sandra_lim

Director of Mentorship 2004 – 2007
NAAAP Award of Excellence for Professional Development 2006, 2007
NAAAP Chapter of the Year Team 2007
Presidents Award of Excellence 2007

As NAAAP Toronto’s Director of Mentorship, I enjoyed the camaraderie among the members of NAAAP Toronto’s Board of Directors and experiencing the focused teamwork in working towards common goals. However, the greatest benefit of volunteering was undoubtedly the chance to enhance my personal marketability to advance my career in the field of human resources. Through keeping abreast of HR trends, I was aware that mentorship programs have been a hot topic within many organizations. By volunteering for the Director of Mentorship role, I sought to challenge myself to learn about mentorship by developing a Mentorship Program for NAAAP Toronto. I spearheaded the research, program design, and execution of NAAAP Toronto’s first ever Mentorship Program, which has served more than 40 mentee/mentor pairs. It was also gratifying to gain international recognition through earning two NAAAP National Awards of Excellence in Professional Development based on program’s innovation and quality. The Mentorship Program facilitated outreach to the community served by NAAAP Toronto. One mentee success story that stands out is that of a 40 year-old internationally trained single mother who had not been able to obtain a job in her field in Canada. Despite her Masters-level education and years of senior level work experience in her homeland, she had been working in a warehouse since immigrating to Canada 10 years ago. By the end of the mentoring relationship, she was offered a job in Boston in the occupation for which she had been trained. On a personal level, I appreciated the invaluable opportunity to shape my own role, the reward of establishing a Mentorship Program that has helped many of its participants, and knowing that I have taken the initiative to develop a new skill set that I will be able to use in my future career.

LayerSlider