|
Back in 2007, a group of MBA students took the initiative to mingle and match themselves with their predecessors for career advancement. They had contacted the Global Alumni Network Office (GANO), which then assisted them in getting in touch with its alumni community.
The activity was a success, and gathered increasing interest from the MBA student community. By 7 February 2009, it was officially launched as the more structured NUS MBA Mentorship Program, and runs two rounds of mentor-mentee matching each year.
Number Spurt
From 19 mentors (MBA alumni) and 40 mentees (MBA students) in September 2007, the initiative boasts 62 mentors and 80 mentees exactly two years on. Among them, 55 mentor-mentee pairs have been matched. The newcomers have been officially introduced, and some of them are already starting to work together.
Welcome Dinner
GANO also organized a welcome session for them. This facilitated free interaction among 116 alumni mentors, student mentees, MBA Alumni Relations Team (ART) members and School representatives, which goes a long way to further ensure that perfect mentor-mentee match as well as extensive networking.
After the welcome by Professor Kulwant Singh, Deputy Dean, NUS Business School, Malcolm Koh (APEX-E MBA 2007), President, MBA Alumni-NUS and Mitesh Patel (MBA 2003), Mentorship Director, MBA Alumni-NUS in turn addressed the participants. In his speech, Mr Koh expressed his pleasure over the growth in the Program's participation numbers; and thanked GANO for its support, Mr Patel for being instrumental in leading the Program since its inception in 2007, and students for their participation through the coordination efforts of ART.
Developmental Gains
Each mentor-mentee partnership stint promises to be a professionally rewarding one for the mentor, and a practical eye-opener for the mentee - evident by what participants say (See Participants' experience below).
The next mentors and mentees recruitment and matching exercise will be conducted towards the end of 2009. Watch for it! Better yet, sign on as a mentor!
More Information
|