Posted by Huiqiang Zhao on
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
It is my third time participating in the mentor program. From the first two partnerships with my mentors, I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge in different industries including in wireless and truck manufacturing. The mentors have provided me career guidance and helped me build a wider network. I feel fortunate to work with such high-level executives of different companies in the Puget Sound.
This year, the Paccar lobby was packed once again because we had a great turn out. There were hundreds of people including mentors and students. They were actively and professionally discussing economic trends and job opportunities. I have to say that Albers Placement Center has done a great job in providing such a friendly environment to exchange ideas and experiences for the mentors and mentees.
The first mentor I talked to was Rob Harris who is the President of Pacific Market International. His company designs and produces food and beverage containers for global consumers. It is very interesting that we visited his Shanghai office few weeks ago during the China Study Tour organized by Albers Business School. In the conversation with Rob, he shared with me about his company’s goal and business strategies. In fact, I was very interested in learning more about his company’s business model. These things inspired and motivated me to select him as one of my potential mentors.
When I got home, the first thing I did was sending him a “Thank you” email. This is so important because it will let the mentor know how passionate we are as an MBA student when opportunities come.
I hope each student could find a mentor they want to learn from. It is important to professionally follow up with the mentors to build long-term relationships because mentorship is not just a one year commitment.
Written by Derek Zhao, Email: zhaoh@seattleu.edu