The mentoring programme by Suomen Mentorit
Our programmes are for educated young talents looking for their first job matching their education or thinking more broadly about the direction of their career or life. A mentor is like a critical friend to a mentee. Critical because a mentor can challenge the mentee’s viewpoints and stimulate new thinking. A friend because the mentor genuinely cares about the mentee’s life and well-being. Our programmes usually last 6 to 12 months, during which the mentee and mentor meet 8-10 times.
A multidisciplinary programme
The combining thing with our mentors and mentees is higher education, but we have no limitations regarding the field of education. We are first and foremost a multidisciplinary mentoring organizer and, we believe in the value of encounters between people from different backgrounds. When the mentee and the mentor are from different fields, surprising and fruitful perspectives can occur in joint discussions.
Topics for the meetings
Every mentoring meeting is always based on trust. The topics you can cover during the programme can be, for example, the following: recognizing and articulating competencies, values and dreams, job hunting and job search skills, building networks, well-being and self-leadership and future and career planning.
Success lies in a clear goal and commitment
At the beginning of the mentoring relationship, the mentee will define a goal that they would like to achieve during the programme. That can be finding a job or clarifying future direction, for example. The mentor will help with insightful questions in setting the goal if necessary.
The activeness of the mentee and the commitment of both parties are keys to successful mentoring. We also recommend agreeing on shared collaboration principles at the beginning of the process. All these instructions we will go through step-by-step in the kick-start event for those selected for our programmes.
We do the matching – you create the journey
The core of our mentoring programme is the unique shared journey of the mentee and the mentor. Our most important task at Suomen Mentorit is to enable the encounter of the mentee and mentor. We spend time and effort matching mentoring pairs that are as suitable as possible. Please fill out the application form carefully so we have all the necessary basic information to find you a matching pair. After this, the inspiring journey between you two can start. For the programme 2025, we will organise the virtual Kick-Off on Monday 28th of April 2025 from 16:30 to 18:00!
Events of the mentoring programme 2025 (is being updated)
- Kick-Off of the programme (remote)
- Mon 28th of April at 16:30-18:00
- Workshops, webinars and networking events for mentees
- Tue 13th of May at 18:00-20:00: Vision Board workshop (live, Helsinki)
- Tue 27th of May at 16:30-17:30: Entrepreneurial mindset: from idea to action – in collaboration with Startup Refugees (remote)
- Networking events for mentoring pairs
- Tue 23rd of September at 18:00-20:00: Afterwork for mentees & mentors (live, Tampere)
- Thu 27th of November at 18:00-20:00: Afterwork for mentees & mentors (live, Helsinki)
- Closing event of the programme (remote)
- Tue 16th of December at 16:30-18:00
Because surprising things happen in life we reserve the right to change schedules and event contents.
How to participate?
Criteria for our mentees:
- You are studying on your last year at a university or university of applied sciences, OR
- You have a degree from a university or university of applied sciences
- You want to build a career and life in Finland
- You are searching for a job matching your education, or you are at the beginning of your career
Due to the number of applicants, we primarily offer a mentor to applicants who meet our application criteria and are applying to the program for the first time. As a mentee, you must also be ready to commit to the mentoring process and mentoring meetings. Please fill out the application carefully to show us your commitment. Active agency and motivation in developing one’s thinking and actions are primary factors for the success of mentoring.
Hi, great that you are interested in applying as a mentee! The application period for our mentoring programme 2025 is now closed. We will inform about our new programme on our website, do stay tuned!
Criteria for our mentors:
- You have a university degree or other matching higher educational background and several years of work experience.
- You are in an executive, managerial, expert or specialist position or an entrepreneur – we welcome diverse backgrounds!
- You are interested in supporting young talents to find their path in working life, clarifying their future direction or solving working life questions.
- You want to support international talent in integrating into Finland and Finnish working life
- You can commit to at least eight mentoring meetings during the programme
We do not require prior experience in mentoring. The primary factor is that you are genuinely interested in helping a young person at the start of their career!
Hi, wonderful that you are interested in being a mentor! The application period for our mentoring programme 2025 is now closed. We will inform about our new programme on our website, do stay tuned!