A Seasoned Recruiter Mentors to Stay Current with Tomorrow’s Talent
Concerned about how university graduates were ill-prepared for the cruel realities of the workplace, Craig Macdonald joined the Albers Mentor Program to help rectify it. That was 27 years ago.
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Craig Macdonald, Owner at Corporate Strategies Research
On What Got Him Into the Albers Mentor Program
As part of my recruiting practice, I was meeting with a fairly prominent senior executive who had worked in Seattle a long time. We were exchanging mutual concerns about the discouraging nature of university placement personnel on a national level, not properly preparing graduates for the cruel realities of the workplace, and the inevitable shock that was hitting them when confronted with the truth.
This person suggested that he had heard about a new program starting at Seattle U that was doing a good job rectifying this shortcoming and gave me a number to call with an urging to get involved. That’s how it all started some 27 years ago. I haven’t kept track, but I would estimate meeting and coaching close to 50 students over that period.
His Experience as a Mentor
Overall, it’s been fantastic, which is why I continue three years after retirement and approaching 80. I enjoy the wide variety of types, nationalities, experiences and cultures represented by the students. For some reason I have gotten a considerable number of foreign students from Asia, India, and South America, and this has been a bonus since I learned as much or more than they did from the relationship.
Several years ago I was able to place one of my mentees in a position with one of my clients, and we continued to work together for several years. This was a very rare timing thing, since her graduation occurred at exactly the time my client needed someone with her specific expertise and experience.
Lately, maybe over the last five years (Covid?), I see more anxiety and less intensity in some of the students. I’m not sure whether this is me projecting or them actually behaving differently, but I am convinced that our response to Covid has caused, and continues to cause, downstream problems with our younger society.
Staying Current
Craig Macdonald
[Mentoring] is a terrific way to push your pre-conceptions and prejudices about college students and young people generally up against the reality of those you get to know well during the semester.
Owner, Corporate Strategies Research
'Definitely worth doing'
What Students Are Looking for in Mentorship
Most mentees are confused about and need help with balancing the pressure for a job and, down the line, a career, against what the market is dictating it wants in terms of skills and expertise.
A classic example is that student who thinks the market is demanding computer coding experience and believes that the fastest route to riches is to become a computer programmer when, in fact, he/she actually has NO interest in computer programming, finds it dull, and really wants to be a painter or musician.
Advice He'd Give Anyone Considering Being a Mentor
It is definitely worth doing and I would encourage business executives to get involved. It is a terrific way to push your pre-conceptions and prejudices about college students and young people generally up against the reality of those you get to know well during the semester. It is a fantastic way to stay current with the reality of what is happening in American society and with those who will inherit the culture.