In December of 2008, I launched Mentorship Connection, a volunteer project to connect students with professionals. During the course of the project, dozens of connections were made, and I heard a number of encouraging stories from those who had been connected.
The most satisfying part of the project came when I paired myself with Gloria—I couldn’t help but think that my own experiences matched her interests perfectly, so I sent her a note to let her know that I would be her mentor match. Over the next few months, I got to know Gloria over Skype calls and emails, along with a quick lunch when she was visiting Chicago.
Who knew that my little mentorship matching idea would play a part in leading Gloria into a role in my very own group with Edelman Digital? She starts next week (I guess it’s true then—networking is truly the best way to find a job).
I’ve decided to wrap up the mentorship connection site for now. It takes a fair amount of time to maintain, and between my full time job and growing list of hobbies, I’m not able to manage it properly right now. I want to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone who took part. I hope you found your matches to be as satisfying as my own.
Do you have a success story to share? I’d love to hear it!
Tags: mentor, networking
Megan McQ
Hey there!
I’m one of the people you paired with a mentor! I’m so glad I met mine. We exchanged a few emails and had lunch once. She had so many great insights into the field! She recently moved jobs so I’ve been out of touch with her while she’s been getting adjusted, but I’m planning on getting back in touch with her to expand my professional network.
Thank you for setting up the program, it’s been great for me!
–Megan McQ
Megan McQ
Oh… AND CONGRATULATIONS TO GLORIA!
Edelman Digital Rocks.
(Especially the DC office) :-p
Valérie
Hello! I’m Valerie and I’m French. This mentoring thing is such a great idea. We have nothing like that in France
I’d love to be part of a project like this one !
I hope you’ll follow up with that
Caroline
Hi Allie! I am incredibly thankful for you reviewing my career interests and matching me up with Heather as a mentor. She was instrumental in helping me land my post-college internship with an ad/pr agency by reviewing my resume and cover letter.
Gloria is a good friend of mine through PRSSA at The University of Iowa and recommended this site to me. I just wanted to drop you a quick note and say thank you for reaching out to help!
Sheema
Hi Allie! I’m one of the people you set up with a mentor in London- Vikki. Vikki has become a great friend as well as a mentor- she’s given me fantastic advice, and also helped me land my first job! I would not have been possible without you, so thanks for your mentor connection!
Allie Osmar
This comments make me so happy – thanks for sharing, everyone!
Kevin Saghy
I was paired up with a student, Rachel, who will be a rock star in this field. We touched up her resume and application materials, have talked for her blog and now I must get back in touch to find out how her internship is going! Thanks for facilitating, Allie.
Thanh Ho
Hi Allie,
Thanks so much for Mentorship Connection. I was paired up with Clive, a professional at Silicon Valley. And he was the one who introduced me to social media. I can’t imagine what I’d missed out if we hadn’t talked about social media since my school seems to focus more on traditional PR.
Thanks so much.