Mentees: Participation | Requirements
What are the requirements to participate as a mentee at alma?
1) You must
must study or have studied at the University of Vienna.
2) To be eligible for a
mentorship, you have to be a member of the Alumni Association of the
University of Vienna. (see below) All other areas of the site (Wiki, Forum,
groups, etc.) are freely accessible to you with a registration on the alma platform.
I have already finished my studies, can I still participate?
Yes.
You
decide for yourself, at which point in time a mentorship is appropriate for you.
I do not study at the University of Vienna, can I still participate?
Possibly yes. Please contact the alma team.
I already have a job lined up after graduation, can I
sign up for alma anyway?
Yes.
You
decide for yourself which questions you want to work on in the mentorship. You will still be in a transitional phase, where accompaniment can be useful.
I do not live in Vienna, can I still participate?
Yes.
You can
use the alma Mentoring independent of location. We recommend personal meetings with
mentors and you can also use the site to search for mentors in your area, however, online-meetings are a perfectly good way to conduct a mentorship.
Can I be a mentee and mentor at the same time?
Yes.
If you can offer mentorships in one area and are looking for a mentorship in another area, you can be mentee and mentor at the same time.
You can do so within one account without having to sign up with a separate one. Please note that mentors receive a free membership in the Alumni Association of the
University of Vienna and can use the alma Mentoring without paying the membership fee.
How can I delete my account?
You can either delete or deactivate your account in your profile in the section "my data".
We recommend that you deactivate your profile in case you might want to use alma Mentoring again at a later time. The deletion of your profile will remove all your uploaded data irreversibly from our servers and you will no longer be able to access data from past mentorships.
Mentees: Costs | Membership in the Alumni Association
What does it cost to participate in alma?
In order to take advantage of the alma
mentoring is a membership in the alumni association of the
University of Vienna is necessary. This costs 36 EUR/year.
Why isn't alma mentoring free?
There are running costs for maintenance for the website and the support for our users. Operator of alma Mentoring is the Alumni Association of the University of Vienna. The
alumni association is an independent association, which has to finance approximately 75% of its infrastructure and personnel on its own. Membership fees are one pillar of financing and thus the basis for us to be able to offer services such as alma Mentoring.
If you
do not have the resources to pay for a membership, please contact the alma team to explain how you can participate in alma Mentoring anyway, no questions asked.
How do I get a membership in the Alumni Association?
No Membership is required until you want to submit a mentorship-request. At that point you will have the option to pay the
membership fee immediately by credit card. If you do not have a credit card
have, contact the alma team for other payment options.
I already have a membership in the Alumni Association
- what do I have to do to use the alma mentoring?
Once you want to request a mentorship, you will need a one-time code. You can request this code from the alma team by email. The code has no expiration date, however once you use it, your access to mentorships will expire after a year.
Can I just contact mentors without making an official mentorship-request?
There is no technical possibility for this on the website. Please also keep in mind that:
- mentors get every mentorship-request sent to them via email: this way you can be sure that your request will be seen immediately.
- the system requires the official Mentorship request so that the progress of the mentorship can be tracked. So we can be available to you for support and mentors will earn a record of their achievements.
Your
Membership in the Alumni Association is also a contribution for us to be able to offer the alma Mentoring.
What does a membership in Alumni Association involve other than the mentorship program?
Most importantly, you have access to many more benefits and discounts.
Please note, however, that it is an annual membership, i.e. it is valid until
December 31 of each year. (Exception: If you join after September 30.
the membership is valid until the end of the following year).
If you do not wish to continue with your membership after your mentorship, you need to cancel it via email: office.alumni@univie.ac.at.
Mentees: Finding a mentor
What is the best way to find a mentor?
See our tips for finding mentors.
Can I have more than one mentor at a time?
Yes.
You can
decide for yourself how many mentorships you want to take up at the same time. However, keep in mind that each mentorship takes up your time and energy. Therefore, we recommend that you start with one mentorship first and
and, if necessary, to add others when you are sure that you have enough time to do so.
Membership in the Alumni Association entitles you to use the alma platform for one year with as many mentorships as you want to take up, before the membership has to be renewed.
I am not satisfied with the suggested profiles, what can I do?
Try to change your search criteria, for example, instead of setting your field of study
gradually set the superordinate categories. (Ex.: German studies
-> philological cultural studies -> social and cultural studies)
If you are still not finding appropriate mentors, please contact the alma Team
for support. We have access to a vast network of alumni and can find mentors specific to your requirements.
The mentor I chose lives somewhere else, can we still start a mentorship?
Yes.
You can conduct a mentorship at any time via chat, phone or video call. You can arrange a way that is most comfortable for both of you.
I would like a specific person to be my mentor. Is that possible?
Please contact the alma team for support. We will contact specific persons for you with your request.
My first language is not German. Can I also take up a mentorship in a
another language?
Mentors have the option to specify languages in which they offer mentoring. To find appropriate mentors, please enter your desired language into the free text search and check the displayed profiles to see if the mentors have indicated your preferred language.
I would like to take up a mentorship with a friend as a team. Is that possible?
The site is not technically equipped for this, but you are welcome to ask mentors about this on your own accord. If they agree, you can handle the mentorship logistically through a single mentee profile. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact the alma team for support.
Mentors: Participation | Requirements
What are the requirements for alma mentors?
all Vienna University Alumni who want like to share their professional experience with students or young alumni can become alma mentors. The alma
mentoring at the University of Vienna offers three different areas in which we are looking for mentors who:
- have gathered at least three years of professional experience, and are willing to share their professional experience with students or graduates. have,
- have been self-employed or have founded a company
and/or - have gathered professional experience abroad.
Find more information about your role as a mentor the "Guide for Mentors" in our Mentoring Wiki.
Do I get paid to be a mentor?
No, mentoring is a voluntary activity. However, we offer access to alumni-networks and exclusive training offers.
What are my benefits from participating as a mentor?
At the end of a successful mentorship-process not only the mentees will have profited, but also the mentors: Mentorship improves your advisory skills, the exchange with mentees will give you new ideas, broaden your horizons and you might also look at your own career path from a new perspective. We also offer you access to networks and exclusive education offers.
Can I be a mentee and mentor at the same time?
Yes.
If you can offer mentorships in one area and are looking for a mentorship in another area, you can be mentee and mentor at the same time.
You can do so within one account without having to sign up with a separate one. Please note that mentors receive a free membership in the Alumni Association of the University of Vienna and can use the alma Mentoring without paying the membership fee.
How can I delete my account?
You can either delete or deactivate your account in your profile in the section "my data".
We recommend that you deactivate your profile in case you might want to use alma Mentoring again at a later time. The deletion of your profile will remove all your uploaded data irreversibly from our servers and you will no longer be able to access data from past mentorships.
General topics: Support
Where can I get help?
For support please contact the alma team.
In what cases is there support?
The alma team is here for you in all cases and for all of your questions. Please check
before you send a request, whether the information you are looking for can also be found on the alma
platform, e.g. here in the FAQs, in our Mentoring Wiki or the Forum.
In urgent cases, please feel free to call us so that we can help you immediately!
General topics: Mentorship: Process | Arrangements
How long does a mentorship last?
We
recommend a duration of about 5-8 months and a frequency of about one
meeting per month. However, the duration and frequency of each mentorship is an individual arrangement between mentee and mentor.
Can I have several mentors / mentees at the same time?
Yes.
You can
decide for yourself how many mentorships you would like to take up or offer at the same time. However, please keep in mind that each mentorship takes up time and
energy. We recommend to start one mentorship first and
and, if necessary, to add others when you are sure that you have sufficient resources for another one.
Can mentees and mentors meet for an initial interview and then decide whether to start a mentorship?
Yes, this is, in fact, how you should go about starting a mentorship.
Only after an initial meeting you will be able to fill out your joint mentorship-agreement. This should contain an approximate time period for the mentorship as well as the frequency of the meetings.
The mentorship-agreement can be found in the "Mentorships" section of the profile of mentees only.
How can I cancel my mentorship?
You can
cancel a mentorship in the "Mentorship" section of your profile.
I want to change the duration of a mentorship. Is that possible?
Yes.
Changes
to the mentorship-agreement require the consent of both parties,
but it can be changed at any time during the course of a mentorship.
My mentor / mentee does not contact me anymore, what can I do?
Please contact the alma team.
I would like to suspend my mentorship for now and resume at a later date. Is that possible?
Any changes to a mentorship that mentor and mentee agree upon are possible. Simply extend the timeframe in the mentorship-agreement on the Webiste and send it to you mentor/mentee for confirmation.
How can I unsubscribe from alma?
You can either delete or deactivate your account in your profile in the section "my data".
We recommend that you deactivate your profile in case you might want to use alma Mentoring again at a later time. The deletion of your profile will remove all your uploaded data irreversibly from our servers and you will no longer be able to access data from past mentorships.
Mentors can also state in their profile that you are not currently available for any mentorships. You will get updates and invitations to events, but no mentorship-requests. We recommend that you do not delete your profile, as your data, achievements and certificates are
can no longer be restored. Your data is stored on a securely maintained server. And we're making sure that
you - and only you - will have your data available again if you decide to continue with
later on with the alma Mentoring.
What do I get with a completed mentorship?
After a successfully completed mentorship
successfully completed mentorship you can download a certificate in your profile.
General topics: alma platform: functionalities | technical issues
The image-upload for mentor-verification does not work.
Please check that your document is in jpg or PDF format and no larger than 5MB.
Alternatively, you can email the document to alma@univie.ac.at to get verified.
I did not receive a mentorship request via email.
Please check whether the email ended up in your spam folder. You should, however, be able to answer all requests in the "Mentorship"-section of your profile.
Please contact alma Team.
Where can I find the mentorship agreement?
The mentorship agreement will only appear in the profile of mentees once an official mentorship-request has been positively answered. Then you can find it in the "Mentorships" section of your profile, if you click on the mentor's name there.