The mentoring module on alumni.cern was launched in 2021 with the goal of connecting CERN alumni who wish to share their experience with others who are further down a particular path and would like to seek their advice..

Recently, we talked to a couple of CERN alumni mentors and collected their thoughts on mentoring, their role as a mentor and what they took from the mentoring relationships in which they have been.. Why not get inspired by their stories and become a mentor?

Rocio Perez-Ochoa

Co-founder of Bidha-Sasa

“For me a mentor’s role is about listening and sometimes asking obvious questions rather than giving advice. I hope I listened well to my mentee in the sessions we had last year. Simple and empathetic listening most often than not works wonders as the mentee tends to find the answers herself just by verbalising her worries. I think this is how our sessions went and I believe my mentee got the value she was looking for.

It is not so easy to refrain oneself from giving advice (“When I was in your situation I did this and that…”) but with practice, it works. On occasion, mentees may want to hear one’s war stories so they can feel they are not in a unique (and lonely) position but one needs to make sure that the mentee chooses her own path and what is relevant to her and the context - what worked then may not work today.”

Valentina Zambrano

Nuclear and particle physicist; PostDoc at the Aragon Institute of Technology

“What I learnt from my mentee is how young scientists take decisions about their future and benchmarked with the way I used to be, for future self-improvements.

People should support each other. Having someone who has already been in your place is a great opportunity.”  

Alexandre Beche

IT infrastructure and security at INAIT

“Even mentors have mentors. I personally don't have a single mentor but a set of more senior trusted people (3-5) that I call/meet when I want advice.

It can be :

• For personal development advice.
• To help me to understand if I make good choices on my career path. Not by answering the question for me but by challenging me and helping me get the questions right. Then, only I can answer them.
• When I have a tricky managerial situation at work, I seek advice from them because they are more senior and have an outside look on the situation.”

Daniele Raffo

Computer Scientist, Radio Télévision Suisse.

“During mentoring sessions with my mentee, we talked about many topics, from PhD studies and contacting a thesis director, to finding a job and signing a contract, to renting an apartment in Geneva. When you're a newcomer in a foreign country, you need information and advice in many areas, and you don't even know what you don't know.

I also had a mentor during my fellowship, a very nice guy called Antonio Retico.  I am grateful for his friendship and help.”

Are you ready to apply?

If you’d like to share your skills, experience and wisdom with the younger generation and those whose careers are in their early stages, you’ve come to the right place!

There are only 2 steps to register:

Fill out your alumni.cern profile

By filling out your profile on alumni.cern with your professional experience, education and skills, you provide potential mentees with the most valuable information for when they are deciding to approach you – based on your profile, they can understand what industry you work in, what are your areas of expertise and they can assess whether you might be a good match.

Apply and set your availability

Once your profile is complete, you can apply to be a mentor https://alumni.cern/page/mentoring-hub . As soon as we approve your request, your profile will appear on the mentoring platform and will be visible to the members of the CERN Alumni community.

We hope to welcome you to the CERN alumni mentors pool soon and in the meanwhile, we encourage you to read the mentoring guidelines and to reach out to us with any questions that you might have: [email protected]