DCU Structured Mentorship Programme Mentee of the Year

Structured Mentorship Programme Mentee of the Year

A student who has won ‘Mentee of the Year’ in DCU Careers Service and Alumni Office Mentorship programme is urging students to participate in the programme as it will help them navigate their first steps on their career path.

 

Sofiat Sulaimon, from Clonsilla in West Dublin, is a third year Mechatronic Engineering student and was recently named ‘Mentee of the Year’.

 

Sofiat signed up to the programme after receiving an email about the programme from DCU Careers Service as she started second year.

 

‘I thought it was interesting. Coming into second year, I didn’t know what field I wanted to specialise in,’ she said. 

 

‘I was hoping the mentor could give guidance as to what I could specialise in, and help with career advice as well as tips for job interviews. 

 

‘I guess it was to look for more specific advice than what I could get from a lecturer who is working with a number of students. 

 

‘When applying to be on the mentorship programme, you have to provide general details, interests and why you want to do it,’ Sofiat explained.

 

Sofiat was paired up with DCU alumnus Barry McDermott

 

Barry, from Navan, Co Meath, but now living in Virginia, Co Cavan, graduated from DCU with an MSc in Computer Aided and Mechanical Engineering in 2003. He went on to do a PhD in the ‘Critical Appraisal of Product Development Approaches in SMEs’, graduating from DCU in 2009. 

 

Barry is Director for Industrialisation Services with West Pharmaceutical Services. He signed up for the Mentorship programme after seeing a post about it on LinkedIn.

 

‘I have mentored other people in West Pharmaceutical Services, and in other companies, and I thought I would like to do it with DCU. I wanted to educate people about what they were getting into, and basically help them understand what their options are,’ said Barry on why he signed up for the programme.

 

As the programme got underway during Covid restrictions in March 2021, Sofiat and Barry paired up virtually, meeting on Teams once a week, before meeting in person at the very end when Barry accompanied her on a site visit to West Pharmaceuticals in Dublin for their ‘Work Shadow Day’. 

 

‘Having hybrid did help,’ Sofiat explained, ‘we had other priorities and doing it online meant we could work around our schedules and save time.’ 

 

Barry explained how he did some preparatory week before his meetings with Sofiat. 

 

‘I started explaining the different branches of engineering and different roles in a company, and used this to see what she was interested in. I brought her on site at the end - obviously I would have preferred to do that at the beginning and meet her in person, but we did our best with Covid.’

 

Sofiat agrees that the pairing up with Barry has been hugely beneficial for her. 

 

‘It allowed me to reflect on myself and who I am currently as an engineer, who I want to be, and what steps I need to take to get there. 

 

‘It allowed me to see what was the best fit for me, what I was interested in the most. 

 

‘I want to apply for the right jobs, have confidence in myself, and incorporate the skills I have got in work placement into interviews, CVs and cover letters and things like that.

 

‘It has definitely helped me and next year I’ll know what I want to apply for,’ she said. 

 

Sofiat was named ‘Mentee of the Year’ which ‘recognises overall engagement as well as personal, career and employability development’. 

 

‘The Award is based on a nomination from the Mentor combined with the Mentee's reflective portfolio. Sofiat clearly reflected on how she developed on both a personal and professional level, how the Mentorship Programme helped her explore career ideas, increased her confidence and provided an opportunity to reflect on her transferable skills,’ said the Director of DCU Careers Service Yvonne McLoughlin.

 

Sofiat would recommend the programme to incoming second year students. 

 

‘Any student coming into second year should definitely avail of it. It is definitely one of the most useful things I’ve done. Lecturers can only help you so much, but your mentor helps guide you into how you start your career after your degree. They give lots of guidance or tips, particularly when you are looking for that first job, and applying for them,’ she said. 

 

‘Also I just wanted to say thank you to Barry, the Careers Service and Alumni office for organising this and giving me the opportunity to avail of the programme,’ she added. 

 

A total of 108 mentors were assigned to second year students for the 2021/22 Mentorship programme.

Mentors come from a wide range of top-tier organisations including: Oracle, Pfizer, Google, Microsoft, ESB, Vhi, Channel 4, European Commission, Arup, Kerrygroup, Zurich, Matheson and Diageo.

Mentor applications have come from members of DCU’s global alumni community in India, Canada, France, Belgium, Spain, UK, USA, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Switzerland, Scotland, Bangladesh, Bulgaria and Singapore.

‘Every year alumni have come forward to give their time and experience to the Structured Mentorship Programme, with many Mentors indicating they were previously a mentee on the programme,’ says Mary Larkin, Alumni Relations Officer.

In 2018, DCU was announced as the overall winner in the Coaching & Mentoring Category at the Irish Institute of Training & Development (IITD) National Training Awards, and was subsequently shortlisted for the same award in 2019 and 2020.