The power of mentorship – a personal reflection

Four years of all-consuming post-secondary study, student debt, a baccalaureate degree in hand, and unemployment staring you in the face. Three years related experience needed to apply for work in ones field of study is a daunting reality for most new graduates. Having dedicated ones former years to earning good grades and working entry level, minimum wage, jobs to pay rent or ones cell phone bill just doesn’t cut it in the job market today. This puts our graduates in a very vulnerable state. In fact, a recent Statistic Canada report shows youth unemployment has increased to a 14.1 per cent high, double the unemployment rate of the general population, with more than 400,000 young adults (ages 19-30) unable to find work. Youth need organizations to take a chance on them, how can one gain professional experience otherwise? From my experience, I believe a need for mentors is the key to a successful career starting point, for youth as mentees.

Popular reality talent competitions (e.g., X-Factor), and practical degrees (e.g. apprenticeships), for example, have embraced mentorship, yet the majority of professional corporations seem to be blind to the benefits of coaching youth, to grow into the roles, leaders in the field possess today. The science of mentoring is still relatively young, yet it is recognized as a critical on-the-job training development tool for career success for both men and women for decades (Hunt & Michael, 1983). Mentorship is generally studied as a positive tool when looking to advance employees within an organization, and formal mentoring programs continue to gain popularity within organizations as they are related to affirmative growth and production outcomes (Allen, Eby & Lentz, 2006).

Mentorship can catapult the career journey of an individual, and greatly impact an organization through the longevity of employee retention, here is my story. At twenty-six years old, I get the pleasure of saying that I am in my ninth year working for a financial institution – an opportunity that propelled my career, a few years ahead of the pack. Starting the summer before my grade twelve term, I was hired to work within a professional environment, and now I coordinate the Youth Team of the very program of which I began my career, all while pursuing a Baccalaureate and now a Masters degree. This Youth Team Program provided mentorship that would not only exposed me to various corporate initiatives, but invested in me so I could be successful in such a foreign environment for a teenager. The transferable skills, learned on the job, through good role models, were unparalled. I know of many others in a similar position, who never envisioned a career within financial services (and some who have) and, by having this experience, are now thriving within the company’s walls.

The crème de la crème of youth are selected for this team, as hundreds apply for six available positions, and so the company in turn has garnered well trained, keen, enthusiastic, clever staff from their ripe teenage years. The hiring process is grueling, and ones chances slim, but if selected it is a once in a life time opportunity to start your career one giant step ahead of the competition. This is an opportunity for youth, to gain unprecedented experience working in a professional environment, and in a community sphere, all while receiving top-notch training in various areas of personal growth. For the one year term of the program, the corporation is taking a risk on the young, and investing time, resources and dollars into each individual student. I personally believe in the significant impact of the mentorship this company is providing these very green, very inexperienced youth.

To this point, I have experienced corporate youth opportunity and mentorship within the job market as win-win, so why aren’t more organizations taking notice? Generation Y is focused on education, but professional experience is necessary too, and few companies are offering students a professional starting point. I know, anecdotally, the impact such mentorship has had on myself, many others, and this organization, maybe it’s time other corporations followed suit.

Author Bio

Having completed a BA in Psychology, Angela Katsamakis is currently in her 3rd and final year of the MA Counselling Psychology program at the University of British Columbia. Her interest in psychology and many years of corporate mentorship experience have fostered a passion to better understand, in an effort to support, youth with present career issues.

References

Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T. & Lentz, E. (2006). Mentorship behaviours and mentorship quality associated with mentoring programs: Closing the gap between research and practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91 (3), 567-578.

Hunt, D.M. & Michael, C. (1983). Mentorship: A career training and development tool. The Academy of Management Review, 8 (3), 475-485.