The Alumni E-Mentoring Programme 

During the month of July 2024, the university’s Careers Advisory Service (CAS) collaborated with the Alumni and Donor Relations Office (ADRO) for the Alumni E-Mentoring Programme. 

This programme is an opportunity for UNM alumni to mentor and guide current students. All communication between the alumni mentors and their mentees are conducted online, with no limitation for mentoring sessions and the number of meetings the alumni wish to conduct with their mentees. The approach and style of career mentoring is flexible and completely up to you, should you choose to become a mentor for this programme. 

Are you qualified to be a mentor? 

What is a mentor, you might ask. 

Well, a mentor is an experienced guide who can provide support, counsel, reinforcement, and a constructive example. You must be a good listener and possess the desire to help student mentees realise their potential, capitalising on their strengths. 

As a mentor, you might help a student mentee: 

• Prepare for a job interview application or interview 

• Develop career plans and offer guidance on the direction of the mentee’s future, whether that is further study or an employment 

• Set career goals and start taking steps to realise them 

• Strengthen communication skills and the ability to relate well to all kinds of people 

• Gain commercial awareness through exposure to the mentor’s area of work 

Of course, ultimately the best mentors are individuals who are willing to share their own experiences with their mentees as well as being supportive and encouraging of the students’ ideas and aspirations. 

How does the e-mentoring programme work? 

Due to the electronic setting of the mentoring programme, mentors and mentees alike can negate the importance of distance, time, or schedule constraints. This makes the relationship more organised as CAS facilitates the matching of mentor-mentee and provides support services. 

The programme is governed by an explicit agreement, though flexibility is vital, and the content of the agreement may vary over the course of the relationship within the one-month period. It is also confidential between the mentee, the mentor, and the scheme coordinator. Each counterpart must respect the preferences of the other, and both must have the option to withdraw if either party believes the relationship is failing. 

What benefits alumni receive as a mentor volunteering their time? 

By becoming a mentor, you can refine your one-to-one mentoring skills and widen your professional network. This also allows you to maintain a good partnership between yourself, the university, and your (serving) organisation. 

“I was thrilled to serve as a mentor in the UNM Alumni E-Mentoring Programme during the July 2024 session,” said Dr Sadia, who graduated from UNM with a PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2018. “As a proud alumna, this programme provided me a meaningful way to reconnect with UNM. The e-mentoring programme is highly valued, and I strongly recommend its continuation.” 

Dr Sadia Afreen is one of our alumni mentors for the July Alumni E-Mentoring Programme. She is an assistant professor and STEM programme coordinator for the Monash Pathway Programs under Universal College Bangladesh. 

According to Dr Sadia, over the course of four online sessions, she and her mentee delved into the vast potential of a career and research in chemical engineering. These interactive discussions were both enriching and memorable. 

“One standout session was our final meeting, where we role-played a job interview scenario for a chemical engineering position. Like the other sessions, it concluded with detailed feedback that highlighted the mentee’s promise as a future graduate engineer,” said Dr Sadia. “The programme concluded on a positive note, with appreciation exchanged and a clear path forward for continued career development.” 

As alumni mentoring programmes typically occur on an annual basis, we are more than happy to accept your mentoring services should you be open to offering them.  

To assist other alumni or current students, you may sign up to the UNM Alumni Network today and connect with them.