How do I mentor a student who has never had a job?
A student with no job history is not a blank page. They have coursework, part-time work, clubs, caring responsibilities and projects nobody has taught them to describe.
- Read time
- 4 minutes
- Module
- Getting started
- Session length
- 30 minutes
What good looks like.
Spend the first minutes finding evidence rather than gaps. Group projects, tills, sports teams and volunteering all show something an employer buys.
Explain what your industry actually looks like day to day. Students choose careers from job titles and salaries because nobody has described the work itself.
Give one action that does not need permission: an application, a message, a small project they can finish alone.
A sequence you can follow.
- 01
Ask what they have already done
Paid or unpaid, coursework counts.
- 02
Translate it into work language
“You coordinated six people to a deadline” is a skill, not a hobby.
- 03
Describe your ordinary week
Concrete beats aspirational when someone has never seen the job.
- 04
Name one thing to do this month
Small, free, and possible without a contact.
What to avoid.
Opening with “what is on your CV” when the answer is nothing
Describing the glamorous version of your job rather than the daily one
Recommending unpaid internships they cannot afford
Assuming they know how applications are actually read
Extra tips
Small things that make the half hour better.
Hunt for evidence
Tills, teams, coursework and caring all count.
Translate it
“Coordinated six people to a deadline” is a skill.
Describe an ordinary week
Not the glamorous version of your job.
One action without permission
Small, free, possible with no contacts.
Take this guide with you.
Download a printable version of this guide: the short answer, the steps, the extra tips, the mistakes to avoid and the questions mentors ask, to read before your next session.
The things people ask first.
What if they do not know what they want?
That is normal at this stage. Narrow to two fields to explore, not one to commit to.
Should I look at their CV?
Only if they have one. Otherwise help them list evidence they can build one from.
Next: Improving an online professional profile.
Fifteen minutes on a profile that recruiters actually search.