"The University means strong connections": St Petersburg University launches fourth season of mentoring programme

The University means strong connections that last throughout life. The University is committed to not only preparing high-calibre specialists, but also ensuring solid support to graduates by forming a single community united by common values and professional interests.

Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University 

In this regard, the mentoring programme, according to Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, is set to: ensure an effective transition from academia to industry; bridge theoretical knowledge and practical skills; and facilitate the development of clear professional guidelines to navigate uncertainty on the career path.

Apart from providing mentoring support, St Petersburg University implements a range of activities aimed at strengthening ties between alumni and the academic community. In particular, the University regularly holds meetings of the Alumni Discussion Club, career events "Gain experience" with students from various areas of study, and industry-specific networking sessions to build professional contacts.

Graduates are actively involved in the University life, acting as experts at key city events and exchanging experiences of participating in projects that are aimed to ensure professional development and employment promotion and encourage entrepreneurial initiatives, said Mariia Edinova, Head of the Alumni Office at St Petersburg University.

"This season, we are planning to introduce an innovative approach to how we interact with our mentors," said Mariia Edinova, presenting a number of innovations as part of the fourth season of the programme. "Recognising the importance of feedback, we, together with our colleagues from the Clinic of Applied Political Science at St Petersburg University, are conducting an analysis to identify the most effective mentoring methods. The result of this project will be a methodological manual on how mentors and mentees interact to convey the essence of the mentoring programme."

The advantage of the project is that we can organise individual meetings between students and mentors and provide access to a wide range of resources and events aimed at expanding professional competencies. This year, the participants can also seek advice from other mentors. At the end of the programme, each mentee develops an individual career plan for the coming year, which is a prerequisite for receiving an official certificate of successful completion of the programme.

The St Petersburg University Mentoring Programme is a model of informal learning and communication through a partnership dialogue between a mentor and a student to offer early career exposure and exploration. The programme provides a networking platform to ensure sharing best practices and develop key competencies for professional success. Today, St Petersburg University offers several mentoring programme tracks, each with its own unique development opportunities: a general track, a partnership track developed jointly with Nexign, and a special track dedicated to project management in education.

During the opening of the fourth season, Svetlana Kharchenko, an expert, founder and leading trainer of the Mentoring Academy, focused on the growing popularity of the project, expressing gratitude to mentors for their significant contribution to the professional development of mentees. "Developing other people’s potential is a task comparable to the mission of the highest level of self-actualisation, aimed at fulfilling one’s most elevated needs. I always say that through each mentee, the mentor makes our world better, more beautiful, and more professional," the expert added.

Addressing the mentors, Svetlana Kharchenko emphasised the importance of mutual knowledge exchange between a mentor and mentee to achieve optimal results. The career consultant encouraged mentees to thoroughly prepare for the first session by clearly formulating goals, and urged mentors to recognise the importance of mutual learning through interactions with students to achieve career fulfilment.

The mentoring programme is also essential for successful entrepreneurs. Vladimir Ivanov, a graduate of St Petersburg University and CEO of All4sport, who is acting as a mentor for the second time, views his participation in the project as an opportunity to pass on valuable experience to the next generation of students. Vladimir Ivanov said that his entrepreneurial success was primarily driven by the years of study at St Petersburg University. "The University had a tremendous impact on my development, and by participating in the mentoring programme, I strive to return the energy and knowledge that I acquired at the University. The most important thing that the University taught me is to learn. It was this movement, this initial energy and the people with whom I studied that inspired me to reach the level where I am now," said the mentor.

Mentors of the general track are graduates of St Petersburg University, who have extensive work experience and have confirmed it with successfully implemented projects. This season, mentors are experts from the largest Russian companies, including: Gazprom Export, Sber, GEROPHARM, Gazprom Neft, Selectel, Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM), Beeline, VKontakte, Atom, Lemana PRO, Maxidom, and King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) (Saudi Arabia) to name just a few.

The first meeting included a business game organised by Olga Nikiforova, Associate Professor at St Petersburg University and Academic Director of the master’s programme "Strategic Human Resource Management". The game offered the participants an opportunity to improve their business communication skills, develop concentration, and activate creative thinking. According to Olga Nikiforova, the event is aimed at stimulating the internal resources of the participants, inherent in them as competent and interested individuals, and the practical application of these qualities in a game context.

Interest in the mentoring programme, driven by the desire to focus on practice, demonstrates a trend towards conscious career planning among young professionals. Over the three years, more than 250 people have completed the programme, with 65 mentees and 49 mentors participating in the current season.