Why should I participate?

As a mentor: Enhance your personal growth by sharing your experiences

Mentoring is a win for both sides: You help the mentee to learn and develop while also growing yourself!

As a mentor, you develop your social and leadership skills:

• You improve your emotional intelligence and leadership skills. While working on your mentee's goals you will be able to exercise appropriate reactions in different situations.

• You earn recognition as an expert and leader. It can be a very rewarding experience to share your knowledge and experience with a willing learner.

• You expand your knowledge in and outside your field. Through conversations with your mentee and other program participants you are exposed to new and different perspectives and therefore likely to discover new aspects and ideas. This way, you can also reflect on your own goals and decisions.

• You grow your network. Not only will you build a relationship with your mentee, the program will also give you the opportunity to connect with many other data scientists and data enthusiasts of diverse backgrounds.

It is therefore no surprise that a study found mentors were six times more likely to be promoted and 20% more likely to receive a raise compared to those who didn’t mentor. (Forbes 2011).

As a mentee: Gain new insights to reach your goals

A mentor can help you to reach smaller or bigger goals that you don't really know yet how to reach by yourself.

From being in a mentoring relationship you gain:

• Tailored advice. A mentor can share their own experience and best practices and provide you with recommendations that perfectly fit your situation.

• New ideas. While talking to your mentor you will be exposed to new ways of thinking that might shift your perspective on situations and challenges you face.

• New skills. There always is something that we can learn - whether it is about technical knowledge, soft or life skills - especially from people who walked already through your current situation. Grab the chance!