Mentoring Program

Purpose

In a professional setting, mentoring typically means a deliberate pairing of a more skilled or experienced person with a lesser skilled or experienced one, with an agreed-upon goal of having the latter grow and develop specific competencies.

Other general goals include:

  • Give students and prospective members of the profession insights into how HR practitioners function
  • Help them make career choices, socializing with (and perhaps recruiting) graduating students, and generating mutual learning.
(Adapted from M. Murray and M. Owen, Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring: How to Facilitate an Effective Mentoring Program, Josses-Bass, 1992.)

Objectives

We encourage mentors to share their professional experience with the many eager upcoming Human Resources students at York University and new MHRM students at the School of Human Resources Management (SHRM). We see many benefits to facilitating the process whereby students can meet with established HR practitioners to discuss their potential profession on an informal basis. Rather than organizing a highly structured system, we hope that a more informal approach will benefit participants. We hope the professional relationships forged through this process will continue for many years and will be self-sustaining.

In short, our primary objectives of the Mentoring Program are:

  • Encourage the growth of graduating HR students and build practical knowledge of what it takes to succeed in the profession.
  • Create and enhance a network of contacts in the field for both the mentor and protégé.
  • Share knowledge and ideas among and/or between the student and the professional.
  • Enable and support the transition from student to a successful HR practitioner.

There may be many other reasons to get involved and we hope the active members of the program experience the benefits of sharing their ideas and professional experience.

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