5 Reasons to Sign Up for WCA’s Fall Speed Mentoring Event

Written by Shelley Kilpatrick.

This year’s fall Speed Mentoring event happens Saturday, October 25^th from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at The University of Austin, McCombs School of Business (CBA), Room 4.348. Besides the breakfast tacos (which you have to admit sound pretty awesome and really should be reason enough), why should you sign up to be a mentor?

 

1. It’s an Easy, Low Commitment Way to Learn about Mentoring
   The event lasts 2 hours, you spend 10 minutes with each student, you speak with them one-on-one, and the environment is casual and fun. That’s all there is to it! And if you’ve never mentored anyone before, it’s a great way to get your feet wet, especially if you’ve been considering joining the WCA’s Mentoring Program.

2. Share Your Knowledge to Discover Something about Your Own Career
   Anyone can be a mentor at this event. All experience levels are welcome and encouraged to participate. So what if you’re still working on your own career journey to get where you want to be. You’ve probably learned more along the way than you realize, and you have a lot to share with someone who is just starting out. You might even discover something new about yourself in the process!

3. Be Involved with the Future of the Communications Profession
   Our WCA college students are the future. Helping them helps the profession as a whole. Soon they will be entering the work force (if they haven’t already). They may be concerned about the road ahead, and you can help them be more confident and feel less alone. You’re not there to answer questions about SEO or analytics metrics, but you can help by alleviating their concerns about job searching and guiding them in a direction that will match their skills and interests. You don’t have to have all the answers, but you will have a conversation that matters.

4. Get to Know Your Fellow WCA Professional Members
   You will be mostly talking to students, but get to know your fellow WCA professional members before and after the event. Maybe you’re nervous about networking at a large event? Well now you already have a topic and experience in common with everyone else in the room – mentoring! It’s the perfect ice-breaker to strike-up a conversation.

5. You Don’t Just Have to Take Our Word for It
   Here is what past participants had to say about the Fall Speed Mentoring event:

“I’ve found attending the Speed Mentoring events to be some of the most satisfying volunteering I’ve done with WCA over the years. I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve learned about myself and my own career in the process of meeting and talking to the student communicators. Speed Mentoring has given me the opportunity to reassess what I have done, what my own future plans are and also reenergized me as I engage with these vital, motivated future leaders of our field.”
–Julie Tereshchuk, Freelance Writer + Editor

“I participated in speed mentoring last spring and was impressed with the UT and Texas State students who showed up bright and early on a Saturday morning ready to go with elevator speeches, resumes and professional polish. And it was early! A few months later I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the mentees for an internship. Come on out for WCA’s Speed Mentoring. You’ll enjoy helping these eager college students.”
Sandra Kleinsasser, WriteAustin.com

“Excitement, inspiration, perspective, encouragement, wisdom. If you’re an experienced communication professional, you have so much to offer budding soon-to-be pros in our field. I was so impressed with the speed mentoring event I attended. The turnout was great, and the young women in the student groups were so receptive to our input. Plus, hello… tacos and good coffee!”
Julie Wickert, Truestorycommunication.com

BONUS REASON!
And just because, here is one more reason you should attend the Fall Speed Mentoring event – you’ll be over half-way to the Texas Book Festival and a few miles from BlogathonATX! If you were already planning on attending and worrying about deciding between events, you don’t have to; you can easily make the rounds and even make a whole day of it!

Sign up now by sending an email to students@wcaustin.org