Today kicks off IIDA’s 3rd Annual Student Mentoring Week: January 26 – 30, 2005.
The 10-year-old interior design organization invited all members – of all experience levels – and all students to participate*. “Mentors are encouraged to take this opportunity to pass along your experience and wisdom to a new crop of students. No prior experience is necessary — just a desire to help the next generation of designers.” [January 12, 2005 issue of IIDA’s DesignMatters newsletter]
IIDA’s Erenn Ellermann matched up students and professionals for a day of networking and exposure to “the real world” of design. According to the Application Form, “Students will experience first-hand the work done to create a safe, dependable, and adaptable built environment.” Students were encouraged to sign up with a friend because, due to a possible lack of mentors, two students would potentially be matched with one professional.
All applications were due by December 17, 2004, and all participants were notified by January 17, 2005. This program was free to all involved, whether a member of IIDA or not.
This year the organization was making an effort to seek mentors in the following regions:
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kansas
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- International (Mexico, Denmark, London, Canada)
IIDA instructed mentors to let their assigned students know what they needed to bring with them and how they would be expected to dress. Most especially, mentors were asked to plan ahead for the experience for maximum student benefit. IIDA highly encouraged professionals to take students with them to staff, client, manufacturer’s rep and/or construction meetings in order to provide them a broad scope of day-to-day activities. Not only should the students meet the assigned mentor, but they should also interact with other firm members as well for exposure to varying perspectives and work experiences.
Before meeting their assigned mentor, IIDA encouraged the students to confirm the date / time, wear business attire (unless informed otherwise) and research their mentor’s firm as thoroughly as possible as to know what to expect. They were also advised to arrive promptly, expect to take plenty of notes, ask appropriate questions, and be sure to send a thank-you note or follow-up letter as the mentor just might be a future employer or co-worker. All very good advice!
After completion of their mentoring experience, students are highly encouraged to participate in the 2005 Lloy Hack Memorial Fund IIDA Foundation 2005 Mentoring Essay Competition, which is also free to participants and due at IIDA Headquarters by Friday, February 11, 2005.
Here is some information about the competition as reported in the information sheet released by IIDA:
The Lloy Hack Memorial Fund was established to honor the memory of Lloy Hack, an IIDA Member and highly regarded, award-winning interior designer from Boston. The purpose of this essay competition is to award the effort of an interior design firm which has demonstrated interest in furthering the advancement of the interior design profession through its interest in mentoring young interior design professionals.
The same sheet gives the following instructions to student participants:
Write an original essay about your mentoring experience. The essay should address how the designer/firm demonstrated outstanding effort and leadership in educating and inspiring you about the profession. Include specific information on activities you took part in, exposure to the field, and your plans for ongoing mentoring.
IIDA will spotlight the winning essay in a press release, on the IIDA web site, in the Spring issue of IIDA’s student newsletter Custom, and in DesignMatters. Best of all, not only will the winning student will be awarded $1,000, but the corresponding design firm will also receive $1,000.
It is commonly thought that the only one who benefits from a mentoring experience is the one being mentored. Not true. During the process, professionals frequently realize how much they’ve grown and developed over the years, giving them a sense of accomplishment and a boost of self-confidence. Furthermore, firms looking for fresh, young talent get the opportunity to evaluate and sell themselves (their work, their culture, their values) in the hopes of attracting the next generation of skilled employees.
IIDA Student Mentoring Week benefits everyone involved, and PLiNTH & CHiNTZ encourages all eligible members to participate in next January’s 4th Annual event!
* IIDA Student Members were given first priority if there was a shortage of mentors. At least one individual in each pair had to be an IIDA Student Member. IIDA made every effort to allow all students who enrolled to participate, however they could not guarantee the number of mentors in each area.
