Aaron Rodgers had a mentor and so did Jordan Love. Mentors can be game changers for anyone chasing a career goal.
"It helps them discern and validate what they think their career choices are going to be," said John Benson, founder of The Mentor Initiative.
Benson and recent Concordia University Wisconsin graduate and mentee Grant Karsten were @TheTable Wednesday night.
"We think there's a gap between what the students learn in the classroom and the preparation that they need to have when they go out seeking a career, said Benson. What The Mentor Initiative tries to do is bridge that gap by giving students access to senior executives in the career fields that they're interested in.”
The pilot program started at Concordia in 2020 and has connected about 100 students with senior-level Milwaukee area executives.
"It was a great addition for business students at Concordia to really dig into what they want to do as a career," said Karsten. "To be able to be paired up with real professionals in their desired field. It was just a great experience because you really have an idea of what you want to do and how to get there."
Karsten recently landed a job with U.S. Bank after graduating this spring. Benson says the key to the program is the one-on-one relationship.
"I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the intimacy that exists between the mentors and the mentees because we go through a great process to make sure that the pairing of the students with the mentors is effective," said Benson.
Watch the full conversation in the video at the top of this article.
Charles Benson and Shannon Sims interview key people in our community during TMJ4's @TheTable segment weeknights at 10 p.m.
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