The Old Melburnians is a vibrant, diverse and thriving community, including business leaders, professionals, and people with expertise to share. By actively maintaining connections with one another, Old Melburnians can expand and strengthen their professional networks which can help with career progression.
In 2024, the Old Melburnians will be facilitating two streams of mentoring; One-to-One (1-2-1) Professional Mentoring, similar to previous years, and a new Business-to-Business (B-2-B) Mentoring program. Together, these two streams make up the new OM Exchange program.
Incorporating mentorship and career networking, the OM Exchange program is designed to:
- Support young Old Melburnians and those seeking to develop/grow/improve their own business venture to establish lifelong professional connections and build networking and career strategy skills, by connecting with a mentor in a relevant field; and
Give experienced Old Melburnians the opportunity to share their time and valuable expertise, and to make real contributions to the career progression of a younger Old Melburnian.
The application process will present two options:
- One-to-One (1-2-1) Professional Mentoring – to participate in this stream, as in past years, mentors can have a broad range of professional experiences and mentees should be seeking advice on building general career skills (0-5 years into their careers).
Business-to-Business (B-2-B) Mentoring – to participate in this stream, the mentors will need to have business expertise, and the mentees should be seeking to develop / grow / improve their own business venture (this stream is not for someone who is trying to progress their career within an organisation).
The other elements of the program available to all participants are:
- Business Directory via OMLink
- Jobs Board via OMLink
- Networking events with other Old Melburnians
- Program resources and materials
Applications to be a mentor or mentee in the 2024 OM Exchange program will open in July 2024.
Here's what some participants had to say about their past experience in the program:
"My mentor was a great role model and wealth of knowledge."
"It has been most enjoyable and fulfilling to meet, interact and hopefully assist some wonderful young Old Melburnians."
"Both of us had studied law and had questions about other career options. We were well aligned on challenges and opportunities."
"The information I gained in this program was very influential and helped me understand the broader picture of the marketing world."
"My mentor was super helpful and understanding! He had a lot of great tips about expanding my business and networking. He was also really helpful in giving me some general life and career advice and words of wisdom. I really enjoyed our meetings."