IoD West Midlands student mentoring with the University of Wolverhampton

Zoom celebration caps our mentoring year…

John Phillips, MBE FIoD On May 24, 2021, a virtual celebration event was held for all the mentors and student mentees who have taken part in the IoD /University of Wolverhampton Student Mentor Programme this academic year.

Students have again been working on a one-to-one basis with directors from the region, as their mentors, to gain support developing their CVs, interview skills and those all-important soft skills which are vital in underpinning academic knowledge.

IoD member Peter Shergold shared his “lessons in leadership” with stories from his military career as a Major in the British Army and his current role with St John’s Ambulance, including recruiting 30,500 people to carry out vaccinations during the UK’s pandemic.

He also touched on his new role as a director with the UK Health Security Agency.

Students and mentors shared their mentoring success stories at this event, including celebrating the achievements of those who had secured graduate jobs despite the challenges of the pandemic, getting into hard-to-gain specialist roles and developing fantastic networks for the future.

All concerned received a combined University and IoD certificate to mark their participation in the mentoring scheme, a moment which capped off what was a wonderful afternoon for all.

This is the 11th year the IoD has been running this scheme for final year business students. If you’d like to know more about the IoD Student Mentoring Programme, please click here.

I am pleased to say Peter Shergold will be talking again to IoD members locally at a joint event with CIMA on September 28 regarding his life experiences and in particular the British Army’s model of leadership. Entitled ‘Lead to Serve’, this is an event I would strongly recommend as Peter is a wonderful speaker.