Following the success of the SPN Mentoring Programme in its inaugural year of 2005, the Singapore Professionals Network launched the SPN Mentoring Programme 2006 in January. The objectives of this Programme are as follows:
 
- To establish meaningful mentoring relationships between students and professionals in the UK
- To help students better understand available career options and provide industry-specific guidance
- To educate, prepare and facilitate the transition process from a student to a working professional

The next instalment of the SPN Mentoring Programme will be launched in Autumn 2007. For more information, please contact us at mentoring@spn-uk.org. 

 

Background of the SPN Mentoring Programme

One of SPN's aims is to provide a platform for Singaporeans as well as non-Singaporeans to leverage off each other's expertise and networks. Despite the number of Singaporeans employed in a myriad of professions in the UK, there was no Singaporean organization that offered mentoring opportunities specifically catered to students.

As former students in the UK, the co-founders of SPN felt that this lack of formal opportunities for students to better understand the career options available to them could be addressed by establishing a formal mentoring programme that would connect students with working professionals . We believed that the combined experience and collective knowledge weaned from working in multinational corporations could be shared amongst working professionals as well as students seeking transition from academia to full-time employment.

In March 2005, the first SPN Mentoring Program was successfully launched, matching students of varying degree backgrounds with mentors in related professions.

 

Feedback from mentees of the 2005 Programme:

“I believe this scheme is brilliant, and I am sure it'll continue to grow in size and stature every year to accomodate students like me who need a first-hand perspective on the working environment and prospects in London.”  
- Yao Khoon Shuy

“The concept has been long in the coming, although I wish that it had happened sooner to ease my path in the UK, I am glad that it has finally come into being!”
- Jessica Tay

“As a first year student with little knowledge of working life in the UK, I think that having a mentor is an excellent opportunity to know more about what's potentially in store for me. My mentor was very helpful and friendly, and I found out a lot of things during the lunch I had with my mentor - knowledge that I didn't know before this.”
- Leon Yap

“I am hoping the benefits will be greater understanding of the professional area in which my mentor  works, ideas and tips on the recruitment process and just general experiences”
- Stefan Strausfeld-Perry