On this page you will find sample agendas, sample questions, and more resources to help guide the conversations you will be having as part of the Inclusv mentoring program.
March 2019
Looking for a refresher?
Check out January’s Guide here.
Check out February’s Guide here.
Key Goal For This Month: Review Previous Discussions
Friendly Reminder: Out of respect of your mentor/mentee, please notify your partner in advance should you need to reschedule the meeting. To make the most of your last meeting, come prepared to your chats with questions in mind. Prior to your last meeting, check how your partner likes to be addressed. Do they go by a nickname? What are their pronouns? All of this will help make your last session fruitful!
For this month, we encourage pairs to break down the conversations that they have had in the past two months and have a discussion on what they have learned throughout the mentorship experience. Mentors and mentees can go over the goal/s that they’d identified in the previous months and continue to work on the goal/s, if they are still in progress. If the goal has been addressed, we’ve included some common topic matters below.
Ice Breaker
- What have you learned from the Inclusv Virtual Mentorship Program?
- What is the biggest takeaway that you’ve learned as a mentor or mentee?
- What is one area that I (mentor or mentee) could’ve improved upon?
- What was the biggest challenge for you as a mentor or mentee? What came naturally to you during the mentorship program?
Sample Discussion Topics
- Networking
- Networking: Questions to Ask (Harvard Law School)
- Sample Networking Emails & Thank You Notes (Harvard Law School)
- Job Hunting
- Seven Things To Do At The Start Of Your Job Search (Forbes, Caroline Ceniza-Levine, April 16, 2015)
- Getting A Job In 2019: Hiring Trends For Early Careerists (Forbes, Jill Tipograph, March 5, 2019)
- Respect and Integrity
- You Owe Me an Apology (Elle, Brittney Packnett, September 12, 2018)
- Don’t Fear Being the Only One (The Brown Girls Guide to Politics, Dr. Sharmin Dharas, July 10, 2018)
- I’m Celebrating My Disabled Black Girl Magic Because I’m Done Feeling Invisible (SELF, Ola Ojewumi, November 7, 2018)
- Interviewing Tips
- How to answer 8 tough job-interview questions without lying (Business Insider, Jacquelyn Smith, October 10, 2016)
- How to Ace an Interview: 5 Tips from a Harvard Career Advisor (Harvard Extension School, Linda Spencer, March 27, 2013)
- How to Ask for a Promotion/Raise
- What Salary Should I Ask For? How to Figure Out Your Worth. (The Cut, Alison Green, March 5, 2019)
- 15 Rules for Negotiating a Job Offer (Harvard Business Review, Deepak Malhotra, April 2014)
- How Women of Color Get to Senior Management (Harvard Business Review, Cindy Pace, August 31, 2018)
- Leveling The Equal Pay Field: Negotiating While Black (NBC News, Chandelis R. Duster, April 4, 2017)
- Determining What Career Path is Best for You
- 10 Latinas Share What They Wish They’d Known At The Start Of Their Careers (Refinery 29, Ludmila Leiva, November 1, 2018)
- 5 Steps To Finding The Right Career For You (Forbes, Ashley Stahl, September 27, 2018)
Sample Question for Mentors to Ask Mentees
- What are some key takeaways that you have learned from our conversations?
- What topic didn’t we cover that you’d like to discuss?
- What questions do you have about previous discussion topics?
- Is there anything that I can support you with during our last call?
- Are there any areas that you are still struggling with?
- How have you grown throughout this experience?
- What was the most challenging aspect of the Inclusv Virtual Mentorship Program?
- What was the most rewarding aspect of the Inclusv Virtual Mentorship Program?
Sample Questions for Mentees to Ask Mentors
- Based on our previous conversations, what are some areas that I can improve in, as a mentee and/or as a professional?
- What areas do you find that I excel in? What areas do you find that I can improve upon?
- What advice do you have to maintaining longevity, credibility, and a strong reputation in this field?
- How have you maintained success in your career?
- What do you wish that you knew at my stage in my career?
- How can I work smarter?
- Are there any organizations/people that you recommend that I reach out to and connect with?
- What piece of wisdom can you are share with me?
- How has being a mentor impacted you?
Your Last Meeting
Show Gratitude, Appreciation, and Thanks: Mentees and mentors, please take some time during your last call to say a word of appreciation to your partner. We acknowledge that there are challenges of managing a virtual mentorship program, especially across time zones, fields, experience levels, and even juggling with our personal lives, so please do not be shy to share what you’ve learned, gained, and improved upon to your partner. Thank you!
Please note that mentors are human too. We do not expect mentors to have answers to every question from a mentee. We encourage mentors and mentees to connect with one another and of course reach out to Moonyoung@Inclusv.com if there is a specific request for materials and support.