{"id":11156,"date":"2021-03-01T14:00:58","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T22:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/?p=11156"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:47:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:47:56","slug":"cougs-first-mentoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/2021\/03\/01\/cougs-first-mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"CougsFirst! Mentors Help Carson Students Prepare for Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Side\u2011by\u2011side
William Babbitt, (from left) a student in the CougsFirst! Mentoring Program, and mentors Kaitlin Brown and Mike Bernard.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Kakeru
Kakeru Uchiyama<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Kakeru Uchiyama\u2019s<\/a> mentor is full of practical advice. He\u2019s suggested ways that Uchiyama\u2014a senior at the Carson College of Business\u2014can sharpen his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and Linkedin profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Bernard<\/a> (\u201979 Ag. Econ.), the mentor, also has connected Uchiyama with other professionals who\u2019ve coached him on interviewing skills and talked to him about what it\u2019s like to work as business consultant, financial planner, and owner of a music recording studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really enjoy talking to Mike,\u201d says Uchiyama, an international student from Misawa, Japan, who is majoring in management information systems. \u201cIt\u2019s changed my life in terms of how I see my career unfolding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uchiyama and Bernard are part of the CougsFirst! mentoring program, which pairs Carson College students with professionals from the CougsFirst!<\/a> business networking organization. They connect two or three times per month by phone or Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernard views his role as a coach and encourager to Uchiyama, who is exploring job opportunities for after graduation. With Bernard\u2019s input, he\u2019s thinking strategically about career steps that would position him to run his own company someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can introduce Uchi (his nickname) to people who can help him, but he\u2019s the one who has to do the work,\u201d says Bernard, a CougsFirst! board member who works for Seattle-based KOM, a state and local tax consulting firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using Mentoring for Student Development<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

CougsFirst! formed in 2011 to encourage WSU alumni and friends to support the Cougar community by patronizing Coug-owned and managed businesses for products and services. Last fall, the organization added the student mentoring program, says Kaitlin Brown<\/a>, (\u201909 Sport Mgmt.) a CougsFirst! board member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the past, we\u2019ve had students attend the CougsFirst! trade show in Seattle and Spokane, where they could network with our members and check out opportunities for jobs and internships,\u201d Brown says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a damper on in-person gatherings, the CougsFirst! board embraced mentoring as a way to continue supporting students, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifteen Carson College students are participating in the CougsFirst! mentoring program this school year. The initiative comes as the college works to expand mentoring opportunities for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMentoring is a foundational professional development tool,\u201d says Sophia Gaither<\/a>, associate director at the Carson Center for Student Success. \u201cStudents can lean in for advice and customized tips from their mentors. The relationship helps students evolve into who they want to become as professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentoring also allows students to leverage their mentors\u2019 professional contacts. That\u2019s a plus as they hit the job market, Gaither says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leveraging CougsFirst!\u2019s Network<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trevor Youngren<\/a> (\u201908 Fin., Entre.) recalls his efforts to find mentors in the Seattle real estate industry as he neared graduation. Now a mentor himself through the CougsFirst! program, the commercial real estate broker at Cushman & Wakefield likes the idea of extending a hand to students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I approached my senior year, I didn\u2019t have a ton of contacts, but I knew I needed experienced people to bounce ideas off of and answer questions,\u201d Youngren says. \u201cI had questions like what is the best way to get your foot in the door with different companies? How do I develop job prospects, and how persistent should I be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a business networking organization, CougsFirst! is a natural place for mentors to introduce their student mentees to other professionals, says Youngren, a CougsFirst! board member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown, for instance, is a managing client partner for Aquent, a staffing company. She\u2019s talked to a number of students about interviewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe interview hundreds of people each week,\u201d she says. \u201cI enjoy talking to the mentees and giving them insights that will help put them in the drivers\u2019 seat during the interview process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown also tells students they need to succeed academically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe students we\u2019re mentoring are super driven. Some are freshman or sophomores who are looking for internships now,\u201d she says. \u201cI remind them to focus on class and finals and provide insight where I can. To get the job they want, they\u2019re going to need that degree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encouraging students to get involved<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s advice that William Babbitt is taking to heart. The freshman from Elk Grove, California, is Brown\u2019s mentee. \u201cI love talking to her. I look forward to our meetings,\u201d Babbitt says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A first-generation college student, Babbitt is interested in business, but doesn\u2019t know what career he wants to pursue. He\u2019s enjoyed hearing about Brown\u2019s career path and appreciates how she encouraged him to get involved in student clubs this year, even though the meetings are online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018You should give it a try,\u2019\u201d Babbitt says. \u201cThe next thing I know, I\u2019m joining a club and throwing myself out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n \n\n

Interested in mentoring a Carson College student?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mentors help students gain an understanding of what it means to be a professional, including the traits of accountability, communication, problem-solving, and goal-setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentors often review r\u00e9sum\u00e9s and work with students on interviewing skills, networking, and professional image. Most importantly, they offer encouragement to students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carson College has several well-established mentoring programs, including the Boeing Mentorship Program and the PACCAR Mentorship Program. We also welcome applications from professionals who are interested in providing mentoring to students majoring in their field of work.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\tFor more information, visit the\u00a0Carson Mentorship Program page.\t\t\t<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CougsFirst! board has embraced mentoring as a way to continue supporting Carson College students during the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[634],"featured_media":18138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[425,595,430],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11156"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19736,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11156\/revisions\/19736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11156"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author?post=11156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}