When it comes to pairing MBA students with a mentor, Beth Ursin believes a mismatch is the best kind of match. Ursin, the director of career management at Willamette University’s Atkinson Graduate School of Management, is more inclined to connect a student interested in finance with a marketing mastermind. The student itching to get into marketing is more likely to get a finance executive as a mentor.
Putting together people who have what appears to be similar career interests doesn’t always make for a strong mentor-mentee relationship.
“Students come in and say they’re interested in finance, and then they take a marketing class and they get excited about marketing,” she says. “If I’ve already matched them with someone in finance then that relationship’s no longer relevant. So I match them based on what they want to get out of the program.”
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The mentorship program at Atkinson is like many others at business schools across the country. MBA candidates are paired with business professionals who guide students as they figure out how to network, improve their resumes and work on job-related endeavors. Students and mentors usually have an entire school year to work together. For some, this relationship can be as valuable as the lessons learned in class.
“We believe in coupling that in-the-class experience with outside of the class opportunities that focus on professional development so they get the total package of an MBA program,” says Ashley Jones, director of the MBA and master’s in health care administration programs in the school of business at University of Mississippi. “And one component of that professional development, we believe, is our mentoring program.” At University of Mississippi, students in the on-campus MBA program are required to join the program.
Knowing how to fully leverage the relationship with a mentor, though, may not always be intuitive to students. If MBAs want to get the most out of time with a mentor, they should take the reigns on steering the relationship, experts say.
Early on students should establish with their mentors the best way to communicate, Ursin says. She suggests they ask “Are you a phone person?” or “Are you an email person?” to understand the best way to reach mentors, and plan to connect with them at least once a month.
These meetings, which some business schools prefer students conduct in person, should not be a casual affair.
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“They should be preplanned,” says Ursin from Atkinson, where students must apply to be in the mentorship program. “The student should come to the meeting with an agenda, then talk to the mentor about the agenda.” Discussing the specifics of the agenda, such as a student’s interest in wanting to shadow a mentor at a networking event, can ensure that students are getting what they want out of the relationship.
“That way, I think, the relationship is really focused on a student’s professional development and not just any other friendship,” Ursin says.
And before the first mentor-mentee session is done, students should already be thinking about future meet-ups. “Don’t leave your first appointment without scheduling your next one,” says Debbie Fisher, associate director of the MBA program at University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business.
Staying on top of scheduled appointments can help students keep the relationship on track, experts say. But in between appointments students should be careful about reaching out, Fisher says. Calling out of the blue or showing up for an unplanned visit to the mentor’s office might be distasteful. “I just don’t think that’s being respectful,” she says. If the relationship morphs into a friendship, though, an unscheduled phone call is fine, Fisher says.
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Contacting a mentor outside of scheduled meeting times, however, can also be a nice idea if mentees are doing so to show their appreciation for a mentor.
After a good meeting, Jones encourages students to show their gratitude by “writing them a thank-you note or sending them an email.”
Dongyi Li is especially appreciative of the relationship she had with her mentor. The second-year MBA student at Atkinson was paired with a mentor her first year who introduced her to people in marketing — one of the fields she’s interested in — and advertising. He also helped her prepare to interview for a summer internship.
The two are no longer officially connected as mentor and mentee through Atkinson’s program, but they’re still in touch.
He’s a “lifelong friend,” she says.
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Leverage MBA Mentors to Reach Career Goals originally appeared on usnews.com
