Six reasons why mentoring helps your career (even when you’re in first year!)

Six reasons why mentoring helps your career (even when you’re in first year!)

Our mentoring scheme matches all first year Engineering and Computer Science students with industry professionals.

We work with mentors from a range of companies, from SMEs to global brands like Airbus and IBM. Over a series of meetings, mentors support students to focus their career plans by sharing invaluable real-world knowledge and experience. Mentors have told us that they learn from students too! A few of our current students told our Industrial Liaison Office (ILO) how the mentoring scheme has helped them.

1. Insight into life in the field

   Speaking to people who work in the area you’re interested in can give you a ton of useful information that you won’t read on a company’s website.

   “The ILO mentoring scheme greatly enhanced my insight into the real working world, a must for anyone studying a course with little experience in the field (which is pretty much everyone).”
   Lewis Finn Cameron (Aerospace Engineering student)

2. You can ask lots of questions

   Getting to know a mentor in a small group setting means it’s a lot easier to get the information you really want!

   “Was a really useful opportunity to ask questions in a non-judgemental environment.”
   Eliza Wren (Civil Engineering student)

3. Practice building professional relationships

   ‘Networking’ is something that strikes fear into the heart of even the most socially adept professionals. Having a mentor is a good way to practice turning awkward small talk into useful conversations.

   “Interesting to hear directly from experienced engineers in the field and develop a professional relationship with them.”
   Ewan White (Electrical and Electronic Engineering student)

4. Get thinking about the future

   Graduation can feel like it’s a long way away when you’re in the midst of a challenging degree, until suddenly it isn’t! Engaging with your industrial mentor gets you thinking about what happens after graduation, so you can get an idea of what you want to do and start making plans.

   “It is a very helpful scheme and will benefit us by giving us an understanding of what lies ahead after we graduate.”
   Antonis Stavrou (Engineering Maths student)

5. Figure out what’s important to you

   As a graduate you’ll hopefully find lots of employers who are looking for people with your skillset. Your mentoring experience can help you think about your values, the impact you want to have on the world and what sorts of roles and companies are going to help you achieve those goals.

   “The scheme mostly helped me determine what to prioritise outside of my degree in order to improve employability, as well as work out what kind of company I want to work for.”
   Jonathan Bridges (Mechanical Engineering student)

6. You get back what you put in

   Thanks to our Industrial Liaison Office, Bristol students have access to a range of enthusiastic industrial mentors from leading companies. Mentors give up their time and energy to support your future. It can be intimidating at first, but by making sure you’re prepared with plenty of thoughtful questions, and by having an open mind and a positive attitude, you’ll maximise the potential of your new professional relationship. An honest conversation with your mentor could direct you towards career paths you didn’t even know existed!

   “The mentors are there to help and it is a great set up but ultimately we have to be proactive and make the most of using the mentors’ knowledge and experience to help us.”
   Frank Panton (Engineering Design* student)

* Design Engineering was known as Engineering Design until the end of the 2024/25 academic year.