ILIR Alumni Mentoring Program
"Mentoring begins when a person strategically affects the professional life of someone else by fostering insight, identifying needed knowledge and expanding the other person's horizons." -Larry Ambrose, Mentor's Companion
History of the ILIR Alumni Mentoring Program
Initially, this program began with a pilot in the fall of 2001 involving eight students and eight alumni mentors. Based on the success and suggestions of the individuals involved in the pilot, the ILIR Alumni Mentoring Program officially began in the fall of 2002 with 40 alumni/student parings.
This program started a formal mentoring program, and has moved to an informal program managed through the Professional Network on the ILIR online career services site. The change was made based on the comments of both alumni and student participatns.
This network offers ILIR graduate students the chance to interact one-on-one with an ILIR alumnus, and serves to keep each alumnus connected with their alma mater. The program coordinator is Nell Madigan, Assistant Dean at ILIR.
What is involved in the online Professional Network at ILIR?
Through the Professional Network on NACElink/Symplicity at ILIR, you will be available to answer questions about your career, your industry, the field, or your time at ILIR for current students. Some contacts may have just simple, quick questions and others may look to start a longer relationship.
Students understand that the goal of this program is not to help them get a job or an internship. They expect to get feedback on their job search tactics, tips on how to network successfully, and comments on how various HR strategies are used in the workplace.
Why be an Alumni Mentor?
By mentoring an ILIR student, you will have the unique chance to enhance that student's education and give them a vital link to current workplace practices and insights into life in the "real world." By sharing your gift of experience and knowledge, you shape a future HR professional and ensure the success of the field of HR as a whole. This program also gives alumni a great way to stay in touch with the daily development and progress of ILIR and it's students.
Additionally, by becoming a mentor, you may also be contacted to speak by phone or email to potential ILIR students who have asked to learn more about the program by speaking to alumni or people in the HR industry. Before anyone is given your contact information, a staff member from ILIR will notify you and be sure that this fits into your schedule. This is a very personal and invaluable tool for ILIR to use as a recruiting tool for the best incoming students.
How do I become part of the ILIR Professional Network?
Register as an employer on http://ilir-uiuc-csm.symplicity.com. If you are already an employer, you can change your access settings to include the professional network feature. If you have trouble with this, please contact Wendy Gooch via email or at 217/333-2777.
If you are not currently an employer on the system, you will need to register a profile for your organization with yourself as a contact, indicating that you wish to be part of the Professional Network feature. It will not be necessary to post jobs for the company if you don't wish to do so, but the network is set up so that you are sharing professional information with the potential student contacts.
Once you register, you can provide your general information to interested ILIR students, along with your request for the number of times interested students may contact you through the system.
If you have further questions about the mentorship program, please email Nell Madigan.