Cranfield’s Career mentoring programme offers you the opportunity to be supported with your career goals by a fellow member of our alumni community.
Working with a mentor can help you to achieve your ambitions. It's an opportunity to learn from a Cranfield graduate who has ‘been there and done that’ and benefit from their insight and experience - whether you are looking for a job, trying to understand how to move up the career ladder, or thinking about changing career.
You can:
Develop your career management skills.
Gain insights on the skills and qualities required for specific careers.
Enhance your employability skills.
Expand your personal networks.
Increase your self-confidence and resilience.
Taking part in the Career mentoring programme will allow you to explore a particular profession or employment area, develop work-related skills and confidence, and connect with relevant professionals to build effective career networks. There are a variety of ways in which mentors can support you – you can find out more in our mentee handbooks on the right.
When approaching a mentor it is important to have clear objectives and understand what kind of help you are looking for. When you make the approach explain the help you are looking for in detail so the mentor can understand how they can help you. We would suggest having a call with your mentor to check that you are a good ‘fit’. If you decide not to progress the relationship please do let the mentor know so they know they are open to mentor other alumni and students.
Join the programme - register as a mentee
Graduate alumni mentees
Graduate alumni can access the mentoring programme through the Cranfield Careers portal, Symplicity using your Student ID. Once you are registered and logged in you will be able to review the profiles of alumni mentors to gather insight into their careers and how they may be able to support you.
This is a new initiative for alumni, if you participate in the programme you will be asked to complete a survey to provide feedback so we can continue to improve the programme. Unfortunately, career mentoring is not available to alumni from non-award bearing courses.
As a mentee you are expected to guide and lead the mentoring relationship – taking responsibility for your own development and growth and being prepared for meetings. You can read more about the responsibilities of being a mentee in our handbooks. Alumni are busy people who have generously volunteered their time to join this programme. If you are not responsible about communicating with your mentor on a regular basis, you are not taking full advantage of the Career mentoring programme.
Will my mentor get me a job?
The Career mentoring programme is not a recruitment programme and it is not appropriate to ask your mentor for a job. It is acceptable, however, to let your mentor know what types of job you are interested in and that you would like to expand your network and improve your skills to get that job.
How do I log on to Symplicity?
How do I log into Symplicity?
To access the Career mentoring programme and additional services you will need to log in to the Symplicity account you had as a student at Cranfield.
Your username is your Student ID number with the ‘s’ before it, and your password is the one you used for all Cranfield applications when you studied here.
If you have forgotten your username please email the Career Development Service who will help you gain access to your account.
What professions and industries do mentors work in?
Mentors on the programme work in a wide variety of industries and professions, they are at varying stages of their careers, and are located in various countries - all have volunteered their time to provide one-to-one support and advice to mentees.
Do I have to choose a mentor from my own profession or industry?
Your mentor doesn't necessarily have to work in the same industry or profession as you - in fact having a mentor in an entirely different profession or industry can be hugely beneficial because they will be a completely independent sounding board and may be able to offer a different perspective.
We believe alumni mentors have much more to offer than just career advice in their specific area, and it is important to remember that the Career mentoring programme is not a recruitment programme - it is an opportunity to learn valuable interpersonal, employability, and networking skills that will help you with your career aspirations. The great thing about the Cranfield alumni community is that they are willing to help and support fellow alumni - they are also likely to belong to other professional and alumni networks, even if they do not share your career interest. This means as well as supporting you in your career aspirations they may also know people who work in the areas you are interested in, and they might be able to put you in touch with people from their network as your mentoring relationship develops.
