The pleasure of meeting again ‘in real life’

The Mentoring Thursdays started up again in person at the IEE on 18 November after almost a year of online sessions. Fostering the exchange and sharing of ideas and resources between IEE-ULB students and graduates is the aim of the IEE Mentoring Thursdays. The session was organised around the mentors’ backgrounds and the mentees’ questions.

After a welcome word from the IEE authorities, the first of the Mentoring Thursdays of this academic year could begin. For this opening session the focus was fixed on the mentors’ backgrounds and the key experiences they wished to share with the IEE-ULB’s students and newly graduated participants.

 

Professional matchmaking in our Mentoring Thursdays

The session was structured around nine thematic round tables, a ‘matchmaking’ exercise between the mentors’ backgrounds and the mentees’ questions or needs. Students were able to participate in two 45-minute sessions, and switch tables following the beat of a singing bowl and a whistle. Students and graduates from different generations and programmes were able to share their hopes, experiences, fears and life lessons.

This on-site session was also a unique opportunity for students to discuss possible career paths after their Masters at IEE. Indeed, students are often unaware of labour market as a whole and miss many opportunities proposed beyond the European institutions. This exchange was therefore an opportunity to present all the other career possibilities open to our young graduates after their studies at the IEE.

 

As this first session of the Mentoring Thursdays year came to an end, the participants had the opportunity to enjoy a drink offered by the IEE in order to continue the discussion in a more informal way.


Picture: Aurore Delsoir