CRANKSTART CAREERS MENTORING PROGRAMME

The Crankstart Internship Office is currently recruiting mentors for the Crankstart Careers Mentoring Programme – an exciting chance to support students as part of our widening participation careers mentoring programme.

The Crankstart Scholarship offers a programme of enhanced support to UK resident students studying for their first undergraduate degree from low-income backgrounds. The Crankstart Careers Mentoring Programme matches scholars with industry professionals from their sector of interest who will meet with one another over a series of sessions with the aim that each mentoring partnership will:

Further encourage the selected mentees, by helping with confidence and fuelling their motivation to pursue their desired career path
Offer the mentees expert insight from those currently within the industry
Present the opportunity to cultivate and enhance important employability skills
Potentially open up networking opportunities

Benefits for the mentor:

Develop guidance and advice skills, as well as communication skills
Gain insight into current university student life, and therefore those that will be coming through the next rounds of graduate recruitment
Chance to reflect on your own achievements, and how your career has developed
Experience to enhance your CV
Being an important resource to those from low-income backgrounds who may not have been afforded these kind of opportunities in the past
Involvement in an expanding widening participation programme
Satisfaction and fulfilment from seeing mentees progress
Invitations to events and networking opportunities

Expectations
Once a mentor and mentee are matched you are expected to commit to your mentoring sessions over a period to be decided and agreed upon between the mentor and mentee.
After being selected as a mentor, you will be sent a guide which further covers what is expected from this programme, as well as advice on mentoring techniques. You will also be given the opportunity to attend optional workshops and training sessions.

Get in touch
If you have any questions about the programmes or are interested in becoming a mentor, please send the following details to the Crankstart Internships team at crankstart-internships@careers.ox.ac.uk

Your CV, career summary or LinkedIn profile
Tell us a little about your experience and why/how you’d like to mentor to the Crankstart Careers Mentoring Programme

BECOME A MENTOR

‘The mentorship has been a real highlight of my time at Oxford. My mentor was very generous. We spoke regularly and he offered advice on articles I was writing, help with internship applications, and reflections on his own career. Perhaps most important was his encouragement – he gave me the confidence to keep pursuing journalism, to believe that I could make it as a journalist, even though the field is very competitive.’

'Having a mentor to support me through various rounds of interviews was very helpful, and I gained confidence as I understood the process better. To further explore different career paths during the programme I also attended talks, careers events, and networking events. These led me to apply for the Oxford Blue’s new environment section as a Junior Editor...alongside editing for the Oxford Scientist. I feel that this series of opportunities was a result of the structure the mentoring programme provided over the course of five months, and the advice and support offered by my mentor.’

“Having said I was interested in law, I was matched with a barrister, who talked me through the process of building a CV and doing a law conversation course. I was also able to ask questions about everyday routine, the atmosphere within chambers, relationships with colleagues, the possibility of travelling, and more. Our conversations also opened up other possibilities I hadn’t considered, such as pursuing academia for a few years before transitioning into law. It was extremely helpful to be able to ask focused questions to an expert in the field, and receive answers tailored to my needs.”

“My experience on the programme was incredibly beneficial. I have more confidence approaching networking situations, creating opportunities for myself and in general have more confidence that I can be a desired professional when it comes to looking for jobs.”

“I had a lovely experience participating in the Crankstart Mentoring Programme. I felt as though I was very well matched both personally and professionally with my mentor, and I feel as though we were able to build a strong rapport and explore potential future pathways that I could take.”

CRANKSTART CAREERS MENTORING PROGRAMME

CRANKSTART CAREERS MENTORING PROGRAMME

Hear from mentees:

Information for alumni

Related websites

Alumni office

International Offices