Sergio Caredda

I decided to allow myself a great end-of-year present (and probably an even better start in year 2022). For the past years, I’ve always had the opportunity to pursue a mentoring arrangement with one or two young professionals in the field of HR. Every experience has been different, but all have been characterized by an important aspect: I grew richer in the process of mentoring probably more than the value I gave to the young professional.

Recently I’ve been pondering how important is to help crafting new HR mindsets. For this reason, this time I have decided to make the process a bit more “professional”. Instead of just focusing on the usual referral process of my network, I have published a “Job Posting” on LinkedIn to collect candidatures, to which I will follow with a formal interview to the identified shortlist and start the process at the beginning of next year.

The Selection Process

I will collect applications through LinkedIn up until after Christmas or so (also depending on the amount of candidatures received). People that have not sent in their Motivation Note or CV will be invited to do so with a short deadline. I will then select a shortlist based mainly on the objective set up in the application, the profile, and a preliminary interview I will be setting up at the beginning of the year 2022.

A few elements to consider:

1. The mentoring process works best if you can apply the concepts we will be examining together between one session and the other. For this reason it is important that the candidate has a current job in place. This is not a process to find a new job.
2. The process starts with the mentee setting their objectives. This is a critical step, and although in many cases during the process we might deviate from the original plan, it is important to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. That’s why it’s critical for me to have an idea of your objective in the application process. It’s also important to be realistic on the goal: I can’t redo your entire professional career, nor do a full university degree. I will be stimulated by challenging objectives though.
3. This initiative is focused on younger professionals not because of an age preference, but because it is easier to make an impact for people that are starting their professional experience, plus, younger professionals will typically earn less money and will not be able to seek other forms of professional support if needed.

The Job Posting

About the job

This is not your traditional job offer. As an eclectic “knowledge nomad”, always active in the field of expanding knowledge and curiosity in the fields of Human Resources, every year I offer my support to 1 or 2 young professionals in this field through an Informal Mentorship opportunity.

About You:

• You are curious professional exploring growth opportunities in the field of Human Resources Management, and have already clocked in at least 2 years of professional experience in the field, in any role of the HR Job Family;
• You are interested in Digital Transformation and in general in transformative trends that are affecting organizations today.
• You are currently experiencing difficult professional choices within your current job or work, are unsure about what’s next, and cannot find the answer within your current organizational settings.
• You strongly believe in the pivotal role that People play within Organizations, and have decided to make it a mission to sustain their growth in their organizations.
• You think that a reinvention process of the meaning of work is underway.
• You are ready to challenge some traditional assumptions of the HR profession, and how this gets done.
• You think that Putting Human back at the core of HR is not just a trivial sentence, but a core of this profession’s mission and future development.

What I will offer:

• An Informal Mentoring process, made up of at least 6 meetings (normally lasting 1 hour, online), according to a schedule we will refer to.
• You will decide the objectives of the project and the pace of the process, and together we will define the plan needed for your implementation.
• An outside-the-box perspective on the HR profession, sustained by 20+ years of experience and a curious and eclectic mindset.
• During the process, I might provide reading materials, tools, suggestions as well as some additional networking opportunities if needed.

The program will be completely free for selected candidates. The process can run both in Italian and in English.

In order to be successfully considered for this process, please apply directly through LinkedIn sending through an updated CV and a short motivation letter stating the key professional objective you would like to achieve by participating in such a mentoring program, and what your contribution to the program will be.

Interesting candidates will be invited to a short video interview before final choice.

Note: this project is provided outside my current professional commitments and relationship with my employer. It is provided fully pro-bono. I do not guarantee any successful job application, nor specific career advice or guidance, nor internships, or any other contractual engagement.

The Mentoring Process

Have you been selected? Well done! This means that from now on you will set the objective and take care of the pace of the different sessions.

Each session of the Mentoring Program will last typically 1-1,5 hour, and there will be 6 to 8 sessions on average. My availability varies, so, unfortunately, last minute changes will always be possible. But I will try to do the best to make sure I adhere to the schedule.

• The First Meeting is all about setting the objectives. I will ask you to provide a clear outline of what you want to achieve both as overarching goal as well as detailed objectives. We will fine tune based on a number of questions that will help me figure out the situation and the needs behind the wants. We will then define the pace of the program and the key milestone, and agree on what needs to be prepared for the next sessions.
• We will hold a minimum of four individual sessions, paced according to the plan we defined. Each session will be focused on a specific topic we agree in advance. The structure will vary depending on the content and the objectives, and will always be fairly flexible. Typically, we will spend the last 10 minutes to comment on the agreed development plan and the advancement status.
• The Last Meeting will normally be a sum-up of what was learned in the process. You will typically prepare a presentation recapping all the concepts learned, that we will sum-up together and crystallize in a shared one page document. I will do the same with what I learned through the process.

One last notice: I’m very specific about this being a mentoring project and not a coaching initiative. The reason is that I will address mainly knowledge, skills, tools, methods you need to pursue your career goals. I will not give you advice on the goals themselves. This is one more reason why well-formed goal is critical for me as a selection criterion.

Are you interested to take this challenge? Then feel free to apply on the LinkedIn Job Page.

Cover Image: CPD