Mentoring programmes
Mentoring is built on the spirit of mutual support within the community. It fosters a relationship of trustbetween two people who meet regularly and get to know each other. They learn from each other through sharing their experiences and questions. Mentoring differs from occasional contact with advisers or other representatives, but the two activities are complementary.
Find out which mentoring programme is right for you!
Alumni mentoring
This programme matches two alumni, with the mentor chosen on a case-by-case basis according to the mentee’s needs. The mentor shares their experience with the mentee, who is typically at a turning point in their career and needs to make important decisions about their future career options.
Student mentoring
The mentee is a student in their second year. Their mentor is an alumnus with some initial experience in the world of work, but still fairly close in age and mindset (usually around 10 years apart).
This programme was launched by AX Careers in 2016, and over 250 mentee/mentor pairings are made each year.
Reverse Digital Mentoring
The mentor is the younger person in the mentee/mentor pairing. The mentor has experience in using digital technology and helps the older mentee to explore how they can use and take advantage of it. In return, the mentee lends their experience to help the younger mentor take advantage of career opportunities. It is an exchange of skills and experience. This programme is a way for older alumni to update their profile and give their careers a new boost, whether in their current role or as part of a move up the ladder.
Self-Digital Mentoring
In this programme, the mentor is no longer a person. Instead, the mentor is an online ‘Jobmaker’ application, modelled on the process you go through with a careers adviser or outplacement agency. Any Polytechnique alumnus looking to reassess their current and future career situation can use it at their own pace, with complete discretion and without commitment.
The mentee is free to work through the process on their own, but it is advisable to ask a peer to review and challenge their work and encourage them to continue with this time-consuming process of reflection. The reviewer can, of course, be a mentor classmate.
For further information, please contact carrieres@ax.polytechnique.org.