Former participants

The main question that I wanted to clarify with the help of my mentoring tandem was whether I wanted to do a doctorate or not. Furthermore, I came into the mentoring program with many more questions, hoping to find an answer to these as well. I wanted to learn more about my personality. I was interested in finding out where my strengths and weaknesses lie so that I could learn to deal with them more consciously. I also asked myself whether I would be better off working in a large or small company.

Finally all my questions could be answered. I now know how to make good use of my strengths and what to look out for in my weaknesses. I also realized that I would rather work in a small company or start my own business.

Since I am on the final straight of my studies, my tandem was primarily about starting a career and internship opportunities. Special emphasis was placed on preparing a good application - questions such as: "What should a good application look like", "What do you write in a CV", "Which certificates should be sent with an application? In addition, there was also the question of whether the internship should take place where one could imagine working or whether I wanted to do another internship abroad to gain additional experience.

Since my mentor works in the space industry and this is also my major field of study, we mainly talked about this industry. I found the interdisciplinary workshops offered in the mentoring program to be an extremely useful addition to the support in the tandems.

All in all, I think back on the mentoring program very happily and positively: my mentor was very helpful and both the mentee group and the network meetings and workshops were a lot of fun.

The focus of our tandem discussions was on the topics of application procedures and career entry as well as the dangers and opportunities in the working world. As my mentor has already worked in responsible positions in several companies despite his young age, he was also a very competent contact person for this. I particularly liked the uncomplicated, nice manner, the friendly atmosphere at the meetings in various cafés and that I could hope for his opinion/help with questions on the most diverse topics.

I got to know my mentor, who is managing director of a medium-sized company in Braunschweig, as a very likeable and interested person. During our meetings in the company, we mainly analysed the possibilities of my further development. Together we discussed possible fields of activity for a later career start. Furthermore, he was able to make it clear to me that it is very important to have a clear goal in mind and to be aware of one's weaknesses in addition to one's strengths. For this reason, we also went through my "Power Profile", which was created during the workshop "Career and Life Planning", which was offered as additional training for students as part of the mentoring program.

At first I was quite sceptical about whether the Mentor.ING program would be of any use to me at all and whether it would help me get ahead. Now I'm glad that I took part and would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs career help or wants to move forward.
In my case, I already had certain interests in terms of area of expertise, personality and experience; these were also excellently taken into account when assigning the mentor. It is only when you participate that you realize how valuable the program is, as you get a direct contact with a person in the industry.
For me, the meetings have resulted in significant changes in my study plan. You learn first hand what is most important for certain professions, also in terms of hiring criteria. In my previous studies, I often said to myself "If you had known that earlier"; in this respect, you can also optimize your schedule very well.
My mentor was a great fit for me and I benefited a lot from him. Apart from that, the network meetings are also amusing and contribute to a relaxed atmosphere. The benefit for me was far greater than the time spent. If you don't use this chance, it's your own fault and you will be annoyed when places become rare. So set your goals, apply and secure this experience and above all the contacts.

Overall I liked the mentoring program very much. The tandem meetings in particular gave me a lot of new insights, especially in the areas of "application and interview". My mentor and I also had very intensive discussions about possible career paths, CVs and goals in life. So it became clear to me that (as a pure mechanical engineer) I should acquire further mechatronic knowledge during my studies (internships, student working group) or consider membership in the VDI for employers. My mentor always took time for me (despite long working hours), was always very reliable and made a lot of effort to provide information on my questions. Last but not least, thanks to him I now have two interesting contacts from the business world - networking can begin!

The mentoring program was very much about "Insight into a business enterprise" and "The path from study to work". My mentor, who as a department manager brought a wealth of experience in these topics to the tandem, and also my upcoming graduation offered the opportunity to deal with these and similar issues in detail.

The experiences in the exchange were thoroughly positive. On the one hand, I was able to learn a great deal personally and on the other hand, I was able to gain new first-hand knowledge through the often mentioned "bridge from study to work".

I really enjoyed this form of networking and can be recommended to every student, regardless of the semester.