HKUST MBA SUNDIAL

Issue #10 (Nov 2020)

MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Paying It Forward

Mentoring is a mutually rewarding partnership that allows mentor and mentee to grow and learn together. As the mentor shares advice with the mentee, he/she also develops coaching and communication skills and finds new perspectives and solutions for various situations.

What is the mentoring experience like? We interviewed two mentor-mentee pairs who joined our MBA Mentorship Program 2019/2020 and bonded over mutual growth and success.

Edith Lam (Mentor from PT04) and Nic Chan (Mentee from PT21)

“I am a big advocate of mentorship. It gives me an opportunity to pay it forward as I have also benefited tremendously from a few generous mentors during my academic and professional life.

Meeting with Nic was always a happy and fruitful experience. He learned from my experience how to deal with his job change and new responsibilities. I also learned a lot from him about the challenges of being a millennial and a part-time MBA student who has to balance study and work. It taught me more about how the younger generation thinks, which helps me manage my own team more effectively.

When we volunteer and give back to the school as a mentor, we also benefit as long as we have an open attitude and a growth mindset. Thank you Nic for giving me this opportunity!”

Edith Lam

“How to find your passion? Maybe you should start with understanding yourself better and being more adventurous.

This is one of the valuable lessons I learned from Edith. When I was young, I loved to explore and try new things. I was committed to giving my best to everything I did. But I had started to forget my first attitude and approach to life. Edith set an example and reminded me how important it is to keep taking on new challenges and exploring growth possibilities.

It was wonderful knowing that I was backed by a mentor who was always there to support me and clarify my vision for the future. I am lucky to have met Edith and found those sessions exchanging ideas with her most enjoyable.

Just as I was touched by Edith, I also want to inspire others and give back to the MBA community by becoming a mentor one day. A huge thanks to Edith—I value everything I have learned from her!”

Nic Chan

Tim Edmunds (Mentor from FT15) and Joanne Wang (Mentee from FT21)

“Every conversation with Joanne was unique and centered on a different issue that revolved around the long-term goal of developing a rewarding career. Joanne was consistently clear with me regarding her questions and what she wanted to spend time discussing, which made my job much easier.

As a mentor, I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations. The key was deep listening and asking the right questions that enabled Joanne to go deeper. We were both committed to making the sessions useful and came prepared every time.

I was quite excited to reconnect with the MBA community after graduation, and becoming a mentor was a terrific chance to give back and interact with current students.”

Tim Edmunds

“Tim and I had mentorship meetings every month or two. Our topics ranged from industrial landscapes and career planning to job searching, networking, and interview tips.

He always motivated me to think deeper without giving answers directly. My suggestions for future mentees who want to make the most of the mentoring experience are to make sure to build the relationship by sharing your thoughts openly so that your mentor knows how to help, to act on the given advice, and to give your feedback to the mentor, for better or worse.

I learned so much from Tim on both the personal and professional levels. In the future, I would love to mentor someone and pass on this enriching and valuable experience.”

Joanne Wang

Renee Cheng, MBA Alumni Relations

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