CREATING MEMORABLE MOMENTS
Creating memorable moments in a mentoring program is essential for fostering meaningful connections and lasting impact. These moments can be achieved through shared experiences, personalized guidance, and celebrating milestones together. Engaging in activities that build trust and rapport, such as attending events, participating in hands-on projects, or simply sharing personal stories, helps cement the relationship. Memorable moments make the mentoring experience enriching and enjoyable, encouraging both mentors and mentees to invest in and value the program.
Activities that mentees can do with their mentors:
Participate in a mock interview with your mentor
Ask to have an informational interview
Spend some time at your mentor’s workplace (job shadowing)
Attend a workshop, conference or some other event together
Go for a coffee or a meal and talk about career interests and accomplishments
Ask them if they mind sharing personal stories about the work life (e.g. how did they manage conflicts or disagreements at work?)
Tour a facility in your area of interest
Discuss the goals you set during your orientation training
Ask your mentor how they went about finding a job
Discuss the types of employment that are available for your degree
Look at job websites together to explore potential job opportunities
Ask about how they maintain a work/life balance
Share your cover letter and resumé with your mentor and ask for feedback
Ask your mentor about possible past experiences they have had as a mentee
Activities that senior mentees can do with their junior mentees:
Go for lunch and discuss some of the courses you have taken or are planning to take
Go for dinner with your mentor (as a triad)
Share your resumés and cover letters, and discuss them
Discuss books that have been helpful to you in your discipline, for studying, or personally
Tour a facility together that is pertinent to your disciplines
Attend a workshop, conference, or some other event together
Discuss and review projects that you are working on
Explain how you have made decisions in your life
Collect brochures of services available at UBC that you think might be helpful for your mentee, and discuss them
Find a professor who would be willing to participate in an informational interview and conduct that interview together
Volunteer together
Go to a networking event provided by an association in your area of interest