Make a career connection

Denzel Washington once said, “Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living — if you do it well I’m sure there was someone cheering you on along the way. A mentor.”

The VSCPA wants to provide the opportunity for students and young professionals to have a mentor light their way through the professional dark. The free VSCPA Mentoring Program, spearheaded by the Mentoring Task Force of the VSCPA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Council, debuts this summer.

Mentoring mainly focuses on the needs of the mentee, although there are benefits for the mentor. The two-way professional relationship starts with conversations about the sharing of experiences, objectives and goals. Hopefully, the relationship will transform over time to be trustworthy, and each individual can ask questions and make choices.
The Mentoring Task Force discussed the importance of mentoring and attracting the kinds of people who could give mentees advice, coaching and support.

This year, the VSCPA ran a pilot program with a number of VSCPA scholarship recipients and mentors who are a part of the Task Force.

Members of the pilot program describe their experiences as helpful, insightful and easygoing. Some wished they’d had a mentor from the same city, so future matches will take location into account.

After applicants fill out the mentoring or mentee applications, the VSCPA will host a speed-networking event to allow individuals to meet all applicants and see if they “match” with anyone during the event. If not, the VSCPA will examine applications to find the applicant’s perfect match.

After matching the pair, they will be invited to examine and fill out the program’s Overview and Program Guide, which outlines expectations of each individual, boundaries, meeting logistics, preferred methods of communication, objectives and more.

Although the VSCPA pairs mentor and mentee, the frequency of meetings and topics of conversation are completely up to the pair. The VSCPA recommends meeting at least once a month, if possible.

Along with individual meetings between mentor and mentee, the VSCPA hopes to implement the mentoring relationship within events that are already occurring in the VSCPA’s spaces throughout the year, like conferences.

Molly Wash, CAE, VSCPA academic and diversity outreach director, sees benefits for sides within the relationship.
“For the mentee, it’s guidance and support, it’s having an extra ear. For the mentor, it’s an opportunity to share knowledge, to be a coach for someone, to be that support,” she said. “It’s helping the next generation see their potential and figure out their career path. It’s figuring out what they do and don’t want to do.”

Applications open on June 1 and close August 30. This is a free opportunity. Interested in applying? Visit vscpa.com/Mentor.