UNCW Mentee Worksheet (Exhibit C)
Mentoring Agreement (Exhibit D). We recommend that you use the Mentoring
Agreement but do not require it.
It would also be helpful for the mentor to give the mentee in writing the mentor’s contact information, including the best email address and phone number for the mentee to use.
Consider whether it will be useful to give the mentee a written summary of the mentor’s weekly schedule and any significant travel plans or other commitments during the current semester. Consider also telling the mentee your expectations and goals for the mentoring relationship.
Questions a Mentor Might Ask. Here are some questions a mentor might ask:
Have you read this Guide for Mentors and Mentees? Do you have any questions?
What parts of the Guide seem useful? What parts don’t seem useful?
What is your major? Discuss classes you have taken to date, are now taking and expect to take in future semesters.
Summarize your activities and class academic performance in high school and in college.
What are your near-term goals (next 6 months to 1 year)? What are your longer-term goals (1 year to 3 years)? Consider that goals should be stretch goals with a reasonable chance of being attainable.
What are your expectations from the mentoring program and your mentor?
How often should you meet and where? The mentee should provide his or her school and work schedule each semester (including school vacations) so the two of you can plan.
Is there anything immediate to tell the mentor? This might include internship or job search concerns.
What are the student’s strengths? This should include the student’s perceptions and a combination of perceptions from the student’s family, friends, co-workers and supervisors.
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What are the student’s weaknesses? This should include the student’s perceptions and a combination of perceptions from the student’s family, friends, co-workers and supervisors.
How can the mentor help the student take advantage of those strengths and reduce or manage those weaknesses?
Where is the student from? What makes the student tick? Include input on the student’s family and their history.
Does the student have any questions to ask or other information to tell the mentor? In this process there are no “dumb” questions.
Have you visited Teresa Walker our Director of Work Practice?
Have you visited the Career Center?
Agenda. Mentor and mentee should consider including the following items in their agenda.
Mentee and mentor should feel free to challenge each other on achieving the “desired result”, whatever that may be. Both should willingly commit to work toward the desired results agreed on.
Review the mentee’s resume, background, skills, weaknesses, career interests and expectations from this mentoring.
Discuss individual expectations you both have about this mentoring relationship.
Discuss and consider whether the mentee should take any of the assessments offered by UNCW’s Career Services office (see “Resources” above).
Discuss developing a list of results you and the student expect to achieve.
Discuss and decide on whether the Mentoring Agreement (Exhibit D) would be useful to both of you.
Results. By the end of the first meeting, the mentor and mentee should agree on at least the following:
The best way to communicate (e.g., by email, phone or text message).
The time and place of their next meeting.
What objectives the mentee should complete before the next meeting? What will the mentee do? When will the mentee do it? Where and how will the mentee get started?
How frequently they should meet in person?
Should the mentee report to the mentor before the next meeting?
2.1.3.
Future Meetings. At each meeting, mentor and mentee should review progress since the last meeting and by the end of the current meeting agree on the following: o The time and place of their next meeting. o What objectives the mentee should complete before their next meeting.
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o Whether the mentee should report to the mentor before the next meeting.
2.2.
Stage Two: Selecting Career Paths. What does the information about the mentee suggest as possible careers? Many mentees haven’t yet decided on a career path.
Some mentees who have decided may not know enough about a particular career to have made an informed decision. In both cases, a mentor should discuss this issue with the mentee. They should jointly decide what further research would be useful before picking a particular career. Some mentors have guided mentees through industry and company research so the mentee got a better understanding of
what it would be like to work in a particular career. Consider whether this would be helpful.
2.3.
Stage Three: Selecting Potential Employers or Graduate Schools Once a career track is chosen, the mentee needs to select specific employers or graduate schools to pursue. The mentee should research the selected employers and other companies in the selected industry or field. The mentee should rank the employers he or she prefers and then prepare with the mentor a plan for making contact with each selected employer. If a mentee is considering graduate school it is important to take the appropriate exam such as the GRE® (Graduate Record Exam), GMAT (Graduate
Admission Test) or LSAT (The Law School Admission Test). Information about numerous graduate school opportunities at UNCW is available online at http://uncw.edu/grad_info/ .
2.4.
Stage Four: Reaching Those Employers and Graduate Schools. Mentor and mentee should develop a plan for the mentee to reach targeted employers and schools.
As part of this plan, the mentor and mentee should work on the mentee’s resume, cover letter, networking skills and interviewing skills. The mentee should research in detail prospective employers and prepare to: o answer questions an employer is likely to ask, whether in a telephone or face-toface interview o ask questions of an employer for information about the employer and job possibilities, and o present the mentee’s talents and interests in a positive manner tailored to that employer.
2.5.
Stage Five: Post Graduation.
2.5.1.
Contacts with Mentors. Many mentors become lifetime friends with their mentees and are delighted to hear from them as their career and personal lives progress. In most circumstances, a mentor will be available to a mentee who has graduated. But graduation normally shifts the relationship so the mentor will wait for contacts from the mentee on an “as needed” basis (e.g., when the graduate is considering job or career changes).
2.5.2.
Tips for Jobs. Please review the “Tips for Your First Job” available on the CEN web site at: http://csb.uncw.edu/cen/resources.htm
.
2.5.3.
Career Tips. Below are some tips for new graduates as they begin their careers.
2.5.3.1.
Networking and Building Relationships.
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o Seek out, develop and maintain relationships with mentors and colleagues. o Continually build and maintain your network (not just when you’re looking for a job). o Become active in UNCW’s Alumni Association and update your information at http://uncw.edu/alumni/ or email updates to alumni@uncw.edu
to participate in all alumni related events. o Join CSB’s LinkedIn group described in section 2.2.5 above. o Stay connected with your CEN mentor. o Develop one or more mentors in your business and in the industry in which you work. Build cross-departmental networks at work. o Join a professional organization and attend regularly. o Stay connected with friends from the past. o Recognize there are always work-place politics. Learn to navigate them. o Leave any negative attitudes at the door whenever you are working.
2.5.3.2.
Elevator Speech. Your elevator speech continues to be important.
Develop several, and continually refine them. o For work, include as appropriate your name, department, title (optional), tenure, current project, business focus and your career plans and hopes. o For professional networking, include as appropriate your name, company, work focus, tenure and career plans and hopes. o For social events, include as appropriate your name, company, field, school, hobbies, family and career plans and hopes.
2.5.3.3.
Career Plans. o Treat your reputation as one of your most important assets. Build a good one. Continually work on it. It takes time to build a good reputation but only one mistake to destroy it. o Become established in your company as a person of integrity and a leader. o Create a career vision for yourself, and chart a path to get there. o Distinguish yourself. Become known for a particular skill or talent that is in demand. o Invest in yourself. Become a lifelong learner.
2.5.3.4.
Finances and Workplace Benefits. o Your personal financial stability is part of your reputation. Live within your means. Learn to manage your financial risks responsibly. o Have a budget. Keep track of expenses. Avoid debt, and only incur debt you can comfortably repay. Generate savings and investments.
Regularly contribute to retirement benefit accounts (e.g., IRAs, Roth
IRAs and 401(k) plans). o Take advantage of all company benefits, including your firm’s tuition reimbursement benefits if available.
2.5.3.5.
Additional Resources. o They Don’t Teach Corporate at College, Revised Edition, A Twenty- something’s Guide to the Business World; Alexandra Levit; Career Press,
Franklin Lakes; 2009.
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o 101 Tips For Graduates, Revised Edition, A Code of Conduct for Success and Happiness in Your Professional Life; Susan Morem; Checkmark
Books, Inc; 2010.
3.
Feedback. CEN built its best features from ideas of mentors and mentees. Continued feedback will remain critical to making this an effective network. CEN expects each mentor and mentee to pass on any idea that would improve CEN and to provide feedback in the following circumstances.
3.1.
Mentoring Relationship Issues. CEN expects each mentor and mentee to contact CEN promptly if he or she at any time believes the mentoring relationship is not working effectively or if he or she becomes uncomfortable in any way with any aspect of the relationship. Please contact any member of the CEN Leadership Group. Contact information is listed online at http://csb.uncw.edu/cen/index.htm
or on the contacts and resources handout provided along with this guide.
3.2.
Expected Mentor Protocol. To best serve the students and protect or mentors, we ask that you please adhere to the following protocols:
* Although meaningful and long lasting relationships between mentor and mentee do often develop, these relationships must remain professional. We ask that you do not share any unnecessary personal information with your mentees.
* Mentees should not visit a mentor’s private home without another person present.
We ask this simply to protect our mentors. If you would like to host a group of students in your home for an opportunity to share and network, or you have an event with other people in attendance, this is acceptable. However one on one meetings should be conducted on campus or in a public setting.
* If you host an event in your home with mentees, we ask that you do not serve alcohol, even with students who may be of age. There is a great deal of risk associated with allowing this.
3.3.
Feedback Requests and Suggestions. Please reply promptly to requests for feedback. Please contact any member of the CEN Leadership Group with any suggestions on how CEN can be more effective.
3.4.
Periodic Surveys. CEN expects to periodically ask mentors and mentees to complete online questionnaires about relevant CEN issues. Please complete those surveys promptly.
3.5.
CEN Student Alumni Post-Graduation Contact Information. On graduation mentees will join more than 57,000 Seahawks across the globe that makes up the
UNCW Alumni Association. The UNCW Alumni Association provides free membership to all students who have graduated from UNCW. Membership includes benefits for alumni who are close to campus and around the nation. The association's purpose is to connect alumni to each other and to UNCW. Through alumni socials and events, academic and regional chapters, publications and social networks, the
Association creates networking opportunities and showcase what alumni are doing.
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3.6.
Update Current Information. Stay connected to UNCW by updating contact information online: http://uncw.edu/alumni/ or email alumni@uncw.edu
. By updating current address and email graduates will receive invitations to alumni events such as
Cameron School of Business Alumni Events, Homecoming, and regional events. They will also receive UNCW publications such as The Cameron Insider, Seahawk Spotlight and UNCW Magazine, which will keep them well informed about classmates, faculty, and alumni activities throughout the country.
3.7.
Alumni Lifetime Email. Graduating students have access to alumni email addresses provided by Microsoft's Live@edu. The email address uses the same prefix as their student email and only the domain is changed, for example abc1234@alum.uncw.edu. Prior to graduation they will receive an email from the
Alumni Association prompting them to register for an alumni email account. Once registered it is theirs for life and accessible at www.mail.live.com
.
3.8.
Networking opportunities. Alumni are invited to more than 60 events throughout the year, beginning with the Commencement Celebration during the weekend of graduation and continuing with chapter events and reunions. The dinners, mixers and pre-game socials offer great opportunities to network and get to know other
Seahawk alumni.
For more information about the Alumni Association and to connect to numerous social networks got to: http://uncw.edu/alumni/
3.9.
Investors Roundtable of Wilmington (IRT). IRT is business information and networking organization for individuals, working and retired, with interests in investing, financial services, the economy and business in general. It is not an
“investment club”. While IRT is not formally affiliated with UNCW/Cameron School of
Business, or CEN, there has been a strong relationship of more than 10 years and many common interests. A number of CEN mentors also belong to IRT. IRT meets nine months per year at the Country Club of Landfall for luncheon and a businessfinancial speaker. CEN mentors that are IRT members are encouraged to bring their students for a discounted guest fee. The programs are of interest to business students and there is a good opportunity for networking with area executives. CEN students have given enthusiastic feedback about attending these events with their mentors.
The IRT contributes annually to the Frank Dunne, Jr. Scholarship at CSB to support a local business student. If interested, in more information, or joining Investors
Roundtable, please see the organization’s website: www.investors-roundtable.com
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Generational Awareness for CEN Mentors
Much has been written by sociologists, institutions, the media and others about generational differences in our society and workforce. CEN executives (mentors) have varying degrees of awareness of generational differences in the workplace. CEN believes it will be helpful to the mentoring relationship for mentors to have a basic understanding of these descriptions and differences in: 1) how to relate to your students and 2) coaching them for their future workplace relationships.
Our typical CEN students (mentees) are part of the MILLENNIAL (“GEN Y”) generation, born between 1981-2000. Our CEN mentors come from three (3) earlier generations, as described below.
CEN does not want its members to alter their personal coaching/mentoring techniques, but simply to be sensitive to these generational differences and make their students aware, as appropriate, for their future success.
The Generational Descriptions & Implications
(These descriptions are generalizations and birth-date ranges may vary, depending on source)
Millennial or Generation Y (born between 1981-2000)
-Tend to be entrepreneurial and goal oriented, work is a means to an end.
-Internet Tech savvy and prefer computers, text messages to communicate, are social and confident.
-Live for the moment, speak their minds and have high expectations for work such as flexible schedules and telecommuting; like Gen-Xers, crave balance and lack loyalty to a workplace.
-Prefer instant feedback and recognition, thrive in groups.
-Grew up multitasking so attention spans can be short.
Generation X (born between 1965-1980)
-Many grew up in a 2-income family with Baby Boomer parents having it all and as a result work hard, but seek work/life balance
-Independent, entrepreneurial
-Prefer immediate feedback, more likely to communicate via email rather than in-person meetings
-Constantly re-evaluating career paths and keeping skills current; lack loyalty to a workplace
-Cautious about investing in relationships with employers
Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964)
-Stellar career and professional accomplishments are important
-Known as workaholics, thrive on competition, personal fulfillment; prefer feedback by money & titles, quality and involvement
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-Team players, thrive in groups, prefer one-on-one communication, and tend to hold meetings
-May question authority, not afraid of confrontation, lean towards less hierarchical structures.
Traditionalists or Builders (born before 1945)
-Also called Veterans, Matures, the Silent Generation, and the Greatest Generation
-Respect authority, adhere to rules and are hard workers
-Prefer commanding and direct leadership style , as well as formal organizational structure
-Technically challenged and prefer one-on-one communication, telephone or written memos
-For feedback - ongoing praise is not necessary
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