Seneca Alumni

Lead and Liaise: Seneca’s Soon-to-be HR Grads Get Helpful Guidance under New Mentorship Program 

For Seneca students completing their last semester in a Human Resources (HR) program, it is the final frontier. 

It’s been an eventful few weeks for graduating HR students; an exciting whirlwind of project completion and final exams as they work hastily to wrap up their final courses. In just two short months, many of them will follow in the footsteps of more than 200,000 #SenecaProud alumni as they walk across the convocation stage to formally receive their coveted credentials.  

This summer, they will have the opportunity for one-on-one mentorship from an HR professional in the Seneca community, thanks to the newly-formed HR Mentorship Program.

Spearheaded by Human Resources Professor Alfonsina Chang, participating students have been matched with select HR alumni and program advisory committee members to benefit from the guidance of an HR expert. To help ease the transition from campus to corporate life, mentors and mentees will connect in weekly one-hour meetings and will continue to foster their relationships during the summer until the program’s end in August 2019.

“I have always valued the idea of a mentor,” Chang said. “We all have mentors, formally or informally.”

The HR Mentorship Program has officially launched on April 4, 2019, when keynote speaker John Ribeiro, Seneca alumnus and co-author of Zero2Hired: Successfully Break Through Your Interview Process, spoke to an energetic crowd of more than 60 mentors and mentees. Mentorship pairs were revealed through an icebreaking puzzle game where matches were not disclosed until the night of the launch, and soon-to-be graduates began to form connections with HR professionals working in their preferred area.

Chang hopes mentors will be a “go-to for guidance and support, helping [students] launch their careers in the field of HR,” and has especially enjoyed seeing HR graduates return to campus.  

“[It’s] always great to have our students back as alumni and helping other students,” she said. “Our HR alumni remember what it’s like start off their careers and the challenges, and this is one of the reasons why they are helping.”

Chang’s sentiments were echoed by Seneca alumna Natalie Pedrosa, mentor and 2013 Human Resources Strategy and Technology Degree graduate, who empathized with the soon-to-be alumni.

“I’ll never forget the feeling of graduation around the corner and not knowing what was next for me. The best part about being a mentor is knowing the impact you will have on your mentee(s) and helping them figure out what’s next for them.”

A last hoorah, post-graduation, will take place on September 5, 2019, to celebrate the program’s completion.

“No matter where you are in your career, you can learn so much from others,” Pedrosa concluded. “I’m forever grateful for my time at Seneca and the endless amount of times I sought out advice from classmates or professors, to be embraced with open arms. I felt it was only right that I return the favour.”

We are #SenecaProud to have sponsored this initiative. If you would like to help sponsor a future program like this one, or explore the ways that you can give back to Seneca, visit our Get Involved web page.

If you’re a graduate of a Human Resources program and interested in participating in the HR Mentorship Program, please contact us