Mentoring provides an opportunity for an exchange of ideas between professionals at different stages of their careers and a possibility for mentors to get acquainted with the world of today’s students in the field. Mentoring is a learning process that benefits both mentors and students.
Mentoring Program 2025
The mentoring program is intended for students in the final stages of their studies as well as recent graduates (no more than 5 years since graduation).
Note: If you are not yet a member of PI, you need to apply for membership to participate in the mentoring program as a mentee. Join here. Mentee applications are now closed!
Mentor applications are open year-round through the mentor application form. Apply to the year 2025 program by February 16th 2025.
Kick-off Events: February-March 2025
Kick-off meetings will be held in different locations for students and recent graduates in those areas. The kick-offs are held in conjugtion to the Pulp&Breakfast events.
- Oulu (Backstage, Tellus, University of Oulu): February 18, 2025 at 9:00 AM. More information and registering here.
- Tampere (B2-19, Tampere University of Applied Sciences): March 11, 2025 at 8:30 AM. More information and registering here.
- Espoo (Restaurant Factory, Otaniemi): March 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM. More information and registering here.
- Lappeenranta (University Student Hall's TEK-studio, LUT University): March 27, 2025 at 8:30 AM. More information and registering here.
Midpoint Meeting: May 2025
Mentor-mentee Meetings: Held approximately every 4-6 weeks, about 2 hours each. Meetings can also be conducted fully virtually. Meetings between different mentor-mentee pairs are also possible. The program will be on break during the summer.
Closing Event: November 2025
The 2025 mentoring program will be organized so that each partner university location will have separate kick-off meetings, and mentor-mentee pairs will be matched with mentors close to the mentee's school location or with school alumni. The midpoint meeting in May will be held in the Helsinki metropolitan area, and the closing meeting will rotate between different locations.
What is mentoring?
• Open and confidential, private relationship which aims to career development
• Guidance and support from a more experienced colleague to a person interested and able to develop him-/herself (at the beginning of his/her career)
• Mentor is a coach, who’s sharing his/her own experiences but doesn’t give direct answers
Examples of the discussion topics
• How to finish studies, masters thesis work
• Job hunting, getting employed
• Career goals & possibilities, career planning
• Networking
• Working life
–Adjusting to the working community
–Leadership
–Requirements of working life
• Internationality
• How to combine work (study) life and free time / family life
• Self-knowledge
–Setting targets and achieving them
–Personality tests
• Self-improvement
–Further education, learning at work
Experiences from the previous mentoring project:
“It was great to talk with the mentor and hear their opinions on the field, the career, and work.”
“The mentoring project developed my confidence and I believe that it helped me to get a job that really suits me at the moment.”
“Having interesting conversations and thinking about different issues also helped me to realize new aspects of my own career.”