University of Helsinki
The applicaton period for the 10th group mentoring programme has closed. We will contact every applicant on November 2nd at latest.
Student, apply for group mentoring 2020–2021 now!
The group mentoring 2020–2021 starts in November and it is the 10th anniversary of the programme. Students can apply by the 11ht of October 2020. The groups will be filled in order of registration, so act fast!
In group mentoring you as a student will get the opportunity to discuss different career paths and their strengths related to job hunting. The group brings added value, as students receive the support not only of their mentors, but also peers in the same situation.
After the previous season of the group mentoring programme nearly 100 % of the mentors and actors recommended taking part in the mentoring process!
– I came to understand my strengths better and got many new ideas for searching for a job and developing my professional skills, says one of the actors who participated in programme in season 2020–21.
8 ENGLISH-SPEAKING MENTORING GROUPS (40 IN TOTAL)
The application time for students is 28th of September – 11th of October 2020. The groups will be filled in order of registration and you need to hand in an assignment with the application.
The programme is being organized for the 10th time and the following events are for all participants:
- Question hours for mentors and actors in Zoom 18.11.2020 (16–17 pm for actors)
- The group mentoring kick-off on 25.11.2020 at 17.00–19.00
- Group meetings (5– 6 times)
- The group mentoring closing in May 2021
The programme offers a choice of 40 mentors (8 English speaking), who are University of Helsinki alumni representing different fields in society. The background of studying at the University of Helsinki joins them all all. You may read their descriptions on the programmes website here.
Make use of this opportunity and sign up!
Read comments and experiences from actors and mentors last year on this blog post.
The programme is organised by UH Career services together with Helsinki Alumni -network.
Group mentoring is back – sign up as a mentor (we’ve extended the application period)!
The group mentoring program 2020–2021 will start again in November, and we are now looking for mentors for students.
This is a jubilee year: this is the 10th year of group mentoring in HU! You now have a great opportunity to help students towards graduation and working life.
Group mentoring means sharing your own skills and life experience with a small group of students at different stages of study. 2–4 students are selected for the group. Language of the groups can be Finnish, Swedish or English. Students of the University of Helsinki need support from alumni of their own fields. You now have the opportunity to provide this support in the students’ path towards graduation and working life!
Applying for the 2020-2021 Group Mentoring Programme
The group mentoring programme of 2021–2021 will be kicked off with an initial meeting on November 25th 2020. A final meeting will be organized in May 2021.
The joint events for this season of the mentoring programme are organised remotely. You can participate in remote events through Zoom. To participate, you need a computer, smartphone or tablet. Between the initial and final meeting the mentoring groups will meet approximately once a month.
Sign up for the programme on this page!
The last day to apply is 20th of Sebtember (NOTE! We’ve extended the application period)
We will contact all mentor applicants at the end of September.
More information: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/mentorointi/signup/?lang=en and Marja Peltomäki, (marja.peltomaki(at)helsinki.fi)
Group mentoring programme ended remotely
The latest group mentoring programme ended on 18 May when the participants met to reflect on the past six months. As can be expected during this exceptional spring, the participants shared their experiences via a remote Zoom call. Vice-Rector Sari Lindblom also joined the call to virtually present the mentors and actors with certificates of participation.
Mentoring gave confidence in the future and practical tips for job hunting
A total of 105 actors from various faculties participated in the group mentoring programme, launched in late November. During the wrap-up session, which utilised the Flinga platform, the participants praised the programme for giving them confidence in the future.
- I feel more confident now and believe that even if I don’t have everything under control, things will eventually sort themselves out regarding my career.
- Belief in my skills and the future.
- Peace of mind about building my career: easy does it!
Many participants said that mentoring had clarified their thoughts about not only their career, but also their studies.
- I came to understand my strengths better and got many new ideas for searching for a job and developing my professional skills.
- Confidence, CV and job application tips, an updated LinkedIn page, information on the working culture of employers I am interested in, and flexibility.
- Although the programme gave me a lot, it wasn’t what I was looking for.
- I now approach career planning more systematically and with better tools.
The participants in the annual mentoring programme have usually also acquired practical skills, such as how to write a CV, and shared tips for job hunting. Some of this year’s groups had also discussed these topics, but others had engaged in a broader discussion of the future and themes relating to career planning.
The actors took to Flinga to describe what they were going to do after the programme ended.
- My goal is to find a meaningful job.
- I will continue my studies with more confidence and begin to make plans to apply for a trainee position while working on my bachelor’s thesis.
Praise for the actors’ active efforts and benefit for the mentors, too
The 28 mentors participating in the latest programme included both veterans and first-timers representing a variety of sectors, such as corporate leadership, teaching, law, marketing, communication and pharmacy. As the programme drew to a close, the mentors had encouraging words for the actors.
- Thank you for being present as yourselves and contributing to a process that has enabled us to learn so much from each other!
- Great discussions, brilliant actors! Be bold, believe in yourself and don’t shy away from challenges!
For the mentors, the opportunity to share experiences was one of the highlights of the programme. They also said that they themselves had learned a lot.
- I probably gained as much as you in terms of reflection on my career.
- It was great working with you! I not only gained new perspectives, but also acquired concrete skills.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the groups met remotely as of March. Many of the participants commended the remote meetings in their final feedback and said that the new situation had taught them new approaches they can use in the job market.
- Thank you to my active team of actors! You put in a lot of effort to develop yourselves and were not afraid to start using the equipment required for remote work. You turned the exceptional circumstances to your benefit. Working with you was rewarding.
Programme to be further developed – mentors can apply as of September and actors as of October
Participants in group mentoring are always asked for their feedback, which is used annually to develop the programme. Accordingly, the next programme will be developed, for example, so that the parallel use of Finnish, English and Swedish will function more smoothly. The possibility of organising separate orientation meetings for actors and mentors before the joint kick-off will also be explored. Further information will be provided in the autumn.
When group mentoring continues next autumn, it will be the 10th programme at the University of Helsinki. Prospective mentors can apply for the programme as of August–September. The aim is to find mentors that represent all faculties and sectors of society. Information on the application process will be provided through the University’s alumni channels and on this site.
Students can submit their applications later in the autumn, after information on the application process has been published in the group mentoring blog and Career Services’ communication channels. Information on arrangements for remote mentoring, if any, will be provided when the application process begins.
Career Services and HelsinkiAlumni would like to thank all the alumni/mentors and student/actors for contributing to the success of the latest programme and wish them a lovely summer!
Further information on group mentoring:
Alumni: HelsinkiAlumni, marja.peltomaki(at)helsinki.fi
Students: Career Services, careerservices(at)helsinki.fi
Text and pictures: Miika Mertanen
Sharing experiences and reflecting on responsibilities at an intermediate meeting for mentors
An intermediate meeting for mentors marked the midpoint of the 2019–2020 group mentoring programme.
At the end of February, mentors met at Think Corner to discuss their experiences of the first group meetings and to share good practices.
The meeting began with a talk by Leena Itkonen, a career counsellor at Career Services, regarding the support provided by the University for students’ career planning both now and in the future. Itkonen shed light on the significance of, for example, career courses, traineeships, portfolio work and career events for students’ career planning. Group mentoring is another important tool used for this purpose.
“At Career Services, we are adopting a new theoretical framework in which career skills are analysed through five different types of capital acquired during studies. These types of capital encompass, for example, networking, getting to know various actors in the field, understanding the cultural codes of various organisations and making career plans. Mentoring can play a key role in all these areas,” Itkonen noted.
DIVERSE PRACTICES AT THE FIRST MEETINGS
The overall impression of the first group meetings had been positive. The mentors praised the active and enthusiastic efforts of the actors. However, they also stated that the students interested in mentoring may be the most active in general, and the challenge is how to encourage those who are less active to take part.
Many mentors said that their role had primarily been that of leading discussions because their actors were no longer at the beginning of their education or career. This meant that the strength of group mentoring, peer support between the actors, was emphasised.
The Workbook for Mentoring, now used for the third time, had also been useful.
“The workbook has helped me plan the meetings,” one of the mentors said.
As in previous years, the practices of the mentoring meetings had varied. Some of the groups had visited the mentor’s workplace, whereas others had focused on discussing careers and job seeking. As before, the content of the meetings had depended on the goals set by each group.
FROM JOB SEEKING TO CAREER REFLECTION AND THE ROLE OF MENTORING
Several groups had discussed the following fundamental topics: what is a career and how do you get one? How do you create networks? How should you approach job seeking?
“The actors are interested in how to get their foot on the career ladder,” said one of the mentors.
Johanna Ruhanen of Career Services reminded the mentors that they do not have sole responsibility for providing advice on job seeking.
“Students can use, for instance, the Career Services’ Job Seeking Guide and the various workshops focusing on job seeking and LinkedIn. We also try to actively communicate about these tools to students,” she said.
The meetings had also given a lot to the mentors themselves.
“I have received feedback directly from my actors on the impact of my job, which I maybe was unable to think about in the same way before,” one of the mentors commented at the meeting.
The mentors’ understanding of the practical significance of mentoring had also increased, and their participation had inspired their friends and acquaintances to get involved in similar activities.
“An important insight for me has been that mentoring is not just something you do in your own time. It also entails a responsibility for the impression you give of the job market, so you must take it seriously,” one mentor remarked.
THE SPRING MEETINGS AND THE WRAP-UP SESSION MOVED ONLINE
The group mentoring programme will continue in the spring with group-specific remote meetings. The programme will conclude on 18 May with a joint closing session held online due to the coronavirus situation. New mentors will again be sought in early autumn, and students will have the opportunity to apply for the programme no later than October 2020. Stay tuned!
Text and pictures: Miika Mertanen
The group mentoring programme 2019–2020 kicked off in Minerva Plaza
The University of Helsinki’s group mentoring programme brings alumni and students together already for the ninth time. On 20 November, 28 enthusiastic groups set off on their joint mentoring journey in Minerva Plaza at Siltavuorenpenger.
The kick-off event of the ninth group mentoring programme was held in the traditional manner in late November. This time the event was arranged in Minerva Plaza, where the groups gathered to plan their six-month journey together.
In all, 107 students and 28 mentors took part in the event. Each group, consisting of two to four student actors, is mentored by one alumnus or alumna of the University of Helsinki. This year the programme is part of the International Talents Boosting the Growth of Companies –project, which is why the number of English-language groups was increased to four. One of the groups works in Swedish.
New kind of orientation for the groups
The support material provided for the mentoring groups was revised this autumn based on the feedback from previous years. As in previous years, the participants had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the Workbook for Mentoring produced by the University of Helsinki before the kick-off. New preliminary materials for actors and mentors included mentoring-themed orientation videos produced by Tevere Oy.
“It is our aim to provide the participants with materials that are as comprehensive as possible in advance, since it is good to give these types of things time to simmer,” says Johanna Ruhanen from Career Services.
Aside from practical tips, the programme of this year’s kick-off event was built on an expert presentation from Minna-Rosa Kanniainen (Lifedesign). In her presentation, Kanniainen, who previously worked with the group mentoring programme for many years, focused especially on the interactive perspective of group-based mentoring. She, for example, emphasised the crucial significance of listening and mutual respect in group meetings and encouraged actors to be active at all stages of the process.
As a concrete tip, Kanniainen reminded the participants about making a conscious effort to replace “no, but…” comments so easily escaping from our lips with “yes, and…” The latter will almost automatically move discussions in a positive direction.
During the kick-off event the groups, of course, had the opportunity to get to know each other and create shared guidelines for mentoring. The groups were in fact tasked with drawing up a written mentoring agreement on their expectations and goals related to the process.
The journey continues up until the summer
The groups will continue to work independently for about six months. It is recommended that the groups meet approximately once a month.
“We will organise an interim meeting for the mentors midway through the period, where they get to share their experiences from the first months of mentoring. Traditionally, the interim meeting has also been a good place to get new ideas for the activities of the groups,” says Ruhanen.
In May, all the groups will return to the starting place Minerva Plaza for a joint wrap-up session. Then they will have at least 28 unique mentoring stories to share.
The next mentoring period will be announced on this page in early autumn 2020. The mentor recruitment will begin in September.
