Corporate Mentors Provide Extra Level of Support

When interns at Medtronic and Target began their internships this fall, they did not realize they would have another level of support at work: a mentor. The Medtronic Young Professionals Network and Target both offered Genesys Works interns the opportunity to have a mentor throughout their internship experience. The mentors have helped students transition into corporate culture, navigate their duties at work, plan for their future careers, and prepare to attend college this fall.

Mentoring is a priority at both Medtronic and Target, where full-time employees have the opportunity to participate in company-organized mentoring programs. After experiencing the benefits of a mentor partnership at Medtronic, Jesse Pischler, a Medtronic Engineer, teamed up with Andy Hoff, a Medtronic Security Analyst, to lead the mentoring program this year. Andy notes that “giving back is built into the Medtronic mission. It’s encouraged, and we’re allocated time to work on projects like this.”

This particular opportunity to give back to the community stood out to Andy, who says, “we’re making a difference in people’s lives. We’re changing the course of lives for some of these students so they can experience some of the same success as Jesse and me.”

Intern Rachel (L) meets with her Medtronic mentor Emily Fogelberg.

Both Jesse and Andy recruited early-career professionals to mentor the 20 Genesys Works interns placed at Medtronic. Each mentor pair meets biweekly, discussing questions or situations that the intern has encountered at his or her internship. 

Like Medtronic, Target Corporation also has a strong mentorship component built into its culture, and Genesys Works interns have been fortunate to be a part of the mentorship program this year. At Target, each Genesys Works intern is matched with both a peer mentor and a senior mentor, and meet biweekly with both. 

Peer mentors are alumni of the Target Leadership Program and are early-career professionals. With their interns, the mentors share their own experiences about transitioning to a professional workplace, provide networking opportunities, and share candid feedback and advice.

Target intern, Beisite Wang, considers his peer mentor to be, “someone I can relate to,” and a person who gives him advice on his academics and college plans. Because of his mentor’s encouragement, Beisite decided to challenge himself to apply to Northwestern University and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, both schools that he received acceptance letters from this winter.  

A student and mentor have an adventure in downtown Minneapolis.

Target senior mentors are paired with students to expose them to different tracks within IT, share networking opportunities, and impart advice on workplace situations. When asked about his senior mentor, Beisite says, “in addition to work, he also provides me a lot of advice for my academics and future prospects. He’s a person I look up to and a person who I'm excited to talk to.”

To anyone interested in initiating a mentorship program, Andy knows that the investment is worth it: “I feel like I’m helping build on what they’re already accomplishing themselves. I have the opportunity to get them to start thinking of what their passion is.”

Want to get a mentorship program started at your company? Contact Program Manager Joel Crandal at jcrandall@genesysworks.org.