Staff Writer- Ethan Lalumiere
The Gustavus Mentoring Program officially kicked off with a banquet on Thursday, Nov. 6th, from 6:00 to 7:30 in Alumni Hall.
“The mentoring program here at Gustavus is where we connect students with Gustavus alumni that are in the field or industry that the student is wanting to go into. It’s a great way for students to learn from somebody that’s been there and done that, help build connections, and help build confidence for the student,” Senior Career Development Specialist Julie Rudolf said.
The program matches current Gustavus students with Gustavus alumni who work in a field the student is interested in. They are connected through GustiesConnect, the Gustavus site of PeopleGrove. The site provides a starting point for communication between mentors and mentees, which can then grow over the course of the year.
“It really builds a lot of community within Gustavus, between the students and the alumni. It’s a great way for students to build relationships and friendships with the alums as well. It also gives students a lot of opportunity, so we do a lot of fun networking events throughout the year,” Rudolf said.
The Mentoring Program hosts a variety of events that take place throughout the year, in addition to the banquet. These include a January trip to Can Can Wonderland in St. Paul and a visit to a Minnesota Timberwolves game later in March.
“There is no additional cost to any of the students or the alums that are part of the program. So when they go to those events, [they] are covered by the program,” Rudolf said.
The Mentoring Program can also help with networking of both connections to Gustavus alumni and also the wider network of people they can connect with in the professional sphere.
The program also encourages mentors to help students with their resumes, cover letters, recruiting site profiles, mock interviews, and anything else they might need to prepare for the process of entering the post-grad workforce.
“I think it’s been beneficial for me to have a mentor. I got an internship last year through my mentor. He served as a reference. He helped me with my resume beforehand,” Student Leadership Team President and Junior Cullen Arneson said. “The year before I had the opportunity, I wanted to be a firefighter at some point. I was able to get a job at the Mankato Fire Department, it just opens up a lot of opportunities in the career field, which I really enjoy.”
Gusties Connect, the program’s site, has an easy way to contact the mentor students are paired with, as well as a list of all the mentors affiliated with the program. Students are encouraged to use the site to start communicating with their mentors when they get into the program, then transition to other forms of communication if they feel comfortable.
“The way people are going to get ahead, especially in the economy that it’s been for the last 25 years, is by knowing people,” Professor of Business and Economics Mike Dueber said. “You can be really good at stuff, but if you don’t get the break to get your foot in the door, it’s tough, and having an alum as a mentor helps a lot.”
The mentoring program can also benefit parents or guardians of current Gustavus students, especially when they’re concerned about their child not taking their professional advice.
“It doesn’t always make sense, but I know with my kids and my students, if the parent says one thing, the kids just turn off. But, if somebody else says it, it makes a lot more sense, right?” Dueber said. “The alumni still have their success in mind. They really want to be helpful, but they’re not their parents, so it’s a little different point of view that they can give.”
The mentoring program can be crucial to get to know people who are actually working in the same field as students want to go into, especially with the current job market.
“As the barriers to entry to the workforce become higher and higher, it’s more and more important to have connections and to know people. One of the best ways to do that is through the mentoring program, and you have people that are in it that have a similar experience to you, and they went to Gustavus, and they’re familiar with all of these things. Connecting with them is a great way to both learn about what people are doing with your degree and your major, as well as maybe future job opportunities,” Vice President of Recruitment and Senior Micah Lesch said.