DOHA THE Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar announced the launch of a brand new mentoring programme called Tawjeeh at an alumni and student networking dinner held at the W Hotel recently.
The event, which brought more than 70 students and 35 alumni from Georgetown together, is the latest initiative of the university’s Office of Outreach and Business Development.
Executive Director of Outreach and Business Development Jonathan Cartmell noted the significance of engaging successful graduates of a Georgetown education, saying, “The launch of Tawjeeh signals another step in the integration of the Georgetown campus in Education City, and the local community.
“This programme enables our successful alumni to reconnect to the Georgetown community of current students, who, we have no doubt, will benefit from this mentoring process, and who will go on to forge equally successful transitions from academics to careers.” Due to high interest from both the Georgetown students and alumni invited to take part in the Tawjeeh programme, which is Arabic for “mentorship”, the organisers opted for a “speed networking” format, with groups of students sharing similar career interests moving through various rounds of question and answer sessions in order to meet alumni working in a variety of industries.
The alumni mentors represented a host of international corporations and government entities such as the Qatar Museums Authority, ExxonMobil Qatar, the Qatar National Food Security Programme, the Brookings Center Doha, local and international banks, and other Qatar Foundation organisations.
Charles Nailen, executive officer, outreach and external relations at Georgetown and co-organiser of the programme, said: “Mentors have the unique perspective of objective outsiders, and have lived through some of the experiences and challenges that our students are currently facing. By simply sharing their knowledge and stories, they provide an invaluable resource to students who, prior to this programme, only had informal opportunities of meeting and interacting with alumni. This programme will allow students to access the entire community of seasoned veterans, as well as more recent grads.” Also speaking at the event, William YangUn Cha, a current student and president of the Student Government Association at Georgetown, focused on the importance of networking well before the start of the career journey.
“We have to face the challenges of job availability for entry-level positions. After graduation, there will be situations in which connections and networking are more important than our set of skills. To meet the specific and peculiar needs of the market, events such as the Georgetown alumni networking event is pivotal for many of us.” A buffet dinner followed the intensive networking sessions, and volunteer mentors and students filled up sign in sheets to be added to the roster of future mentoring opportunities, each agreeing to a commitment of time and engagement to the programme.
Mentors were also promised a mentorship manual and training in the near future to maximise the experience for everyone involved.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment