Data Science Alumni Mentorship Hub: Become a Mentor

Mentor requirements: 

• Must be an alum of the UC Berkeley Data Science BA program or a UC Berkeley alum working in a Data Science role
• Must have been employed in a data role for a minimum of 2 years (note: less common careers are fantastic as long as they use data skill sets!)
• Must be available to provide one 30-60-minute mentee meeting per mentee for the term for which you will be a mentor
  • Summer term commitment: 2 mentees
  • Fall/Spring term commitment: 3 mentees
• Must be prepared to answer mentee questions or discuss experiences in a genuine but encouraging way

Mentors can have, but DO NOT NEED:

• Knowledge of job openings 
• Advice for finding employment or internships
• Tips for job or graduate school applications

We collect interests forms on a rolling basis. If a cohort is in progress, it is rare we will add a mentor mid-term, but we look forward to considering you for a future cohort!

If you have are unsure about whether or not you meet these requirements, submit an interest form!

Mentees are Berkeley Data Science alumni or current Berkeley Data Science students with priority given to those nearing graduation. Alumni can be at any stage of their careers, but priority will be given to those actively searching for jobs or exploring a career change. 

Getting connected:

1. At the beginning of the term, a connection request window will open for one week during which potential mentees will submit information about what they're looking for and any mentor preferences. 
2. Once the window closes, program admins will sort through connection requests and match mentees to mentors, based on priority detailed on our Alumni Mentorship Hub homepage. If questions arise about a potential match, the program will contact the mentor or mentee to ensure the connection will be beneficial.  
3. We will then email mentors with information about their term mentees, giving a chance for mentors to raise any concerns and to determine their introduction preferences (ex: be introduced all at once or to spread introductions out throughout the term). 
4. The program will email you each mentor and mentee pair to facilitate an introduction and allow the mentee to lead in scheduling a meeting. 
5. After the meeting, we will contact you with a feedback form that assesses your experience.

What to expect in your meeting (and beyond):

• The program promises mentees a single meeting with their mentor. This means that if a mentor takes on 3 mentees, they will be expected to hold 3 meetings throughout the term. 
  • The mentee is expected to prepare questions and topics for your meeting, but mentors can provide a safety net if the mentee flounders by asking for topics in advance or asking the mentee more about their career goals and where they're feeling stuck. 
• Mentors may optionally offer follow up beyond a single meeting if they feel there's more help they can provide and they have the bandwidth to do so. 
  • We recommend mentors go into meetings with an idea of what they're willing to offer in terms of any additional support and, if they do wish to offer more, to spend the last 5-10 minutes of their meeting discussing specifics. The program will offer suggestions to those who which to offer more support as mentors are onboarded. 

You can cite a preference for students you would be particularly excited to work with (ex: transfer students, first-gen, international). We will do our best to look out for matches based on these preferences, especially when a mentee is open to meeting with multiple mentors. 

However, to keep our program's access open and equitable, mentors cannot turn down a mentee connection request based on the mentee's identity or membership in a particular group. 

A mentor can decide whether or not to offer additional follow up support beyond the one-on-one meeting facilitated by the program based on their personal feelings of connection with particular mentees.

As our program has developed, we continue to introduce more ways for mentors to support and connect with each other. All engagement is optional. You can expect: 

• A lead mentor team to provide support and cultivate social connection including limited in-person events
• Assigned mentor "buddies" for the term (groups of 2-4)
• A virtual mentor onboarding and mixer event each term
• A virtual end of year celebration each December (all mentors from the calendar year invited)
• An invitation to our Homecoming alumni mixer and other social events throughout the year for highly engaged alumni

Submit our mentor interest form! You can use this form to tell us about yourself and ask additional questions before committing or email Brandilyn Buckley, head of DSUS alumni engagement (brandilyn@berkeley.edu).