How to benefit from having a career mentor – Thrive Mentoring Scheme

Have you ever heard of the Thrive Mentoring Scheme? Do you know what are the benefits of having a mentor? 


If you answered both questions in the negative, read this article and find out more about my experience of having a mentor and my new role of being a Thrive Ambassador.  The Thrive mentoring scheme is now available not only to second year undergraduate students, but also to finalists. 

Author: Eleni Meletlidou – Thrive Student Ambassador


My experience to the Scheme 

The first time I heard about the Scheme was through my student email but searching more about it on the University of Reading website convinced me to sign up to the Scheme. 

I completed the Scheme last year, after I signed up to it as an Early bird. I attended the short preparation session (which also counts towards the RED Award) and chose my mentor based on the area of law I am more interested about to follow when graduating. However, the flexibility of the Scheme offered me the opportunity to have a mentor from a different sector than the one I am studying in case I wanted to explore something new which is related or not to my degree.  

My mentor was also a student at the University and on our meetings, he was both professional and friendly. We discussed things like the modules I have undertaken, the differences of the legal system in the UK and in my country, while he also helped me make connections in my hometown. I found this quite valuable, because as an international student I can feel all the students that are unsure with whether they will return back to their home country or stay in the UK after their studies.   

What were the top 5 topics that I discussed with my mentor? 

At this point, I want to highlight the thing I liked most about the Scheme is the adaptability it gave me to meet my mentor whenever we were both available. Since it only requires 1-2 hours a month of engaging, I still had the chance to do other things, and not overload my schedule, especially in periods that I had many assignments to do. 

The first meeting with my mentor was face-to-face, but we also arranged some online meetings, when we could not meet in person. In those meetings that were both formal and informal we had the opportunity to discuss about things that could make more employable and in particular: 

  • How to become more commercial aware. 
  • How to write the perfect CV. 
  • How to secure an informal work experience. 
  • How to write applications for job applications. 
  • How to distinguish myself from other applicants. 

My mentor was always supportive, and I explained to him how insecure I felt that I did not have any legal experience. However, he always recommended to continue to apply for job applications and ask politely for informal working experience. His advice helped me get out of my comfort zone, become more confident and start thinking more about my unique selling point (a term used in the marketing sector; here used to show that when applying for a job we need to differentiate from others and make them apprehend why we are the most suitable for the role). 

My role as a Thrive Ambassador 

Now that I am on my final year and after the completion of the Scheme, I secured my first part-time job as a Thrive Ambassador, which is a role quite flexible. With this role, I share my experience to other students, while participating in shoutouts, preparation sessions and stands to promote the usefulness of having a Thrive Mentor.  

ln conclusion … 

Concluding, the Thrive Mentoring Scheme is available to second year and postgraduate students, who have the passion and enthusiasm to start thinking about their career prospects, so feel free to navigate through the website and email the Thrive Mentoring Team at mentoring@reading.ac.uk with any questions.  


Are you a second year or a finalist, interested in having your own mentor? Register now. 

Thrive is for our second-year and finalist undergraduates, if you’d like to secure your own mentor, the first step is to sign up here. 


Attend on of our Information Sessions on Blackboard to find more information!

Next information sessions:

  • Friday 3rd of February 2023 – 13:00-13:50 – Book here or access via Careers 24.7 webinars on Blackboard.

Contact us

You can contact us by emailing mentoring@reading.ac.uk with any questions.