The Professional Perks of Being a Mentor

At Drexel, networking is everything, and many students I've interacted with are focused on elevating themselves professionally. Many search for professional growth in career fairs and academic societies. However, I found professional development in the most surprising place: working with first-year students.

For the past three of my four years at Drexel, I have been a Peer Mentor for First-Year Exploratory Students, and, for the last two years, I have been a CCI Peer Mentor. In that time, I've found that employers have taken far more interest in my work with my cohorts than in any of my other activities. For example, during the interview process of my last two co-op cycles, employers commented on my involvement with the Peer Mentors, asking questions like what was it like and what I've learned from it. I even had an interviewer excitedly exclaim how she had been a CCI Peer Mentor herself!

This is all to say that being a peer mentor has been a rewarding experience that has allowed me to grow as a professional in ways I never anticipated when I applied to Drexel.

Furthermore, I believe working as a peer mentor has accelerated my professional and personal development much faster than networking through any society has. My experience as a mentor has also elevated my leadership capabilities and helped me cultivate my "soft" skills. Moreover, my time as a PM has made me more confident and comfortable when speaking with interviewers, as no interview can match the anxiety of having to speak in front of two dozen first-year students. I also attribute my improved time management skills to my PM work, as I had to learn how to organize my homework with my peer mentor duties. This is all to say that being a peer mentor has been a rewarding experience that has allowed me to grow as a professional in ways I never anticipated when I applied to Drexel.

So, while there’s always something to be had from going to a career fair or a networking event, try to remember that helping other students and being a PM for your college can be just as eye-catching for potential employers — you never know what they're looking for.