The Graduate School of Business Mentor Program is designed to help students increase their workplace savvy, gain clarity on their career interests, develop their networking skills and successfully make the transition from college to the workplace through a mentor relationship with a business professional.
The Graduate Business Mentor Program gives students the opportunity to build their professional connections in the business community by matching them with a local business person in their targeted industry and/or career function. This is a non-structured program. Students and Mentors determine how often and how they will meet, discuss their mutual goals and expectations, and complete a Mentor Agreement. Students can work with their Mentor to gain clarity on career goals, receive feedback on their resumes, or receive advice on how to maximize their graduate business program experience. The Mentor Program is not a training program and it is not intended to lead to job or internship offers.
Students have a chance to apply to the program once a year. This year students applied to the program in the middle of October and if the students were matched, they met their mentor at the end of the month during the Mentor Kick-Off event. I’ve asked two MIM students to share their thoughts on the mentor program.
Mengyao Luan
Hometown: China, Shandong province, Qingdao
Mentor: Carrie Atkinson, Founder of Sock It To Me
Why did you apply to the mentor program? I am new to the Portland area, and I wanted to make business connections and friends through diverse ways. The mentor program is a friendly and helpful way of making connections and learning about their business experiences first hand.
Why should students apply to the program? Mentors are usually very willing to help students since they have had similar experience before and they understand your needs better. Plus, you will never have too many connections!
Matthew Pettigrew
Hometown: Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver
Mentor: Jason Lee, Project Coordinator PECI
Why did you apply to the mentor program? I applied to the mentor program to help establish my professional network and to get personalized advice concerning my career path and specialization stream.
Why should students apply to the program? I would definitely recommend applying to the mentor program. It gives you a great connection within the business community which you can use to advise you or possibly lead to a job opportunity or a capstone project.
Susan Forrester
Susan Forrester is a full-time student in the Masters in International Management program. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Portland State University. After living in Seoul, South Korea for two years she was interested in finding a career that linked Oregon and Asia together through trade. Susan enjoys the diverse background of the MIM student body that allows her to frequently practice her beginner level Chinese.
Portland State MIM 