Most great career advice and professional development opportunities start with something simple - a meaningful conversation.

From mentoring students to connect with senior leaders, these conversations are where we often learn and grow the most.

That’s why we’re excited to partner with Ten Thousand Coffees to bring students, alumni and leaders together to learn from each other, share knowledge and collaboratively develop skills, and for alumni to help grow students' careers.

How it works:

First, we’ll get to know a little bit more about your goals, interests, what you’re looking to learn and unique skills you can offer.

1. We’ll use your profile, goals and interests to match you— either in 1:1 or in a small group with a leader—for conversations that will help you hone your career skills.
2. Once you’ve been matched, we’ll send an intro to your inbox. We’ll let you know why we think you’d make a great match, and offer up some suggested topics to get the conversation started.
3. We encourage you to reply with a few suggested times to meet with your match for 40-60 minutes right in your inbox and use any virtual meeting platform to host your conversation that month.
4. After you’ve met, you’ll get a survey to let us know more about your experience. We’ll use this to make sure you’re getting the most out of every conversation.
5. You'll receive an official LinkedIn certificate to recognize your commitment to mentorship and career-building experiences.

Who you’ll meet:

We know that you’ll leave every conversation with new insight, meaningful career advice, and valuable addition to your internal network. You might meet:

• A student who is seeking your perspective on how to land the job they want
• An influential leader who can share career advice and answer questions
• A hiring manager or recruiter who shares a new career opportunity

How to be a great mentor for students:

Taking a collaborative approach and establishing trust with your mentee will be key to helping drive the conversation forward. Here are a few supporting best practices:

• Identify your mentee’s goals to help them track progress
• Listen to non-judgmentally and share advice based on your experiences
• Offer to introduce them to your network to help support their career goals

Here’s what users had to say:

• 92% said they made a valuable addition to their professional network
• 44% claimed they gained meaningful career advice
• 70% of youth feel better prepared after connecting with their match