INSIGHT2013 WGAHK x CPT Mentorship Program 2012 December – 2013 June Mentee Booklet

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This pack is based on material originally produced for Oxford University Career Accelerator Programme, and acknowledgement is duly given.

Welcome We are happy to welcome you to INSIGHT – the WGAHK x CPT Mentorship

Programme. As the first of its kind at University of Warwick, we would like to

congratulate you for being our mentee. Mentoring is recognized as an excellent method

of supporting career development, improving knowledge of job roles, and broadening

personal networks.

We hope you will find the experience of being a mentee enjoyable and beneficial. In

addition to this resource pack, the Warwick Graduate Association Hong Kong

[WGAHK] and Warwick Hong Kong Society Careers Promotion Team [WHKS CPT] will

be available to provide support through the following contacts:

Jacky Leung (Programme Co-ordinator) +852 37622871 | +852 91976949 | jacky1.leung@sc.com Hilda Wong (WHKS CPT Chairlady) +44 07746382920 | +852 64462220 | whks.cpt@gmail.com Once again, thank you for participating in INSIGHT – the WGAHK x CPT Mentorship

Programme.

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About INSIGHT programme The INSIGHT Programme will take up approximately over a six-month period. This

includes the introductory event, preparation for meetings and the time spent

communicating with your mentor.

Mentoring is a powerful means by which people may learn a variety of personal and

professional skills. It is thought to be one of the oldest forms of experienced influence.

INSIGHT is designed to give you the opportunity to discuss professional and career-

related issues with your mentor.

The process is intended to help you:

• Assess your career situation and gain a clearer insight into academic careers • Forge links in the academic field • Develop skills and confidence • Improve your employability, CV and understanding of how to perform at

academic interview

Since INSIGHT is one-on-one and confidential, it allows more in-depth discussions of areas such as the following:

• Occupational knowledge- your mentor is likely to provide you with an insight into current and potential future trends in the working world. Such information might allow you to make more informed choices when planning the next step in your career.

• Personal and career development- the mentee should explore ways in which they might develop their own skills or explore new possibilities. Mentoring allows specific problems to be discussed openly, in a risk-free environment.

• Culture and politics- mentor and mentees often discuss the unwritten

aspects of organisations or academic careers, and how best to operate within these frameworks

• Networking- this is a key aspect of the mentoring process. Your mentor

may be able to assist you in making further contacts – perhaps by introducing you to their colleagues.

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Benefits of Being a Mentee Mentee gain invaluable insight beyond their own education and experience. Give

yourself the edge with support and guidance of a mentor. Whether you need advice or

a sounding board, a mentor can inspire and guide you. Our programme will try to

match you to a mentor based on your personal profiled.

Mentorship programmes are designed primarily for the benefit of mentees. You are

encouraged to begin the relationship with specific goals and expectations, which are

typically met by this programme. Your benefits may extend far beyond what you

expected, and may include:

• Access to a support system during crticial stages of your academic and career

development

• An insider’s perspective and navigating your career

• Clearer understanding and enhancement of academic and career plans

• Exposure to diverse perspectives and experiences

• Direct access to powerful resources within your profession

• Identification of skill gaps

• Greater knowledge of career success factors

• The foundation of a lasting professional network

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Roles of Mentee In order to get the most out of the INSIGHT mentorship programme, mentees should

take the initiative and contact their respective mentors. Mentees should see this as an

opportunity to ask questions and get guidance from a more experienced person. After

all, the mentees are the one who will be benefited the most in the programme.

As a guideline, here are some suggestions of what you as a mentee can do:

Driver of relationship

• Identify the skills, knowledge and goals that you want to achieve and communicate them to your mentor

• Bring up new topics that are important to you at any point Development Planner

• Maintain a mentoring plan and work with your mentor to set up goals, developmental activities and time frames

Resource Partner

• Work with your mentor to seek resources for learning, identify people and information that might be helpful

Continuous Learner

• Take full advantage of this opportunity to learn • Demonstrate that you have followed advice or commitments for action at every

opportunity and express your appreciation for every form of assistance you get

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Communication Successful mentoring is a two-way process and it is important for both mentor and mentee to be comfortable with the time, content, and length of the meetings, as well as other methods of communication to be used. Since most mentees and mentors will be geographically separated (i.e. Hong Kong and UK), the main forms of communication would be through emails or Facebook. We do not set rules with regard to frequency of your communications, but we advise emailing at least once per month. To encourage face-to-face communication between mentors and mentees, CPT will host social gatherings in Hong Kong. One of such gatherings would be the INSIGHT Kick-Off Event on 16th December, 2012, where both mentors and mentees are invited to attend.

Mentorship programme timeline:

Dec 2012 Kick-off

Mar/April 2012

Easter Gathering

June 2013

Evaluation Gathering

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Changing priorities Lack of motivation (on the part of either party) resulting in missed meetings or

lapsed correspondence.

If your workload has increased and you are struggling to accommodate

meetings/correspondence, talk the situation over with your mentor, and agree on a

better timeframe where both of you are more free. Ideally, you will have set aside the

time required by the programme ahead of your enrolment, so we encourage you to do

all you can to make time.

If, conversely, you feel that your mentor is not making enough time for the programme,

the best thing to do is talk to them about your concern, and how you might address

this. If the problem persists, however, please contact a member of the CPT/WAGHK.

Feedback System

Sometimes progress made through mentoring is not immediately apparent. Mentors

may be concerned that they are not doing enough, or you may be concerned that you

are not benefiting from the programme as much as you thought you would.

To ensure both parties make the most out of INSIGHT, a feedback form will be sent to

mentors and mentees in February, April and June. This is particularly important for

mentors and mentees to voice their concerns, as well as for CPT and WGAHK to

understand the practicability of the programme.

As it is the first year we are running the programme, and everyone’s comments will be

vital for further improvements.

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Questions and Answers Similar mentoring programmes at other institutions suggested that the majority of mentoring relationships are very successful. However, there may be occasions on which problems arise. Some of the more common issues are covered below. If you have a problem, please do contact us, and we will endeavour to provide appropriate assistance. What commitment is involved? The WGAHK x CPT Student Mentorship Programme will take up approximately over a six-month period. This includes the introductory event, preparation for meetings and the time spent communicating with your mentee. What if I am unable to meet my mentor’s expectations? You have been matched with your mentor because their experience and skills seem to correspond with your degree of study. The programme induction will equip you with some basic tools to help you carry out your role as a mentee. You should bring a clear set of objectives to the first meeting, which you will be able to review together with your mentor. You may find that your mentor cannot help you address every objective, and may wish to concentrate on key areas. One of the roles of the your mentor is to encourage and facilitate the development of networks. If you have concerns about your mentor’s expectations that the above does not address, however, please contact CPT/WGAHK to discuss this. What if my mentor is not working in the specific area of academia in which I am interested? We strive to match mentees and mentors according to their expectations and on the basis of their application forms. However, the match will not always be perfect. In such cases, we hope that both parties will be flexible – the emphasis of Warwick Student Mentorship Programme is on general career mentoring for budding academics, and we believe that – whether or not he or she has a different subject specialization from yours – you are likely to gain much valuable and relevant advice from your mentor. We expect mentors and mentees to concentrate on issues of broader academic career progression and personal development. How will I bring an open and closure to a mentoring relationship? Warwick Student Mentorship Programme has a defined timeline, we will start our event in December and end it June. We will run a gathering to mark this. Although you may wish to stay in touch with your mentor on an informal basis, the end of the programme is an opportunity to bring closure to the relationship. I have not heard from my mentor in a while, and am concerned that the relationship is not progressing. We expect you to drive the relationship by arranging meetings and setting objectives. At the first meeting, we recommend that you and your mentor discuss preferred methods of communication, work schedules and availability – and even set up rough dates for future meetings – which should avoid problems of the above kind. However, if you experience problems in contacting your mentor, please contact the CPT or WGAHK.

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Where should the meetings take place? In Hong Kong, meetings should take place at mutually convenient places. It is often best to meet somewhere neutral, and to consider possible noise levels. However, we understand that you are not in Hong Kong during most of the times in the year and mentors may be on business trips. Therefore, we suggest the main channel of communication will be electronic mails or Facebook and hope to communicate at least once per month. What if I decide I don’t want to continue with the programme? Please contact the CPT/WGAHK and your mentor as soon as possible. How else I might get the most from mentoring? Be organized and committed Take notes Prepare for meetings Set and agree objectives Be open and assertive Be punctual and re-schedule with plenty of warning Give the relationship time to gel Common problems and possible solutions Conflict/clash of personalities For mentoring to be successful, the individuals involved usually need to get along. Very rarely will two people simply clash. If however, you find this to be the case, please contact a member of the CPT/WGAHK. Frequently, though, apparent personality clashes may simply be attributable to a lack of communication. If you think you are not getting on with your mentor, run through the following checklist:

• Have you checked that you both see the mentoring process – its aims and the way in which it may be carried out – in the same way?

• Have you given the relationship enough time to build up a sense of collaboration? • Are you trying to expecting too much of the mentor?

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Support If you require any support, or would like to

discuss anything about the programme, feel free to contact us

Jacky Leung (Programme Co-ordinator)

+852 37622871 | +852 91976949 | jacky1.leung@sc.com

Hilda Wong (WHKS CPT Chairlady) +44 07746382920 | +852 64462220 | whks.cpt@gmail.com