City Mentors testimonial: Jermaya
UPDATE: I got a job! After about a month and a half of a job search, with the mentor that The City Tutors connected me to answering all the questions I had along the way, I was offered a position. One of the big (and upsettingly difficult to fulfill) requirements that I had for the place I wanted to work was that they care about their clients. I'm very happy to say that the organization I will be working for is one of the most client-focused places I've encountered, and also serves the populations of people that I want to serve most! Along with some other perks like a flexible schedule and some decent benefits, the job is sure to be one of the best one's I've worked so far.
I'm extremely thankful to the City Mentors Program for the amount of knowledge and assistance they brought into my job search. They introduced me to someone that I am so happy to have met and formed a professional connection with. I just want to say again and again- thank you The City Tutors and thank you to my mentor!
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I saw the City Mentors Program in an email from my school a while ago, and just wrote down its info and put in my closet for a little while. Then the time came where I wanted to start really looking for a job in my career, so I reached out to the program while I started filling out some job applications and didn't think much of it.
The City Mentors Program responded immediately. I think I had a meeting with my mentor set up within 24 hours. Right from the start, we both felt the program created an impressively accurate match. My mentor had a long history of amazing experience as a leader in New York within my field of interest. Talking with him really kickstarted my career search. Beyond finally having someone I could have some accountability towards, my mentor was giving me fast, thorough, and personalized suggestions time and time again. He wasn't telling me stuff I could have just searched online. He had a huge amount of insight into the professional communities I was looking to step into, and got to see who I was a bit. And he did an amazing job of connecting the two to help me find the right places, make the right moves, and create the right impressions for the start of my career. He always lets me know I could reach out if there were any developments before our next check-in. Having the City Mentors Program connect my mentor to me as a resource feels like an almost overwhelming sense of privilege.
The City Mentors Program isn't nearly the first professional development program I tried either. From the time I graduated high school 7 years ago, I consistently checked out different offices, programs, and courses etc. This is the only one that went well beyond a "wear a button down shirt and be polite and make your resume look like this" style of advice. The City Mentors Program connects people to active professionals with a wealth of knowledge in their field. The insights and tips I got from my mentor are almost maximized in their applicability. Every time we meet, my mentor has new information and feedback for me. There isn't one key idea he's told me that hasn't been useful, and he always leaves me with next steps for my upcoming week. Without me even [initiating], my mentor has also given me legitimate ideas of where in my field I could think about growing into down the road. I wish I knew to take this program more seriously right when I saw it. It's so different from every other development program I've seen! It should be on everyone's radar.
Overall, the City Mentors Program has been maybe the most effective bridge between getting my degree and breaking into my field. It's a unique gem in its domain. And I really hope everyone who comes across it takes it seriously from day one!"
Jermaya, City Mentee, 2022