1. Make sure in advance that you have enough time in your schedules for the mentoring programme.
2. Take your time to find a suitable mentor.
3. Set clear goals – what you want to bring to the programme and what you expect as an outcome.
4. It is all about energy and attitude: be prepared to be active and self-motivated.
Mentoring is an interactive relationship between two individuals – the mentee and the mentor. In the LUT Mentoring Programme, alumni assist students in developing their professional skills and identifying their own assets and strengths. Successful mentoring requires active engagement, commitment, openness, and trust of both parties.
Last year's participants Katariina Timonen, Wojciech Mojsiejuk, and Aleksi Kananen describe that the mentoring program helped them to identify their own transferable and to explore interesting career paths.
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The mentoring programme helps students understand their own skills and streghts
Fourth-year business student Katariina Timonen applied to the LUT Mentoring Programme with the goal of organizing and assessing her own skills and various career options.
"I wanted to get concrete advice on what directions in the working world could be possible and which of them would be the right fit for me."
During the mentoring, Timonen set goals both independently and together with her mentor. Through purposeful collaboration, she discovered strengths within herself that had previously gone unnoticed.
"I found strengths in qualities of mine that I hadn't paid attention to before," Timonen summarizes.
According to Timonen, the collaboration with the mentor was structured and consistent. Proactivity, preparation for meetings, and pre-agreed topics guided the process according to the goals.
"I'm curious, so it was easy for me to ask for my mentor's opinions and insights on various topics."
The mentor's support helped Timonen recognize and strengthen her own views and career goals.
“Conversations with my mentor brought me new viewpoints, and in every meeting, I realized or learned something new.”
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Conversations with my mentor brought me new viewpoints.
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My goal was to gain information about career opportunities so that I can plan my career path in Finland.
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Mentoring helps familiarize oneself with the opportunities in the Finnish working life
Wojciech Mojsiejuk, a student in the Master's Programme in Data-Centric Engineering, joined the mentoring programme to understand Finnish work practices better and expand his professional network in Finland.
"My goal was to gain information about career opportunities so that I can plan my career path in Finland as graduation approaches."
According to Mojsiejuk, collaborating with a mentor provided valuable insights into various career opportunities both in Finland and the international job market. Additionally, he received practical tips to support his working skills.
"We discussed a wide range of topics, and my mentor shared diverse experiences from different stages of his career. I also received advice on job hunting, which has made it easier to find the right job," Mojsiejuk explains.
Mojsiejuk highly recommends the LUT Mentoring Programme – especially for international students.
"Mentoring provides you with support when you’re exploring your opportunities"
Katariina, Wojciech, and Aleksi's tips for other mentees:
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Mentors help mentees develop their professional confidence and self-awareness
The LUT Mentoring Programme provided timely advice for Aleksi Kananen, a business student who was on the verge of graduation last fall, as he made the transition from studies to work.
"Last fall, my goal was both graduate and find an interesting job in my field. In the mentoring programme, I got to clarify my professional skills and receive advice on how to develop them in the professional world," Kananen describes.
The importance of recognizing one's own specialty and courage to strive upward, especially in job hunting, became clear with the mentor's support.
"My mentor reinforced my belief that even as a recent graduate, I possess expert skills in my field of study; I just need to lean on them and introduce them in the right way.
Although Kananen had already secured an interesting job in his field before the start of the mentoring programme, collaborating with his mentor provided many new perspectives on career development and the working world.
"I found it interesting to hear about the career paths that others with similar education have taken," Kananen says.
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I found it interesting to hear about the career paths that others with similar education have taken.
LUT Mentoring Programme
The LUT Mentoring Programme starts again in November 2023, and the application period for mentees is open until October 9, 2023. You can apply to become a mentee if you are
- a LUT master’s student
- a LUT doctoral student
- a newly graduated LUT alumni (max one year after graduation), and you are still looking for work from your own field
- a LUT master’s student
- a LUT doctoral student
- a newly graduated LUT alumni (max one year after graduation), and you are still looking for work from your own field
More information
Anni Hänninen
Coordinator
Other external client services
