Future Ready Mentoring – Cognizant Outreach shares enthusiasm and experience

A team of staff from Cognizant Outreach spent six months working with University of Westminster students and graduates as part of our Future Ready Mentoring Programmes.

The Cognizant Outreach initiative, part of Cognizant, one of the world’s leading information technology and professional services companies, was established to support skill-building and workforce programmes through volunteer work. Between November 2021 and April 2022, eight members of staff from Cognizant Outreach signed up to provide career mentoring support to eight of our students and recent graduates.

In today’s highly competitive job market, the University of Westminster’s Future Ready Mentoring programme was created to give our students and alumni the edge, by enabling them to benefit from the experience and practical guidance from current professionals across a wide range of industries. Future Ready Mentoring offers 1:1 mentoring, group mentoring sessions and an Ask a Mentor Service for one-off conversations with an expert.

Matches are carefully chosen with each mentee and mentor application reviewed by a member of the Future Ready Mentoring team based on relevant skills, interest and need. Before mentors and mentees are matched, they both receive training and have ongoing access to online resources which include a Mentor / Mentee Handbook, CV training support and LinkedIn Profile training. Following training and once mentees have confirmed their place, introductions are then made.

Mentors at Cognizant brought a wealth of experience in areas including business analytics, global events management, AI and data privacy, with various levels of responsibility and roles ranging from Business Analyst to Associate Director and a Global Manager. Committing to a six-month relationship, meeting at least five times, each mentor was matched with one mentee, sometimes taking on two. In addition to the various mentoring support and activities, Cognizant also organised a Hackathon, giving 30 of our mentees an opportunity to listen to guest speakers, including the President Elect of the Chartered Society of Designers (CSD), founder of the Better World Museum, a senior creative strategist, and freelance creative director. The company also hosted a CV workshop, providing tips and advice on how to best structure and present a CV.

Midhusa Mohan, UKI Outreach Strategist at Cognizant, who helped organise the mentoring in liaison with the University’s Future Ready Mentoring team, said that supporting inclusion in tech is at the heart of Cognizant Outreach. “The University’s mentoring programmes are a great platform for our volunteers to provide wrap-around support to motivate and encourage young people from diverse backgrounds,” she said. “I would particularly recommend the 1:1 programme as it’s not only an impactful way to engage your employees with the community, but also allows students, who otherwise might not have the opportunity, to start building their professional networks and aspire for careers they might not have considered before.”

Zurria Qureshi, the University’s Mentoring Manager, said that Cognizant provided an outstanding commitment to their mentees and she now hopes to connect more employers with Westminster students through the Future Ready Mentoring programmes. “Working with dedicated mentoring partner organisations like Cognizant enabled us to showcase just how vital support from external businesses can be in giving students the opportunity to gain insider knowledge and build long-lasting, meaningful relationships with industry professionals,” she explained. “In return, companies can benefit from playing a key role in nurturing the next generation of employees, gaining access to attract future Westminster talent and seeing first-hand the difference mentoring makes in enhancing the skillset of our students.”