Author: Candice Boutelle
October 14, 2024
Request Process Quick Guide by Candice Boutelle
Category: Support Resources
Equipping Career Mentors for Success
August, 2024
Author: Candice Boutelle
Resources: Career Mentor Flyer
Equipping Career Mentors for Success
At Inspire Wisconsin, we believe that hands-on, career-based learning is crucial in helping students explore potential career paths. Central to this effort are our career mentors—dedicated professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to guide the next generation of talent.
Who Are Our Career Mentors?
Career mentors are employees from our partnering employers who have a passion for their work and a desire to share their knowledge with students. These individuals volunteer to participate in career-based learning experiences, acting as content experts in their respective fields. Whether they are involved in job shadows, classroom speaking engagements, or mentoring activities like mock interviews and career fairs, our career mentors play a critical role in bridging the gap between education and the workforce.
Ensuring a Safe and Supportive Environment
Creating a safe and supportive environment is paramount when it comes to career exploration. To ensure the well-being of all students, Inspire Wisconsin requires all new career mentors to undergo a background check. This standard practice is just one of the ways we protect students while allowing them to engage in meaningful career exploration activities.
Inspire Coordinators are dedicated to supporting both mentors and students. They provide valuable resources, suggestions, and guidance to help plan positive and impactful experiences. Whether it’s advice on how to engage students during a job shadow or tips for making a classroom presentation more interactive, our coordinators are there every step of the way.
The Mentor Training Process
Recognizing the importance of preparedness, we are pairing our existing policies and resources with structured mentor training. This training ensures that every career mentor is equipped with the tools and knowledge they need to create enriching learning experiences for students.
The mentor training process covers several key areas:
1. **Understanding the Role of a Career Mentor:** Volunteers learn about the significance of their role in students’ academic and career planning. They are introduced to the different opportunities available for mentorship, from job shadows to participating in career fairs.
2. **Best Practices for Engagement:** We provide practical tips on how to engage students effectively, whether in one-on-one settings or larger group environments. This includes strategies for clear communication, maintaining student interest, and fostering an environment of mutual respect and curiosity.
3. **Safety and Ethical Considerations:** Mentors are trained on the importance of maintaining a safe environment, including understanding the boundaries of their role and the significance of the background check process. They are also briefed on ethical considerations when interacting with students.
4. **Resource Utilization:** Mentors are guided on how to make the most of the resources provided by Inspire Coordinators. This includes how to integrate suggested activities into their mentorship, how to tailor their approach based on student needs, and where to find additional support if needed.
By providing this comprehensive training, Inspire Wisconsin ensures that our career mentors are not only content experts but also effective and responsible guides for the students they mentor. With the right preparation, these volunteers can make a lasting impact on the lives of young people, helping them to navigate their educational journey and explore the world of work with confidence. You can view the Career Mentor Training on our YouTube page.
Employers: Share this resource with your employees interested in becoming a career mentor.
Welcome to the Inspire WI Network
We are excited to bring you the Inspire WI Network Blog as a resource for our partners: Employers, Educators, Students and Parents. We hope to bring you a wide variety of topics that will help employers maximize their Inspire WI partnership and build a talent pipeline and assist in the academic career planning process for students, schools, and parents – ultimately creating a more career ready Wisconsin.
If you have questions or suggestions for topics, please contact your Local Inspire Coordinator. General inquiries can be submitted on our Connect Page. We will not be hosting comments at this time.
Let’s dive in!
What is the Inspire WI Network
Inspire WI is a 501c(3) serving employers and school partners across 26 counties in Wisconsin to date through five regionalized teams. In addition to being a standalone nonprofit, our regional teams of Inspire Coordinators are deployed from several of the state’s Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs #1, #5, #6, #8 and #9) and the Waupaca Area Chamber Foundation. Originally founded as Inspire Sheboygan County, Inc in 2013, Inspire now aims to align the needs of workforce development and academic and career planning across the state. You can learn more about the organic growth of the network on our timeline.
Inspire WI provides a “one-stop shop” for employers, educators and students to engage in career based learning experiences. Businesses leveraging Inspire’s expertise in building quality programming and student communication engage more efficiently and effectively with their future workforce. Schools can increase capacity and efficacy of academic and career planning with the support of Inspire WI. A centralized hub saves individual regions time and resources, allowing them to build stronger connections between business and education in local communities.
How it works
Employers choose activities that will help develop a talent pipeline in specific business areas which, in education, are referred to as career clusters. These activities can take place in the classroom or on site at the business. Educators and students looking for career exploration opportunities can request these activities through the Inspire WI system. Automatic communications help the user connect with the appropriate business contact and complete the activity. These connections enhance classroom learning and help students identify career pathways that may be suited to their individual skills and interests. This is just one way Inspire is helping to create career readiness and awareness around region’s in-demand career paths. Contact your local deployment to learn more about available resources and services and get a more in depth demonstration of the system.
Once a partner joins the network, a local Inspire coordinator will help you strategically identify activities and resources to meet your organization’s individual goals.
For Businesses, those goals might be:
- Increase brand recognition
- Increase student/educator awareness of our career opportunities
- Develop a talent pipeline for immediate job openings
- Provide leadership and mentoring opportunities for our staff
- Improve employability skills among students
- Support exploration of potential pathways after high school
Schools may join the Inspire WI Network to achieve any of the following:
- Expand academic and career planning resources
- Increases awareness & emphasis on employability skills for students
- Increase awareness of business and industry career opportunities within your community
- Increase work-based learning opportunities and job preparedness of students
- Support classroom curriculum and program enhancements
What are the benefits to partners?
As a centralized resource connecting businesses to over ⅓ of the state’s public school districts, (as of the 23/24 school year) thousands of students are engaging with professionals in their own communities each year. The process of connecting is streamlined and user-friendly, and Inspire programming provides equity for all students through virtual content and other programming. Even small businesses and districts benefit by leveraging Inspire in marketing and recruitment efforts and as a resource for ACP and career readiness initiatives. Inspire WI regional teams possess a wealth of expertise in trends in Education and Workforce Development in Wisconsin. This collaboration yields best practices that prove effective across many communities and industry sectors.
To get involved, contact your Regional Inspire Coordinator, or use our contact us form.