Achieving professional goals with a mentor by your side

Experience report with mentee Marlene Hausberger

What was the reason you were looking for a mentor?

I had the impression that it was very atypical to go into HRD with a Masters in Adult and Continuing Education, so I thought it couldn't hurt to take advantage of mentoring. I was also advised by my father, who is an entrepreneur himself. It's a great way to expand your network and get in touch with people who have a similar degree and are already working. For me, it was important to find out what I could do with my degree and how it could be used for personal development.

What criteria did you use to select your mentor?

I took my time with the selection process and read through many mentor profiles until I felt it was a good fit. I also considered the knock-out criteria, and it was particularly important to me that the person would be able to relate to my situation. Ultimately, however, it was a subconscious decision and as I felt more connected to a woman in my situation, Sigrid's profile was a perfect fit: She is self-employed, which is what I want for my future, and her creative side really appealed to me.

How did the first contact with your mentor Sigrid Maxl-Studler work out and what was the first meeting like for you?

Sigrid was very open and didn't respond to my enquiry with questions, but with the suggestion that we meet for the first time and then see if working together would suit us both. We started talking straight away at that meeting, it was a very relaxed atmosphere and we hit it off straight away. The mentoring guide provided was very helpful as it gave us a framework to hold on to at the beginning.

"It was a very relaxed atmosphere right from the start and there was immediate sympathy."

How did the mentoring tandem work together?

Because of what we had in common, there would have been plenty of opportunities to stray from the topic, but Sigrid was always very focused on making sure we stayed on topic during the meetings, which was very helpful. Of course there was time and space for a chat away from the mentoring topics, but it was important to both of us that we discussed the content first, clarified any questions I had, and then took time to chat a little more.

What happened to you between the meetings?

I created my own logbook where I would write down what we discussed during our meetings. And then I worked through it afterwards. How can I implement what Sigrid has given me? I would like to say at this point that it is really the mentee's own responsibility to implement and follow up on the advice and tips they receive. It's not enough to have heard them, you have to apply them. And that worked for me. I really noticed from one moment to the next that something had changed for me. I tried what worked for me, and if it didn't work, it was less down to me and more down to external factors.

What topics did you discuss during mentoring?

Basically, I came to mentoring with the issues I wanted to discuss. One was finding a job at the end of my Master's, which was naturally the focus because of its topicality. The second block was self-employment in adult education. Sigrid also shared her experiences with me.
We looked at the content of the application documents together and Sigrid also gave me tips on how best to structure them. As I had already looked for a few jobs myself, it was also about which questions I could prepare for the interview.
She also gave me tips on the taboo subject of salary. As a student, any starting salary is more than I was getting before, but I didn't want to sell myself short. Sigrid gave me tips such as using the salary calculator or the Inland Revenue website to help me estimate my salary expectations.

Did you communicate between meetings?

We sometimes wrote to each other on WhatsApp, but mostly we just made arrangements for the next meeting. Sometimes Sigrid would send me information about what we were discussing, but the main communication was during the meetings.

How long did your mentorship last?

We met about once a month for six months and each meeting lasted about an hour.

Was the mentoring experience as you expected it to be?

I went into the Career Mentoring programme with high expectations, even though I had been a mentor in another mentoring programme that hadn't gone so well. But I didn't want that experience to hold me back. And I was very, very positively surprised and very grateful for the experience.

Have you achieved all of your mentoring goals?

The most striking thing that happened during the mentoring programme was that I got a job in HR development. But Sigrid also empowered me to be confident. As a student, I had the attitude that I had too much theoretical knowledge and not enough practical experience. Sigrid helped me to see that I already had a lot of skills and encouraged me to use them, which has changed my approach to work. I am convinced that I got the job because she had my back.

Looking back, what is the most important thing you have taken away from mentoring?

You can accept help and support, especially when it comes in a cool environment like Career Mentoring. As a student, I don't have to reinvent the wheel or do it on my own, but I can get a mentor to help me and ask "How did you do it before?
That's actually very positive, because it helps me achieve my goal a lot faster, without having to sit in front of my PC for five hours and google all sorts of information that might not even be relevant to the region I'm trying to break into.
What I didn't realise before was that mentoring is not a one-way street, but a two-way street. We talked about specialist topics from our studies and I was also able to give Sigrid tips from my meditation training. It was nice for me to be able to give something back.

Who would you recommend career mentoring to?

Graduates who already know exactly where they want to work may not find it important. But it's a great opportunity for those who are still looking for direction and need to find their way!

Dear Marlene Hausberger, thank you very much for the interview!

About the mentee

Marlene Hausberger completed a Master's degree in Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Graz and currently works in human resources development.