BearingPoint Finland took part in Women’s Career Society mentoring program from November 2022 until March 2023. Women’s Career Society is an association for all students at Aalto University and Hanken School of Economics that aims at inspiring young women to find their career path and build networks. Students can participate in this association regardless of the major subject or year of their studies.
At BearingPoint Finland, people are in the centre of everything we do. Our values are based on stewardship to secure the growth of people and business through empowerment, sharing knowledge and training. In everyday work this is secured with open coaching culture and personal development through appointed development managers.
At BearingPoint, we see mentoring as a possibility to support employees and students in finding their preferred career paths and gaining insights into working life and career development opportunities through discussions with a more experienced professional. Mentoring is an important tool for learning, because it enables professional discussions and supports in decision making. Mentoring is a learning path also for the mentor. It gives the possibility to reflect your own ways of working and past experiences, as well as practise negotiation and management skills.
Discussions in mentoring can also focus on general topics and experiences connected to working life and career paths, aiming at find the interest areas of mentees and guiding them towards suitable positions. The topics of these discussions can include e.g. leadership, collaboration, time management and development as an expert.
BearingPoint Finland wanted to contribute to Women’s Career Society’s mentoring program by sharing our counsultants' career experiences with students. The five-month program included meetings with the mentees and discussions on the selected topics. Topics were defined according each mentee's needs.
Mentees’ needs in mentoring meetings varied a lot. Some challenges and interest areas were really concrete, such as improving LinkedIn pages and CV, recognizing key things to pick-up from job application, preparing for challenging questions in job interviews or adjusting to different practical situations at workplace. The current hot topics, such as sustainability, equality, hybrid work and wellbeing were also key points in these discussions. Hence, the mentoring program was also a good opportunity to share knowledge and learn about students' needs and expectations towards working life.
I received valuable guidance to my career development during this program from my mentor. She gave me concrete feedback, helped me to understand different viewpoints and was always well-prepared and willing to help with my questions. The skills and mindsets I have learned from the dialogs with my mentor will be a strong foundation for my future success.
Mentee in Women’s Career Society mentoring program
Leena Latvala-Heinonen
Business Advisor
Ninni Winter
Manager
Sini Fröblom
Business Consultant