Mentor Program ‘21: It’s a wrap!

When you’re in university or are just starting out, the big bad world of working in the industry can be daunting. Are you doing everything right? What are you meant to expect? Is what they teach actually relevant? 

Having a chance to speak with someone more established in their careers and having them provide guidance and support can really go a long way- not to mention the new industry contact you’ve just made.

Last year, we created a mentor program that saw over fifty senior professionals generously volunteering their time and expertise. In last years program, one of the mentees that got involved was an RMIT student named Michael Saliba, who we later brought on as our Marketing & Communications Executive.

After hearing some great feedback from both mentors and mentees who got involved, we’re brought it back again. And, in a full-circle moment, Michael took the project on of getting the next generation of Mentors and Mentees set up.

Kicking off in July, we had another fifty professionals ready to go and mentees being paired up left, right & centre. 

What were the logistics?

Those that got involved gave up no more than two hours of their time, split across two one-hour zoom/phone sessions over two weeks. 

Hmm, and how about the reality?

The timings were different across the board. Some matches had four, thirty-minute chats, and others met once and then not again for another month. Unfortunately, there were a few that dropped off or ghosted!

The best part? No one was charged a cent. 

“Time is money”, as the saying goes, but these professionals were gracious enough to set aside time to help these mentees out, so thank you to everyone that got involved!

Cool- What were the different skillsets on offer?

While we did keep the mentorships within the Creative space, it was nice to see such a wide variety of skills and knowledge bases. Some of which included:

• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Advertising
• Digital Marketing
• UX/UI Design
• Project Management
• Creative and Strategic thinking
• Budget Management
  
  

Now we could go on and on, but why not hear about it from some of the people who got involved?!

Pictured left to right: Kaylee Liu (Mentor) and Caitlyn Dunne (Mentee)

Kaylee: “The Creative Natives Mentor Program was incredibly fulfilling to be a part of. My mentee, Caitlyn (who is a marketing student) and I clicked immediately. Over our two sessions, I shared my experience as a Digital Marketer on everything from how to create a marketing strategy, to tips on finding work. I love that just two hours of my time can make a real difference for a future marketer like Caitlyn about to begin her career, and I’d be delighted to do it all over again next time!”

Caitlyn: “I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for setting up this amazing CN Mentor Program. It’s been such an educational and exciting program to be a part of, and you did a great job pairing me with Kaylee. Michael, you also made this a very smooth process and thank you for that. Kaylee was amazing at providing resources, templates and links from our conversations, and answering all my crazy questions with so much detail. I’ve taken so much away from this experience, including someone I feel comfortable reaching out to in future. I highly recommend Kaylee as a mentor again if you are looking to do this in future, she has great leadership qualities and an understanding of her field.”

Also, check out this post that Caitlyn made on LinkedIn about her experience in the program.

//

Pictured left to right: Filip Ivankovic and Michelle Kittikhoun

Filip & Michelle were another pairing that we’re proud of. In a post to LinkedIn, Michelle wrote the following: “Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to virtually meet my digital marketing mentor Filip Ivankovic, thanks to Creative Natives’ Mentoring Program! Thanks to Fil and Creative Natives for this opportunity for me to learn more about the marketing field including how to stand out in such a populated market, what it takes to build a successful career, and remembering that you are more than just your job.”

What better way to end this happy post than to share a touching video with a few more testimonial

Stay tuned for news on another Mentor Program by following us on LinkedIn!