The 2020 Penn Engineering Mentoring Program (PEMP) is a program that matches freshman students in SEAS with SEAS alumni. The purpose of this program is to encourage freshman to begin networking and to connect with alumni who will be able to help them navigate their professional and educational career while here at Penn.
Having a mentor can help you tremendously when you’re trying to figure out what it is you want to do in your career or really anything else in your life. Turning to people who are experts or who have a lot of experience in a certain area can help answer questions you have, especially if you’re deciding whether that particular thing is something in which you want to invest your time. The PEMP was created to help freshman engineering students begin their networking and ease some of the worries that pile up during the first year of college. Mentors consist of recent grads from three years ago to alumni who are now retired. This offers a wide variety of Mentors for students to review and see which one with whom they want to be paired. Whether they are unsure about a class or club to take or want to learn more about a specific field of study, Mentors are available for them to ask pretty much anything and everything.
Networking is an important part of any type of professional development. These days, it’s a common way to get your name out there and learn more about a specific company or job rather than sitting around waiting for a reply after applying directly on a company’s website. Networking also helps strengthen your communication and interviewing skills by letting you practice with others before you actually have a formal interview.
Are you a non-freshman wondering how you can start your networking? Have you heard of MyPenn? If not, check it out. It’s the online Penn alumni database where you can be connected with thousands of alumni. You can search based on major, year, company, job title, etc. This is a great way to start networking because you already have something in common – Penn! When reaching out, be sure to let them know initially that you found their information via MyPenn. Not sure how to start that email? Or even what to do? Schedule an appointment with us and we’ll help you!
