MENTORSHIP KNOWS NO BORDERS

This year marks a landmark achievement for the Pancratz Career Development Center as they welcome their first international mentorship pair.

Kathy Lund, Director of the Pancratz Career Development Center is proud of how far the Mentor Program has come since she joined the Center in 2012. When Lund first took over the Program, it had no formal timeline and she did not personally know any of the mentors.

Over the years, the Program has expanded into a cohort-based model supplemented with events including a Mentees Thanksgiving and an end-ofyear celebration, along with volunteer events and checkpoints along the way. Lund noted that one of the biggest developments of the Program was enhancing the pairing process to focus on more than just field, but also considering some of the “intangibles” such as personality and strengths. Even though this is the most time-consuming part of the process, it has led to some great pairings. One of these pairings just made Pancratz Center history as the first international mentorship.

Lund knew that not just anyone was cut out to be paired with someone on the other side of the globe. After meeting with current student Sabina Haase, she knew that alumna Hannah Dohmeier would be the perfect mentor to help her achieve her goals. Haase, originally from Fort Worth, Texas, is double majoring in Marketing and German, with a minor in Communications. Dohmeier, originally from Germany, graduated from UND in 2013 with a degree in Airport Management and a minor in International Business. She currently resides in Norway, where she works for Zalaris, a human resources and payroll services company. This was a match made in heaven with Haase’s interest in international business, and her plan to study abroad in Germany in Summer 2022.

Dohmeier was once a mentee in the Pancratz Mentor Program. She had benefited from the insight given to her by her mentor, Doug Podolak, a former executive for Northwest Airlines. “Doug has been my backbone throughout these years and has given me guidance, reassurance, and strength. This was key for me in my personal development and career,” says Dohmeier. Their relationship is still strong to this day, as advice is just a Zoom call away. This understanding of the importance of having a mentor and being a mentor was why Lund was so confident that this international mentorship would succeed.

Aside from learning about resumes, interview skills, and international business, Haase also learned about Dohmeier’s experience at UND. The two shared many of the same experiences, and are grateful to have that common ground. The downside of having a mentor almost 4,000 miles away is that it can be hard to find a time to meet that works for both parties, but the two have discovered a sweet spot around Haase’s lunchtime and before Dohmeier’s bedtime. Although there are certain benefits to having a mentor who lives down the street, “an international mentor/mentee can widen the scope of the conversation and knowledge exchange, as well as potential international career development,” says Dohmeier.

Lund is looking forward to seeing where the Program will go in the coming years. She notes that this pairing has been exceptionally exciting because it has shown her that “the program has no limits and that mentorship can be done from anywhere, even in different time zones, even across different countries.”

Another aspect of this pairing that excites Lund is the future of “second generation mentors,” in which someone who was once a mentee is now giving back and serving as a mentor to current students. Lund hopes to see this trend continue.

Right now, the focus is on expanding the depth of the Program and adding more events and more opportunities for mentors and mentees to connect. Lund encourages students and alumni to apply for the Program if they are interested. It is a commitment that has proven time and time again to lead to extraordinary results for everyone involved.