I m p e r i a l ENGINEER

ALUMNI NEWS & VIEWS
Imperial College Alumni Mentoring Scheme Launched
The Imperial College Careers
Service launched a new
Alumni Mentoring Scheme in
October last year. The aim of
the Scheme is for mentors to
help develop the knowledge
of current Imperial students
in relation to the professional
workplace, discuss potential
careers open to them and
share their insights with
their student mentee. In
the last issue of Imperial
ENGINEER we presented
a short introduction to
the Scheme and asked for
mentors to take part. In this
issue we would like to share
with you an update on how
the scheme has progressed
its launch.
With a larger than expected
number of student applicants, we
have created 66 successful mentee
/ mentor pairings. Over half of
the matched students are from
departments in the Faculty of
Engineering. Matching was based
on degree background, academic
department and career interests.
The motivation of the applicants
was also measured and priority was
given to students from disadvantaged
backgrounds and under-represented
groups, in line with the College’s
outreach criteria. As this was the
pilot year we are very happy with
Imperial College
the number of successful pairings
and hope to increase this number in
the next academic year.
This month we received
questionnaire and will receive a
more detailed feedback survey at
the Scheme’s midpoint. Feedback
from students is, overall, extremely
positive and there appear to have
even at this early stage, from
improved networking contacts to
application advice. Students have
had the opportunity to increase
their employability and visit their
mentor’s workplace through
work shadowing and information
interviewing opportunities.
Luke Clapson, a second year
chemical engineer has secured a
spring internship since starting the
The Scheme has provided
me with an invaluable contact in my
target industry. Before I met my mentor,
I didn’t really know a great deal about
work-life balance, the different business
areas or the tasks I might need to
perform on a day to day basis. Due
to all of these interactions and the
advice I was given, I have since been
able to obtain a spring internship. I am
extremely grateful for being provided
the opportunity!”
Sergiu Iliev, a third year
aeronautical engineer, commented
My mentor brought energy,
enthusiasm, wisdom and insight
into life after university. I found that
knowing somebody who experienced
the same process of job applications in
my chosen profession is an invaluable
advantage. I would love to join this
wonderful process as an alumnus in a
couple of years.”
The Scheme had 89 alumni
volunteers to be mentors, of which
39 were from Faculty of Engineering
disciplines. Organisations across
“I would love to join this
wonderful process as
an alumnus in a couple
of years.”
Imperial College
the oil and gas industry are
represented in our mentors,
including Schlumberger, BP, Subsea7
and Centrica. Other sectors of
engineering are also represented by
organisations such as Airbus, Rolls
Royce, Elekta and Air Products Ltd.
Other industries such as banking,
management consulting and IT are
represented, as well as alumni who
have gone on to work in start-ups
and the charity sector.
Ultimately it is the mentee’s
responsibility to lead the partnership
and initiate contact, set the agenda
for meetings and to be clear in
what they want from the mentoring
partnership. At our launch event,
mentees were given an induction
talk to help them understand their
responsibilities and create realistic
expectations for the scheme.
At the launch there was also an
opportunity for student mentees to
meet and network with mentors on
the scheme.
Mentors are asked to commit to at
least six meetings with their mentee
(2 of which should be face to face,
or over Skype if based outside the
UK). The Careers Service advised
mentors and mentees to set up a
mentoring agreement soon after
their expectations of the Scheme
and agree how regularly contact will
take place.
Nikolaos Mavropoulos, an
Electrical Engineer at Elekta, is a
mentor on the current Scheme.
He explains how impressed he has
been with his mentee’s commitment
and planning during their mentoring
I have met once with my
mentee. I appreciated the fact that she
came with detailed notes and a lot of
questions to ask about the industry,
jobs, applications and my experiences.”
From the summer, the Careers
Service will launch a call for alumni
mentors for the 2015/16 academic
year. Becoming a mentor provides a
great way to give back to the Imperial
community. It is an opportunity to
promote your work and the sector
as a whole to motivated Imperial
students, as well as a chance to use
and develop mentoring and coaching
skills which may be useful in your
own career.
To register your interest in being a
mentor, or for further information
please contact the mentoring team
on mentoring@imperial.ac.uk. You
www.imperial.ac.uk/careers/mentor
Imperial College
26
Imperial ENGINEER Spring 2015