My mentoring experience - Aru Murugiah

Why do you mentor at King’s?

It is a great opportunity to share experiences and make a meaningful contribution by guiding someone starting out in their career.

How have you benefited from your mentoring experience with Colin as your mentee?

I was able to further develop skills such as listening, empathising and rapport building. Also, I was able to reflect on careers in both private and public sectors of more than 10 years and share relevant experiences and anecdotes.

What has been the highlight of your mentoring partnership with Colin?

I would like to count two highlights. One, our mentoring journey of 6 months was all online and when I was in London earlier in June (2022), it was great to finally meet Colin in person. Two, it was amazing when Colin joined the World Food Programme (WFP), where I currently am. I would like to think our mentoring journey had sparked his interest to join WFP and consider a career in the wider UN system.

Why do you think mentoring is important?

I believe that it provides the mentee a different perspective for looking at issues and I was able to point out potential challenges that may happen when doing things in a certain way.

What do you think are good qualities to have as a mentor?

While this is my first formal mentoring experience, I think key qualities are listening, questioning, and helping a mentee go through a holistic thought process, instead of simply giving answers.

Do you have any advice for aspiring mentors, or those who might have just started mentoring someone for the first time?

It is a process, a journey, and one needs to be flexible to adjust course. Also, it is important to define expectations from the onset, be honest, respectful, and get to know the mentee. Lastly, it is a conversation, a dialogue which will facilitate effective feedback, guidance and support.

Name: Aru Murugiah
Degree: MA, International Political Economy, 2021
Where is he now? Consultant, UN World Food Programme.

To read about Colin's experience of working with Aru, click here

In 2022, 575 volunteers contributed over 2900 hours towards the King's Global Day of Service - will you help us go further in 2023?

Mentor through King's Connect this March for your volunteering hours to be included towards our Global Day of Service total. You can find out all you need to know about Global Day of Service at www.kcl.ac.uk/giving/service/global-day-service