The advantages of successful participation in the programme

Mentoring offers you the following advantages in particular:

- The personal insights of your mentor show you the optimal career paths and the unspoken rules in a company.

- You can make important decisions, such as your career choice, in a more targeted manner by benefiting from the feedback of your mentor.

- You have the opportunity to learn from your mentor's mistakes and avoid them.

- The mentor serves as a role model and motivates you to develop both professionally and socially.

- You can benefit from your mentor's existing network and make valuable contacts.

- Your view of your career planning expands to include a new and more experienced perspective.

- You will learn key leadership skills that you can later use in practice.

Mentoring programmes: Support for students, alumni and young professionals

Mentoring programmes are a successful instrument and, due to their numerous advantages, are now offered at all career levels - for students, alumni and young professionals. While mentoring for students has been established in the USA for a long time, the offer is also growing at universities in Germany. In addition, both students and alumni often have the opportunity to find a suitable mentor through their universities' alumni networks. In the area of career starters, most trainees now benefit from mentoring programmes in which each trainee is accompanied by an experienced manager. A new approach is cross-organisational mentoring, in which companies exchange mentors and mentees with each other, so that the success of mentoring is no longer limited to individual organisations.

Application for Mentoring Programme

Most mentoring programmes follow a similar procedure: Mentors and mentees first fill out a questionnaire in which they state their goals, expectations of the mentoring, professional and social skills, and personal interests. For the mentee, this questionnaire is often referred to as a letter of motivation. It is important to show your potential mentor that there is an interesting personality behind your CV. If the mentors are already known, it may be possible to indicate preferences for certain people. Afterward, the questionnaires will be evaluated by the organizers of the mentoring programme in order to match you with a suitable mentor.

Internal mentoring programmes: Advancement through personal relationships and collegial exchange

Internal mentoring programmes offer aspiring managers a unique opportunity for personal and professional development. The development of a close, personal relationship between mentors and mentees not only enables a valuable professional exchange, but also creates a trusting environment in a private setting. The mentors' years of experience flow into the professional exchange and promote personal career development. This approach goes beyond the mere transfer of knowledge and opens doors to useful contacts and a strong network. Internal mentoring programmes are thus a valuable tool for aspiring managers who want to benefit from the many years of experience and collegial exchange with a trusted, entrusted person.