My Passion with Tracy Carpenter: Rewards of helping young people achieve their potential

Tracy Carpenter, a senior human resources consultant at consultancy hr180, based in Aberford, West Yorkshire, talks about her passion for student mentoring.

IT was while working as a HR adviser at The British Library that I first discovered my passion for mentoring.

I was invited to take part in a scheme with Wetherby High School which involved mentoring GCSE students to support them in their studies and inspire them to succeed.

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Being an enthusiastic person who thrives off other people's passions, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and was surprised at how much I got out of it. I discovered that mentoring is very much a two-way affair (despite the sometimes less-than-enthusiastic response from my teenage mentee) that helped me gain some valuable skills. It gave me the impetus to improve my efforts and become more involved with mentoring.

For this reason, I jumped at the chance of mentoring a group of undergraduate students at the Leeds University Business School. The aim is to encourage the students to build on their potential and offer them a new perspective on the world of employment while supporting their commitment to learning, stimulating their thinking and challenging them to acquire new perspectives.

Ultimately, the scheme exists to enhance their employability and provide a vital link between academic life and the world

of work.

For the past few months, I have been giving up my time to support five students on their "business ethics" module which aims to teach key ethical concepts and their application to business organisations as well as their key functions within business and professions.

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The students have to critically analyse competing theories on business ethics, and critique and evaluate existing corporate social responsibility practice.

My group's chosen topic has been the ethics of bankers' bonuses, which has, unsurprisingly, resulted in some passionate debates.

My role has been to provide a fresh pair of eyes and bring real-life business experiences to the discussion.

I also provide support via e-mails, phone calls or individual meetings. I can often be found digging out useful articles and research late at night. At the end of the module the students are required to deliver a presentation on what they have learnt to the whole module group.

The experience has helped me gain valuable "soft" skills, such as active listening and the art of giving and receiving constructive criticism.