Mentoring

STUDENTS CAN CHOOSE FROM FIVE MENTORING TRACKS

*- student registration is limited to the Mentoring areas marked with an asterisk. Fill in the registration form on the platform and contact the mentor you selected. Registration is always open.

MENTORING VALUE FOR THE MENTEE

• Mentoring can provide experience, knowledge and space for reflection on your current and future professional challenges and opportunities;
• With the help of a mentor, set and implement personal and professional goals;
• A chance to share ideas with experts in the professional field of interest and to plan your steps in a non-work or study environment;
• Get the support of an experienced professional in your field to encourage you to take care of your career, develop new skills and to stay curious by taking interest in innovation;
• Get an unbiased opinion on your options;
• Increase your level of motivation and self-confidence;
• Expand the professional circle that will be useful in the future;
• Explore and understand the opportunities offered by the university for postgraduate study or involvement in research.

MENTORS

MENTORING PROCESS

MENTOR REGISTRATION
Join the VU Mentoring Community now!

To become a mentor at Vilnius University, you should:

• Be a lecturer, alumnus (-a) or a student of Vilnius University and an enthusiast in your field;
• Be motivated to share your experience and to help mentees to achieve their set goals;
• Have social, personal, subject-matter and educator competencies;
• Have the opportunity to set aside at least one hour a month for a meeting with the mentee;
• Fill in the mentor's registration form, describing your area of expertise as accurately as possible;
• Within 48 hours after registration, you will receive a profile approval and become a public and visible mentor of Vilnius University;
• Receive mentee's invitation, which will reach you by the e-mail you specified. Make a YES or NO decision and start communicating.

Mentor registration is always open: https://www.idialogue.lt/register

STUDENTS CHOOSE MENTORS
Think about the skills, knowledge or experience you would like to gain with the help of a mentor. Choose a mentor!

To become a mentee, you should meet these requirements:

• Be motivated and have a goal;
• Seek knowledge and experience for continuous improvement;
• Have the opportunity to set aside at least one hour a month to meet with a mentor;
• After registration, choose any of the VU mentors;
• Once you set your goal, send an invitation. A mentor will reply to you within 48 hours with a YES or NO decision;
• If the answer is yes, it is your responsibility to contact a mentor and start communicating within 48 hours;
• Sincerely accept the mentor's help and support;
• Be able to take responsibility for solving your problems.

The mentee should understand and appreciate that the mentoring process is for them, and that the volunteer mentor is willing to help and devote their (valuable) time without any material reward.

Mentee registration is always open: https://www.idialogue.lt/en/register.

MENTORING EVENTS - TRAININGS, LECTURES AND MEETINGS FOR MENTORS AND STUDENTS

Be sure to take part in events organized by VU Mentoring program, where you will have the opportunity to meet with mentors and hear useful insights for personal and professional development.

UPCOMING EVENTS

PERSONAL MEETINGS BETWEEN MENTEES AND MENTORS (consultations, networking and meetings to learn about your mentor's professional environment)

Organize meetings according to the most acceptable course of action for both participants, using the most convenient means of communication. The duration of mentoring depends entirely on the mentee's goal. Mentoring meetings, goal achievement and mentoring duration are not regulated by the organizers. The mentoring cycle usually includes 2 to 6 meetings.

END OF PROCESS

Conclusions, future plans. Participants provide their feedback.

PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR MENTORS

• Create an environment based on trust and openness.
• Ask open-ended questions that encourage the mentee to think.
• Focus more on what the mentee has learned from your communication than on meeting your need to be useful for your mentee.
• Be open and honest.
• Maintain confidentiality so that the mentee could trust you and feel safe to share their ideas with you.
• Provide insights and advice, but only when it is really needed and expands the mentee's understanding.
• When giving feedback, be aware that your mentee has the right to choose whether to take your advice or not.
• We recommend marking the meetings that have taken place and the issues that have been resolved, as this will facilitate further meetings and increase their efficiency.
• Understand the limits of your experience and refuse to advise on issues you lack competence to advise. Refer the student to other mentors or University professionals where they can get competent advice.

PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR STUDENTS (MENTEES)

• Set a clear goal before signing up for mentoring. Think about the skills, knowledge or experience you would like to gain with the help of a mentor.
• Before signing up evaluate your time resources (will you really have time for appointments)?
• Make sure the relationship with your mentor runs as smoothly as possible. Be open and positive in communication and collaboration.
• Take responsibility for the communication process, productivity and results.
• At the beginning of the communication, make sure that you both understand how this relationship will work, discuss the means of communication.
• Schedule your appointments in advance.
• We recommend marking the meetings that have taken place and the issues that have been resolved, as this will facilitate further meetings and increase their efficiency.
• Be open to feedback, try to accept it constructively.
• If you have any doubts or hesitations, be open and share them with your mentor.
• Plan to review your mentoring relationship and, if you are not happy with it, be prepared to change something with the help of the menotiring coordinator.

GALLERY

2019/2020 m. Moments from the Mentoring Start event

 2018/2019 m. Moments from the Mentoring Start event

FEEDBACK

Students

Julius Martinkus, Molecular biology, year IV

Mentoring provided a unique opportunity to gain experience, insight, advice and ideas. Periodic meetings with the mentor helped to create a work planning system, to make future plans and to consistently pursue the implementation of tasks and goals. The main reasons I joined this program were the desire to escape the rigid routine, to create a system for consistent improvement, and to have side-by-side support that would inspire and advise when needed.

Karolina Bartoševič, Molecular biology, year IV

The mentoring experience exceeded all my expectations. I sincerely thank my mentor Agnė Vaitkevičienė for her helpful advice, comments, knowledge and support. My mentor helped to answer many questions related to my studies, introduced me to the opportunities in the job market. After Mentoring, I grew as a person, I feel more confident, and I also feel bold and motivated to move on and pursue my goals. I would like to thank all the organizers for the amazing project! And good luck in the next stages of Mentoring!

Mentors

Donatas Staniulis, UAB Thermo Fisher Scientific, CEO assistant

I believe that effective mentoring is only possible when the learner is motivated and knows what they want. A mentor can provide inspiration, but the pulse must be maintained by the mentee.
I am glad to have a motivated, active mentee with whom I can communicate as a friend. I hope the mentee received answers to his questions / thoughts during our meetings. 

Dr. Aistė Saiang, Kaunas faculty

This experience is valuable to both the mentee and the mentor – as a dialogue, where you get when you give, and a new result is achieved through joint efforts with a certain new quality that always warms you up when you remember those meetings.