Meet our Mentors – Cardiff University Career Mentoring

On national mentoring day (27 October 2022), we would like to celebrate the contribution of our mentors on the Cardiff University Career Mentoring Programme.

We have been lucky enough to have over 350 mentors who have given their time to mentor Cardiff University students since our programme began in 2020.

The programme matches students with an experienced professional in their chosen industry giving them a unique insight into the sector alongside invaluable advice, support and guidance. It provides mentors with the opportunity to develop their guidance and leadership skills whilst inspiring and advising students. Many of our mentors are 英国卡地夫大学 Alumni.

Applications to our 2022-23 Career Mentoring programme are open for both students and mentors and close on 11 November.

What’s it like to be a mentor?

Meet some of our brilliant mentors as they share their thoughts below….

Ronnie Jones – journalist, podcast producer and jazz drummer.

“I applied to be a mentor on the Cardiff University program because I genuinely want to help; to offer the kind of guidance which I needed myself when I was a student at Cardiff University in my early twenties, back in the late 1990s.

?Being a mentor at Cardiff University is something which you do have to take seriously. It's an ongoing relationship. Your advice matters. The person who you're helping is either at the start of their career or making a big career change. But you’re not alone. The team at Cardiff University are a great support and the mentor programme is structured and well organised, guiding you - and your mentee - as you develop a working relationship, enhancing the support and advice which you give as a mentor.

?What I think I've learned most from being a mentor at Cardiff University is something I didn't expect. Obviously, I wanted to help; but I didn't expect I would be helped too. I found the conversations with my mentee became great opportunities for self-reflection. Being asked about the career choices I made, or the jobs I had, or how I see the world by someone who is super bright and keen to was priceless. How many of us set aside time in our busy lives to stop and think? To look back on what we've done, on what we've achieved, on what we really think and what we still want to achieve in the future?”

?Diane Gwilt - Keeper of collection services, National Museum of Wales.

?“I think it's always good as to put yourself in a different position to do something which is slightly outside your comfort zone. Being a mentor is not strictly work, it’s a slightly weird relationship because you are not someone's employer or teacher in this instance. Partly you're listening and partly you are coaching but it's also about asking the right questions. It was really nice and it was really refreshing because it was helping somebody out at the beginning of their careers.

From being a mentor, I've learned that it's always good to practice your listening skills. In the cut and thrust of every day at work sometimes we don’t listen as much as we should. During mentoring I really felt that I was helping somebody, that somebody was interested in what I've got to say and I was able to prompt them to explore topics more with questions like ‘have you thought about this?’ or ‘have you thought about that? Also, mentoring is an odd form of self-reflection, it’s an opportunity to think about all the good and positive things that you do.

My top tip to share with other mentors is that it's not about you, it's about them. It's about you and as much as you are sharing your experiences and knowledge but it’s about doing it in a way that's responding to their needs. The other thing I would say is don't be too bound by the mentoring framework, if mentees are comfortable with it then let it flow.”

?Amanda Rosewarne – Curator, Royal Welsh Regimental Museum.

“I like helping students and I find it rewarding to be able to help others. I was in their shoes once and getting that little extra support can make a difference. Sometimes it is hard to know what to do when you want to get into the museums sector, it's kind of a niche area unless you've been in it. It can hard to figure out how to set yourself up and start aiming towards those areas. I've enjoyed being able to give my mentees tips and tricks and ways of trying to find things relating to the sector.”

I think what I've learned from being part of this programme is that it's important to have support for students that's outside of the university, ?because at the end of the day we're out in the real world. For me, it's been a nice learning curve, I don't know if one day in my future I'd like to get into the academic side of things. It's always something that's on the plate so it's a good experience for me to be able to say that I've worked with young people.

What I would recommend that the students found helpful is having moments and opportunities where you can have real examples, using real job descriptions. That helps them start to realise what skill sets they will need. I think using real examples helps because then they can visualise that little bit more and apply to themselves. So that would be my tip, use real examples.

Ole Black – Retired Deputy Director in the Office of National Statistics.

“The main reason I joined the mentoring programme was my previous experiences of mentoring, I'm a people person, I really enjoy it and it’s always been a positive experience.

My mentee was in her last year of doing maths degree and was really starting to think about what to do in the future, we built up a good rapport with each other. We got on well and had very open conversations, we found we had several common links that enabled us to work well together, looking at what her priorities were and utilising my links at the ONS. She ended up doing an internship with ONS over the summer so mentoring led on to additional opportunities within the organisation.

What I've gained from my mentoring experiences is improving my listening skills. I think it’s also about being able to challenge, to get them to think deeper as well as put myself in their shoes, it does build up your interpersonal skills.

My top tip to share with other mentors is to listen rather than push your own agenda, we're looking to help the person rather than tell them what we think should happen going forward.

I see mentoring as building up a relationship with the person, getting to a point where you can be open, you can trust each other, talk about anything. For me, it's about listening rather than telling and being able to throw in my own experience, ask questions, perhaps give them some things to think about going forward.”

Interested in joining the Cardiff University Career Mentoring programme?

Find out more and fill in the application form. We would love to hear from you!

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