Transitioning to Career Conversations

Try these approaches:

Small Talk Approach: 

Ask your mentee about school and something new they learned or an interesting fact. This can start a conversation that includes: why the mentee found this interesting, whether they have thought about what sort of classes they could take to learn more about that topic. You can ask them if this is an interest that would be interesting to explore for a possible career opportunity, and discuss what careers involve these topics of interest. You can also use the small talk approach to talk about your own work experiences. Try discussing a current project or trend that could lead to a conversation about what skills were important to the successful completion of the task; and how you developed those skills and abilities.

Environmental Approach:

The environmental approach provides an opportunity for you and your mentee to arrive at this conversation by reacting to the surrounding environment to spark the conversation. You may: refer to an article that appears on the web or social media or from a magazine or newspaper; refer to digital media and discuss the career of a character on a program or movie or react to an advertisement for a career preparation program; or see a “Help Wanted” sign in a store window and ask about the mentee’s interest in small business.

Experience Approach:

The experience approach provides the opportunity for the mentor and mentee to experience something together and then discuss the experience. This could include activities such as: 

• a field trip to a local science center or museum

• a job shadow at an engineering or accounting firm

• a guest speaker opportunity with a local meteorologist 

This approach could be planned together by you and your mentee or could be a part of a scheduled event through your program coordinator. Within each approach, your mentee’s response will indicate whether s/he is willing to continue the conversation. You should choose activities and conversation prompts that fit the comfort level of your mentee, while also continuing to strengthen the relationship.