My experience as a mentee

Before joining AYP as a committee member, I spent a year on the mentorship scheme. It was a valuable experience and, with so many talented and dedicated mentors ready to support young professionals, I encourage everyone to consider signing up.

Read more about my experience in the interview below.

How long were you part of the AYP Mentorship Scheme? 

I was part of the mentorship scheme from April 2023 to April 2024. 

Why did you choose to become a mentee through Aberdeen Young Professionals?

In my job I provide advice and guidance to hundreds of students but I only graduated in 2019 therefore I am still in the early stages of my own career. I always tell students to seek support with career planning so I thought I should take my own advice. Although I am surrounded by people who could provide that support, I wanted to work with someone who had no connection to the university and who had forged a career in a completely different sector.

The fact that Aberdeen Young Professionals offers a mentoring scheme presented a huge opportunity for me to speak with someone I would never cross paths with in my professional or personal life. Although the thought of working with someone unknown to me was daunting, I knew I had the support of AYP which gave me the confidence to get started. I initially spoke to my mentor in a group email with the mentoring scheme co-ordinator which I very much appreciated.

How have you benefitted from working with a mentor and has it positively impacted your professional/personal development? 

Most of the advice you get about your career is from friends or family, who come to the conversation with pre-set ideas about what’s best for you having observed and interacted with you in different environments. Meeting with a mentor in a neutral location means all expectations disappear. My mentor would only know what I chose to tell him which forced me to streamline my thoughts and articulate my ideas concisely. Before our first meeting I sent a short paragraph explaining what I wanted to gain from the experience and even this exercise helped me set expectations and sketch some goals.

My preferred communication style is different to that of my mentor which, again from the outset, meant I learnt how to interact with someone on a different level. Whilst my mentor didn’t know me, I also didn’t know him therefore it was impossible for me to anticipate what he might say. I went into every interaction with an open mind which is a vital component of effective career conversations.

From a professional development point of view, working with someone more advanced in their career means they have seen and continue to see many young people coming up through the ranks and can give you advice on how to stand out. My mentor commented on what he saw as my strengths, some of which I knew I possessed and others that I wasn’t aware of.

What would be your advice to anyone looking to become a mentee? 

My advice would be to think roughly about what you want to gain from mentoring before signing up. Although you are welcome to stay in contact with your mentor for longer, AYP recommend working with a mentor for around a year. Think about how often you want to meet your mentor (being realistic with both of your schedules) and what you will do in between meetings.

Saying this, remember to be open minded. Know that having a mentor isn’t going to automatically give you all the answers or lead necessarily to a new job or promotion. The value of mentoring is that it can help you understand more about yourself and how and where to invest your time and energy to enhance your professional development.

Please provide a brief testimonial about your overall mentorship experience

Working with a mentor has helped me calm the fast panic that often comes when thinking about the future. Talking to someone outside my normal network of friends, family, work colleagues and professional contacts has brought a new perspective to my career trajectory.