Mentoring, in the context of SAM, is the development of a voluntary, long-term, one-on-one relationship between a student and alumnus/a. The relationship is characterized by:

• Respect and a conscious effort toward personal growth
• Mutual exchange
• Interpersonal support

Whereas networking is about developing professional contacts to tap for informational interviews and job leads, mentoring is about an alumnus/a and student developing a close-knit, long-term relationship covering all aspects of career development.

SAM is unique in that it focuses on creating more long-term mentoring relationships between students and alumni. While the Stanford Career Network is an excellent resource for one-time informational interviewing/networking and career advice, SAM strives to provide students with personal, long-term alumni support for both career and personal interests.

Alumni: You can participate in SAM by clicking the "REGISTER" button on the sidebar of this website. You will need to confirm your alumni status before you can create a SAM account. Once you have been confirmed, you will complete your profile with background information and select personal mentoring preferences. During each mentoring round, students will have the chance to view your profile and request you as a mentor. After being selected, you can confirm a mentee, and you will be notified by email of the match.

Students: We have two mentoring sessions each year. Our next session will begin in the early Fall Quarter 2009. At that time, you will need to fill out a short application to participate in a mentoring session, and attend a short orientation. Afterwards, we will give you access to create an account on the website, and you can search for and request mentors. Once a mentor accepts you as a mentee, you will be notified by e-mail of the match.

After students enter their mentor preferences (industry, personal interests, location, etc.), the software's matching engine presents students with a list of alumni sorted according to how closely the alumnus/a matches the students' criteria. Students can then request a potential mentor from this list, who then has the opportunity to confirm the match.

Activities are determined by mutual agreement between the alumni mentor and the student mentee. They can include anything from helping to look over a resume to providing insights on how to maintain a good work-life balance. SAM is designed as a resource for helping similar-minded students and alumni to find each other. The actual nature of the mentoring relationship, however, will be up to students and alumni to determine and develop individually.

After alumni and students are matched, SAM will provide an extensive tips sheet for both parties to assist them in making the most of their relationship. For instance, SAM will provide tips on how to initiate and foster the mentoring relationship. In addition, SAM will also send out email reminders to make sure that both parties are in touch. Above all, alumni and students should mutually determine what kind of mentoring relationship they would like to develop, and take concrete steps towards creating a meaningful relationship.

Time commitment is very flexible and can range from a few hours per month to several hours per week, depending on the preferences of both the mentee and the mentor. It is up to the student and the mentor to decide together what works best for them.

The mentoring relationship officially lasts for six months, after which the formal pairing will be released in our online system. This allows students to search for new mentors and alumni to work with new mentees. This, however, does not mean that the mentoring relationship has to end. SAM's goal is to develop long-term relationships between mentors and mentees, so we encourage mentors and mentees to continue their relationship on an informal basis.

We have deliberately kept the occupation list short and minimal because too many choices can hamper the matching process. For instance, if the occupation list were more extensive, then fewer alumni on average will match the selected occupation and show up on the "results" list of students. Please select the occupation that is the closest match to your career field or the career field you wish to search for.

SAM hopes to develop long-term mentoring relationships between students and alumni. We've found that students who have a fairly clear idea of their future career goals going into the program are able to get the most from the program. To allow you to concentrate and make the most of your mentoring experience, we only allow mentees to be matched with one mentor per session. However, students can participate in future mentoring sessions to request other alumni.

If you are still deciding between majors, we encourage you to talk to the alumni available in the Stanford Career Network (SCN) who will be able to answer immediate questions about particular professions or industries of interest.

After you register for SAM, it could take some time before you are matched with a student since alumni registration continues throughout the year while student registration is limited to twice a year, once in the Fall and then again in the Spring.

There are a variety of reasons why your requested alumnus might have declined you, most of which probably have nothing to do with you personally. It may be an especially busy time for the alum, or the alum may already have other mentees and may not wish to take on more. Do not get discouraged. Just go back into the system and search for and request other mentors.

Any relationship takes time and effort to develop. We strongly encourage a mentor and mentee to make a consistent and sincere effort to get to know each other. However, we also understand that a particular pairing may not be the best fit and that students may develop new academic and career interests that require them to seek a different mentor. If you wish to end the mentoring pair before the end of the session, please notify the SAM team so that we can suggest possible solutions and, if necessary, discontinue the relationship. When the mentoring relationship is no longer officially active, mentors and mentees are welcome to seek a new match through the SAM program.

Contact alumniwebhelp@stanford.edu:
Toll-free: 1 (866) 543-0243 (USA)
International: 1 (650) 724-0627
Standard business hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm Pacific Monday - Friday