9: Network & Career Booster - 6th edition of DM Program

Design Mentorship (00:01.582)
Hi, welcome to the Design Mentorship podcast. Here we talk about the true face of disguise, career path design, mentoring, as well as our behaviors. My name is Kasia Szczesna, I am a behavioral designer and the founder of Design Mentorship. I invite you to learn about the stories of people who bet on courage and change through mentoring.

Design Mentorship (00:26.67)
Hi. The topic of today's episode is mentoring and how it works in Design Mentorship. A special time because today, July 26, we are starting with the registration for the sixth edition of Design Mentorship. Therefore, I would like to tell you why we focus on mentoring, how it actually works, what the whole recruitment process looks like.

but also what are the differences between 6th edition mentoring and On Demand mentoring, which works all the time in our organization, but can also share a small story of what is happening with us in the whole community. So if you are thinking about the development of your career, you are looking for an individual approach, you are wondering how to connect the dots of this...

what is behind you, what you are currently doing, but also in which direction you would like it to develop, I encourage you to listen to this episode because I want to show you in very simple steps how we actually work and how you can also achieve your professional goals. Of course, I will rely on mentoring and that is where I would like to start.

what our approach to this development looks like and what maybe I just missed in the whole market, when I was looking for my development, but I also talked to different people while still training on the market. I know that knowledge is important, but when we have such access to and at such an accelerated rate we have access to really brilliant knowledge, then what is the value in passive listening? I realize it's...

curious realizes that we are inspired, but when that moment comes that we want to go further, yes? We need to get into action. That is why I think mentoring is a nice tool for working together, that is, such energy between mentor and mentee, when the focus is mainly on the mentee due to the fact that it is his career path that is in the process of development.

Design Mentorship (02:43.662)
But I do not hide that for mentors, mentoring is a very valuable process. They also learn, gain a new perspective, and gain new experience. Although they also have mentoring behind them, they realize that everyone has an individual approach. And that is I think the key in today's market. When we leave some environment, we don't really want to...

to continue in that direction and sometimes we want to change or stay and modify a little bit and I realize that many courses or schools are not able to help us here. I know that we also have the support of various career coaches, so if it serves someone as much as possible, we focus on mentoring when we combine support with the knowledge of mentors. Therefore, in order to...

in addition, it worked well, well it is very important also feedback, when we have feedback, we have questions asked, then there is also this time of so-called reflection, I realize that it may seem that it is not the best time and the best spending time, but believe me, when the time comes, when there is this so-called road system, if I were to switch to economics Behavioral, when we can...

Think about where we are, if this is the right direction for us. We can analyze what we have now. It is very important not to get bogged down and say in a few months or a few years, hey, this is not the place I want to be today. Therefore, mentoring is an element of a career on the path of this development. When we have a process of gaining experience and working with a mentor. The process of acquiring knowledge.

but also building relationships, how we work together, how we talk. It is an active action, all the more so in this spirit of personalization that it is ours and we meet our needs. Of course, he realizes that brilliantly here Social Proof works and that is also a small element, a small and a large element of Design Mentorship. So that this mentoring is both a fun relationship, but also a widening of the network of contacts and...

Design Mentorship (05:06.894)
And this also gently introduces us to the sixth edition of Design Mentorship, which will focus mainly on networking and career boosting. Because we have a mentoring process, but I believe and see how much we can give from ourselves, but also take from others. Therefore, the sixth edition is a process that will last 10 weeks.

Registration starts today, July 26. They will last until September 19. The entire program will run from October 3 to December 12. It will be 10 weeks of intensive collaboration between mentee and mentors. And here I will emphasize the mentors twice for the reason that we are entering with a new model, that is, we will enter with mentoring blender. Of course, every mentee...

You can work together with a mentor for 8 meetings but also in this sixth edition you have the possibility of two meetings with other mentors. We want to bet on greater involvement, greater expansion on expanding the network of contacts. Therefore, we will analyze how a particular mint develops.

and with whom we can still connect him through this whole process of change. And what we notice and realize is that it's nice to enter mentoring with a goal, but many people don't have that goal either, they don't know how to concretize it, therefore it's good to have a direction, even if it is a little hazy, but thanks to this, the mentor can bring the person closer and closer to clarifying, brightening that direction of the goal.

And seeing this element of change, because it is a process where there will definitely be change, he also realizes that the support of another mentor can be invaluable. Therefore, here we will focus on mixing, on blending different people not only in terms of mentor mentee, which I said about, but also each mentee will have the opportunity to participate in two networking meetings together of course with other mentees and other mentors and mentors.

Design Mentorship (07:25.198)
In addition, we will bet heavily on Skillshare 'ing. He realizes that we had in previous editions every time we drew conclusions, what did not work, what worked. We will want to turn it up even more so that people in this edition of our community in the 6th edition of Design Mentorship can share their experience, even not always related to design. Perhaps it will contain some area that will be relevant to another mentee. AND...

What is still important in the whole mentoring of the 6th edition is that a person can go through the so-called audit of their competencies, see, put it on the table, see what they actually have, what they can go with, see if they have a dream or direction, where they would like to go, find the so-called gap, that is, what divides the current situation with where they actually would like to be.

Therefore, we will mainly work on competencies. I strongly emphasize here that we are not only talking about job titles, but also developing competencies that I think are important to me, but also for many employers, which are also defined by the World Economic Forum, such as creativity, critical thinking, digital skills, or analysis or problem solving.

So we also want these mentors to develop the competencies that will be needed tomorrow and in the future. But we also want this mentoring to be an element that prepares, for example, for recruitment interviews or can be a support in the development of your own personal brand or your own business. And, perhaps, a person is preparing his portfolio and has a lot of...

started projects and he doesn't know how to put it all together, how to show this value, how to show it in a nice presentation model and I'm not saying whether it should be any tool, but if there is a lot of backstory, where we look for support on the Internet and there are no so-called best practices and we are looking for an individual approach here, then I think this edition is just for you in terms of this individual...

Design Mentorship (09:45.038)
approaches. What does it look like to sign up for this new edition? There is a form on our website. Our website is designmentorship.pl. You fill out the form, which is quite short, but I count on an interesting and truthful statement based on what is behind you and where you are currently and also an element where you would like to be.

That is why this whole form is important to us. For me, to assign you to the right mentor for the conversation, also prepare for a one-on-one meeting together, and also this statement goes to the mentor. Therefore, I encourage you to think about your statement and send it to us through the form. When you send this form to us, you have the opportunity

make an appointment with us, so you can choose from the calendar a date that suits you to talk to me in a one-on-one meeting. You do not need to prepare, this is not a test of knowledge, I would like to get to know you better and your needs. For me it is always a form of getting to know each other, but also asking a few questions that will show me the direction of your development.

and how you think and how you would like to develop. Then if I actually see that this mentoring is for you, because here too emphasize, mentoring is not always good at every level of development, so this meeting also shows me whether it is really worth involving a mentor here. If so, we move on to connecting, to matchmaking with a mentor.

I, of course, suggest a person who could work with you. I bring you together and encourage you to meet together to see if there is flow. Here, too, it is not a test of knowledge, checking experience, but also talking about what bothers you and what you really want to do if the mentor is missing.

Design Mentorship (12:05.87)
that information in my information and in the statement that you sent to us, you sent. Then you also have a moment to check yourself, on the principle of conversation, even the pace of speaking is very important here. So these meetings usually last 20 -30 minutes, sometimes even 45 minutes if the person has actually already felt the flow. This is from last week's news, so it's happening too.

So please book if you want. You have to book that time. Then you and your mentor come back to me with feedback on how the meeting went. If it was fun, it was interesting and you want to cooperate, then we go to the formalities. If not, because this conversation is not mandatory either.

every person has the option to just say no and it's totally ok if you haven't felt that flow. So then I also suggest another mentor for you to meet and talk to at your next meeting. And going to the element of where it is accepted, after the formalities we go to the elements of the payment terms, which are also installable on our website.

to send access to the tool with which you will work, to our community we begin mentoring. This is how mentoring begins and what I always emphasize is the first meeting. The first meeting, such a so-called framework conclusion a la la contract between the mentor and the mentee, in order to establish the goal and work plan. It is very important to feel safe during mentoring.

but also determine by the principle of what you expect, what you do not want, what you fear, even at what hours you can call each other, how you should contact each other. I know that these questions may not be the most important, but they do their job to put it that way, so as not to put barriers on themselves. Do not put communication barriers, contact barriers and ask yourself a question in your head.

Design Mentorship (14:25.038)
can i call my mentor, mentor. No, if you have it fixed with a mentor and you know, then you focus on what you are actually going through, what you are experiencing. Perhaps you are after some interview with the company or after some recruitment interview or you are before and want to share with a mentor, then maybe it is worth focusing on it and calling your mentor rather than wondering if I can do it at all. That's why it's...

This meeting is a framework meeting to introduce mentoring too, to plan these meetings for the near future. As you can see during these 10 weeks it will be quite an intense process, because almost every week there will be a meeting. It is an individual arrangement between the mentor and the mentee, when properly. Of course, I encourage you to arrange a meeting at a specific time, at a specific time, so that this calendar does not sprinkle us.

but I realize that different situations also happen, so I leave that to the mentor and the mentee in the planning. So we have the sixth edition. Every person who joins us in the program has the opportunity to take tests, which we strongly encourage. One of the tests is a test...

The test may not, but a session with a certified Galupa trainer. We encourage people who take the test on the website Strengthfinder and go through the test, for example, to buy a report of top 5 or 34 talents and will be able to discuss it in an individual meeting with certified trainer Julia Lenarczyk as part of Design Mentorship.

An interesting session that opens up how we can work with our predisposition, with our strengths and it is always a great support for the mentor, who can see exactly your predisposition, but it is not just a test and a session that will work during our program. This is something that works for you for a long, long time, even for years.

Design Mentorship (16:43.598)
Of course, depending on what happens in your life, because maybe this test will have to be repeated. It also depends on how your life is going. Also in our program there is an opportunity to use the Design Mindset Detector test for measuring design predisposition. A brilliant test that gives you the opportunity to measure what the situation is now, and what the situation is, for example, in half a year.

What the organizers recommend. You can go through this test, also go through the sessions, which I also highly encourage you to see where you are today and where you are in these 6 months. Also, what we have introduced in our program in recent months, is the possibility of buying at a very attractive price.

courses on the Interaction Design Foundation platform. And this is probably where the question arises as to how does mentoring introduce the course. And I already explain why. Mentoring is, as I mentioned earlier, the relationship is to ask each other questions, discuss and come together through the given processes. A mentor is not a person who just leads a monologue and gives a lecture, which is why we made sure that

Each of the Menti could have had a source, a reliable source of knowledge. Therefore, I decided to cooperate with the Interaction Design Foundation, where a person can gain knowledge in various topics. Whether it's research, whether it's strategy, whether it's accessibility, whether it's UX design, UI, approach, design thinking, miscellaneous.

courses, probably more than 30 courses, which are really time-consuming and with interesting knowledge in English, therefore, if a person wants to approach their development comprehensively, they can also buy from us a package of those courses that are available throughout the year at an attractive price and of course this purchase...

Design Mentorship (19:03.15)
leads to the fact that a person has access to these dozens of courses. This is what the sixth edition looks like. As I mentioned, today the registrations start, they will last until September 19 and the entire edition will last 10 weeks from October 3 to December 12. So we have a pretty intense process, but if...

you will also notice on our website and you know us a little, you know that we also work mentoring on demand Well and precisely, what is the difference between one and the other process mentoring on demand works all year round it is mainly a mentoring process where we combine mentor, mentorkel and mentors and it is actually an accelerated process when you can start even now Every moment when you send us a request and we get wet you with mentoring

with a mentor, a mentor, you can start cooperation. We focus less on mentoring blending, less on networking, due to the fact that the main feature of mentoring on demand is individual cooperation with only this one mentor. Of course, we also have packages that you can join. It is 5, 10 or 15 hours.

And if you are interested in mentoring, if you want to start now, then I encourage you to mentoring on demand, but if you would like to bet on networking and expanding your network of contacts to mentor with several mentors, then I encourage you to complete the mentoring form for the sixth edition, where you will be able to develop at this accelerated pace.

At the end of this whole program and even onDement as well as the 6th edition, each person receives a so-called designer card from us. Of course, there is also a certificate, which is a confirmation of the completion of the mentoring, but we also realize that the CV still functions on the market and will only function if it is practical.

Design Mentorship (21:25.71)
because in many CVs we have studies that are not at all adequate to what we do or what we would like to do and many, many other information. Therefore, we have built a so-called designer card, which shows such a human side of Menti. And what does it contain? The first thing is a list of competencies in which Menti feels good. So we write down the competencies that Menti develops and identifies with them.

The next element is the skills that AT&T would like to develop. There are times when we have not yet had the opportunity to develop these competencies. For example, if someone is a beginner UX designer, but is very interested in his strategy and knows that he would like to go in this direction and try, then we also give such information in our designer card, so that the company...

she had information and awareness of where a person wants to develop, but also Menti shows that she is planning her career. The next element is to describe the strengths and predispositions depending on what session Menti went through. We can describe just ses after a session with a certified Galupa trainer. We do this in a descriptive form.

It's not just listing the top 5, for example, because we realize that companies do not always interpret well how these talents are named. Therefore, we describe predispositions and strengths, as well as with the Design Mindset Detector test for measuring design predisposition. That is why we encourage these tests, because we try to give just that human element in our designer card.

Because we know perfectly well that if someone is betting on building an interesting, cool team, it is very important which people join the team. So that's why this substitute in our designer card. And in conclusion we add opinions, testimonials. It is also a human element, due to the fact that the mentor gives an opinion, the mentor gives an opinion after the mentoring is completed.

Design Mentorship (23:48.718)
We also provide feedback from the organization. We also give phone numbers, our emails, also the company. For example, if you apply somewhere, they can contact us and talk to us. So the designer card is sent to Menti. Therefore, we do not only bet on this certificate at the end of the mentoring.

but also on such an element that can help you further your career path. And so in conclusion, I think that's all that happens with us in mentoring. If you are interested, we invite you to our website. What is also important to me is that it is a network of contacts.

What gives me great value of this organization is the information that comes back to me after many editions. Whether it is a successful recruitment, a successful cooperation, or, as recently, the hiring of mentia in a mentor company. Therefore, if you want to develop effectively and I realize that time is of great importance here for all of us at this pace of development.

and you want to do it with your head and so that it is consistent with how you act, how you learn and what your life looks like, because not everyone can afford to cut a few days out of the week. It is worth betting on an individual approach so that this career develops together with your individual approach rather than just what the market calls us to do.

So I think so much from me about mentoring, about how Design Mentorship works nowadays. So in conclusion, Mentoring Condiment works all the time, but I also invite you to join the 6th edition, which will focus on networking and boosting your career. Thanks, hi!

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