Become a mentor and help an international talent!
We are looking for mentors who have already been in working life for a while and who are willing to help an international student at the end of their studies. The mentors may be working in different sectors of working life both outside and within academia, and an academic background is not a prerequisite. The mentoring pairs are formed after the application period ends.
"I wanted to help international students via mentoring because I had struggled to find my career path and then got a lot of help from mentoring. I wanted to be of some practical help and, on the other hand, increase my network," says Kubilay Kağan Özkan, a Tampere University alum who currently works as a Sales Manager at Treon Oy.
He has participated in the programme as both a mentor and a mentee.
Mentoring offers networking opportunities for mentors as well
The programme also gives the mentors an excellent opportunity to reflect on their career and expertise as they share their stories with the new experts. Mentoring offers a unique opportunity to network with both mentees and other mentors. It opens up opportunities to explore new areas and find new opportunities for collaboration even in surprising places.
"I have learned to know a group of amazing international students and their mentors and enjoy the fruits of the resulting network both at work and leisure," says Topi Pekkanen, Specialist at the Employment and Economic Development Office of Pirkanmaa Region, who has been a mentor in the programme for several years.
Experience in Finnish working life most needed
The mentors are not expected to have international experience. The most important thing required from the mentors is an ability to tell the mentees what it is like to be in working life in Finland, what the Finnish work culture is like, and to tell about their fields and career paths. The goal is for mentoring to help new international experts familiarise themselves with Finnish working life and to support their entry in the Finnish labour market after their studies.
"Mentoring was the most significant help I received when I started my career. Finding employment may be difficult for many international experts, but I gained a lot of confidence and useful tips and contacts via mentoring. I applied for jobs for a long time, and was rejected many times in the job search, but my mentor helped me and gave me hope. We are still friends, and I can call him any time," Özkan mentions.
Cultivation of multiculturalism
Participating in an international mentoring programme as a mentor develops multicultural competence and can bring new ideas on how to develop internationalisation at one’s organisation. International students completing their studies have fresh information on what it is like to live in Finland and in Tampere as an immigrant, and how organisations could consider this better in their operations.
We are looking for mentors who:
- are willing to help international students or recent graduates at the beginning of their career.
- are able to attend two meetings on site in Tampere (living in Tampere is not mandatory).
- have fluent English language skills, other language skills may also be useful.
- have interest in developing the multiculturalism of the Finnish labour market.
- have lived in Finland for at least one to two years, the length of career is irrelevant.
- are able to attend three to five meetings with their mentee (Please note that the mentor and the mentee will always agree on the mentoring relationship and the total number of the meetings as appropriate).
Does this sound like you? If yes, please apply by 19 November.
Read more about the International Talent's Mentoring Programme
For further information, please contact:
Yuritzi Becerra Zamora
yuritzi.becerrazamora [at] tuni.fi
Mariska Roelofs-Poelman
mariska.roelofs [at] tuni.fi
