Mentoring

Do you need help with discovering your strengths, working with your story, learn a thing or two about work culture in Finland? The mentor-program is for you.

Now you have the opportunity to apply for the Mentor-program of Mentor-klubi for the first time as an international student! Mentoring offers something for everyone if you are ready to reflect on yourself, meet others with respect, and are studying permanently in Finland.

The mentor-program always looks like the mentor couple themselves. The mentor and actor/mentee meet each other regularly and discuss topics of their choice. Mentors have experience working in a food company, applying for such a position, and what it’s like to enter working life after studies.

The mentor-program is for you if you want to have

  • New ideas and perspectives
  • Chance to network
  • Learn things about Finnish work culture
  • Clarification of your career choices and paths
  • Work with your job search skills

What we expect from you:

  • You can commit yourself to the program for the whole year. Please note that this program is for students studying for their full degree in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and therefore not for exchange students.
  • You will be self-initiated e.g. when planning the meetings with your mentor
  • Setting your own goals and focusing on them
  • Understanding that mentors or the program will not offer you a job or an internship

We did have one international student in our program last year as an experiment. Since it went well this is the first year we are ready to host the program in English. Please read what Kenia thought about our Mentor-program from here.

Mentors mentoring in English 2023-2024

  • Tuija Suvanto
  • Anna Rauhanoksa

Read more about these two mentors here.

Program

  • 11.9.2023-25.9.2023 !
  • We will notify all the applicants by the 4th of October
  • Orientation for new actors(students) will be organized on Wednesday, October 11th, 2023 from 4 to 5.30 p.m. In the orientation, we will go through what to expect from mentoring, and what is your part as an actor and we will help you to clarify your goals. You will also have the chance to meet all the other actors.
  • The first meeting with all the actors and mentors will be held on Thursday 26th October.

There are three group meetings during the program – the first in October, the second in February, and the third at end of April. The rest of the program is very informal, and the mentor pairs themselves are responsible for arranging the meetings. We recommend that the mentor pairs meet about once a month.

Apply!

You may apply to the program if you are a member of the Mentor club and a full-degree student of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Helsinki. The program is designed for students studying food science, nutrition science, or food economics as their major or minor. Please note that unfortunately we do not offer this program to exchange students. We happily introduce this program to those international students who in the first place are studying their two-year master’s studies in Finland and are keen to learn more about Finnish work culture.

Apply for the program using this form.

Following questions will be asked

  • Tell about yourself.
  • Why do you want to be part of the program?
  • What kind of dreams or goals do you have considered for your career?

A TIP FOR YOU! This application is not a job application and therefore the purpose of the application is not trying to make yourself sound better and greater. We hope to read applications that show your personality. Who are you? Why did you choose to study a specific major or minor? Do you struggle with what you want to be or something else? Let your personality to shown but do not worry about the application too much. Most important is that if you are interested in mentoring and would like to be part of the program – apply. 

In the selection process, the most important criterion is the applicant’s motivation, i.e. why you are applying to the program and/or what you hope the program will give you. Mentor pairs are then formed according to the wishes of the actor and mentors. We also will pay attention to which of the mentors could most likely have the kind of experience that you would benefit from based on your future dreams and wishes.

If you want to learn more about yourself, Finnish work culture, and maybe get even some tips on how to find a job in Finland, apply!

Contact

If you have any questions, please get in touch with us via social media, or send an email. You will find the contact details from here,