The Professional Mentoring team at City St George’s has gained national recognition at the Fast Forward 15 (FF15) Mentoring Awards, which celebrates excellence in mentorship across events, travel and hospitality sectors.
The team were winners in the University Mentoring Initiative of the Year category at the recent awards night in April this year.
The award celebrates the exceptional work of the Professional Mentoring team, made up of Xenia Kotova and Asher Lai.
Xenia, who is Student Development Leader in the Careers and Employability Team, credits the win to the hard work the pair of them have shown.
“Winning the FF15 Award for the University Mentoring Initiative was a real honour – I felt proud that the dedication, commitment and hard work invested by the team had been acknowledged externally. It was a rewarding recognition of the impact and value of the work we do each year.”
Lai also hopes the recognition for the programme will encourage mentors to volunteer to participate: “Looking ahead, we would love to see more City St George’s alumni joining the programme. Students are often inspired by hearing directly from mentors who studied the same course and have gone on to build successful careers.
“At the same time, alumni mentors can stay connected to the City St George’s community, share their experiences and give something back to the next generation of students. It is a positive and rewarding experience for everyone involved.”
The programme
The Professional Mentoring scheme is a six-month programme that pairs students with industry professionals to develop their skills, confidence and future employability.
The scheme is particularly targeted at disadvantaged students who are looking to proactively improve their skillset and prepare themselves for a successful career after university.
Students who join will:
- Gain an excellent opportunity to develop their confidence and employability skills
- Receive one to one support with their CV, applications, interview skills and career planning
- Learn about their chosen field, industry recruitment processes and the wider labour market
- Build a pathway toward becoming a highly employable and competitive graduate
- Grow their professional network through meaningful new connections.
One of the students who has benefited from the programme is Adnan Shahriar, who studied Mathematics with Data Science at City St George’s.
“I highly recommend the programme if you want expert guidance on getting into your desired industry after uni. You’ll be guided through every step of the process by your mentor – it gives you a massive early boost in your career.”
Shahriar says the guidance from his mentor was crucial to his development at university and transition into a full-time job.
“When I joined the programme, I was a clueless third-year student. I thought this programme would be a way to find some direction.
“I was impressed how professionally run this programme is. They take your input into account and match you with the best mentor who has insightful knowledge of your desired industry and the kind of guidance I couldn’t imagine getting outside of this programme.”
About the mentors
Professional mentors for the scheme come from a variety of professional backgrounds and have developed comprehensive knowledge and expertise within their field.
Most mentors are alumni of City St George’s.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of the scheme, over 20 mentees have recently re-joined the scheme as mentors.
All mentors are industry professionals who volunteer their time to support City St George’s students with their personal development.
One such mentor is Tanvi Narayan, who studied MSc Energy, Trade and Finance at Bayes Business School, graduating in 2022.
“I began mentoring in November 2023, partly out of loyalty to the school, partly because I think alumni have a duty to put something back into the community that trained them.
“Markets move fast and the advice students need today often has little to do with what’s in a textbook – it’s judgement and that only comes from experience. Passing that on costs little, but it matters.”
She urges those who have the time to volunteer as a mentor to take up the challenge.
“I’d simply say: if you can spare the time, do it. It’s a small commitment with an outsized return for someone else.”