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Case study

Whether you’re a current student or a recent graduate, e-mentoring can help you make the most out of your career journey. If you’re considering your next step and want to speak to someone about the sectors and roles you're interested in, talking to a Warwick graduate could help you find out more.

Alumni mentors can tell you about the reality of certain jobs, sectors and professions based on their personal experiences. You’ll be able to interact with them directly and ask questions to find out what they enjoy about their job, the challenges and advice on how to get into the sector.

Warwick's e-mentoring service brings together over 800 alumni mentors, spanning a wide range of professions, who have volunteered to give informal advice to Warwick students and graduates considering their career options. You can take the next step on the career ladder by starting here. Don't take take our word for it though, find out from someone who's already done it...


Lucy Blackman - mentee (BA English Literature 2010-13)
Lucy Blackman

When I first heard about the Alumni Mentoring service I thought it sounded like a great idea, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Since graduating from university with little idea of what I wanted to do career-wise I’d felt quite lost, and even after identifying careers I was interested in I still felt unsure about what steps to take to secure my first job. In this sense, talking to a fellow Warwick graduate who has achieved success in my chosen profession has been incredibly useful and inspiring.

Cathryn has really helped to clarify my sense of what I’m aiming for and her tips on where to look for job posts were fantastic in helping me to find more of the opportunities available to me.

From our very first email exchanges Cathryn was so friendly and helpful, always providing thorough and detailed answers to my queries despite her busy schedule. By encouraging me to think about the kind of writing I’m interested in, Cathryn has really helped to clarify my sense of what I’m aiming for and her tips on where to look for job posts were fantastic in helping me to find more of the opportunities available to me. I found myself feeling particularly grateful to Cathryn after following her advice to update my LinkedIn page and then discovering it had had been viewed by a company’s HR team prior to an important interview with them! I am certain that all of these things, as well as Cathryn’s constant reassurance have played a huge role in helping me to secure my first job in the industry. I hope to stay in contact with Cathryn and take her up on her kind offer to undertake work experience at her company in the future.


By Cathryn Newbery - mentor (BA History & Politics 2004-07)

Cathryn Newbery

When my time at Warwick was drawing to a close, I found it really difficult to imagine the different routes my degree could take me down. I was lucky enough to have the right opportunities come my way to pursue a career in journalism, but I'm very conscious that this career path wasn't visible to everyone who might want to follow it. That's why I felt, when the Warwick Alumni mentoring service was set up, I had a responsibility to register and offer my services - there are so many alumni out there who have careers in, for example, finance or teaching, but just a few of us who are working in journalism or publishing.

Having Lucy contact me so soon after I'd registered was a big surprise and hugely flattering! And it was fantastic timing, because I'd just started working with a personal coach and was starting to realise what I could offer to a potential mentee, and what I could learn from the experience, too.

To anyone who isn't sure if they should register as a mentor, or request the support of a mentor, please don't hesitate any longer - go for it! It could lead to great things that you could never have imagined.

Lucy and I have only communicated through email, but that's worked really well for our busy schedules and means I've had the time and space to think up really thorough responses to her questions - all of which were thought-provoking and had me digging deep to figure out how to apply my experience to her situation. I'm so pleased that she's taken some of my advice and found it helpful. I really was bursting with pride when she told me she'd been offered a job in her chosen field, just under two months after we started to work together!

One important thing I've learnt about mentoring is that a mentor doesn't have to be for life; it can be someone who helps you through a specific challenge or problem that you're facing at the time. Now Lucy has started her job, I don't think she needs my support as much - but of course I'll be there when or if she needs me in the future. And who knows, maybe she'll go on to have a fantastically successful career and I'll need her help in the future!

To anyone who isn't sure if they should register as a mentor, or request the support of a mentor, please don't hesitate any longer - go for it! It could lead to great things that you could never have imagined.