Samuel Milucky, Associate at Arnold & Porter, tells us about taking part in ELBA’s Mentoring Works programme as a mentor, drawing on his own experience to help a student with daunting transitions in education and career. Samuel explains how volunteering in this way enables one to help another person, whilst also contributing to one’s own career development.

Why do you volunteer?
I have taken part in ELBA’s Mentoring Works programme as a mentor to a student. Effective mentoring can add value to talented and hard-working students at key moments of their early careers. Drawing on my own, not too distant experience, I appreciate that, for example, transition from one education level to another, or from education to work, can be daunting. That is when input from someone with a similar prior experience, in the form of a friendly suggestion or even a mere question, can point a young person in the right direction. Mentoring offers an opportunity to connect and work towards a target that can make a difference to someone’s life. In that process, I find opportunities to help and learn, which in turn contributes to my own career development.

What have you gained from your volunteering experience?
I appreciate that volunteering can come in many forms and that each volunteering experience is unique. My role as a mentor on ELBA’s Mentoring Works programme has been particularly enjoyable and useful, thanks to my mentee’s hard work and dedication, and the support we both have received from ELBA.

I have gained a range of valuable things: first, my mentee’s experience has provided a real insight into how students think about early careers, what challenges they tackle and how mentors can help in that process. Second, my mentee’s work has allowed me to join their efforts of working towards a tangible goal. In that process, there is quite naturally an element of good feeling when things go well. And at those moments when they go less well, there is almost always a chance to reflect, improve and execute better next time. Third, I have formed connections with my mentee, the coordinators at ELBA and other mentors, who all do interesting work and help me succeed at mine.

Would you recommend volunteering to a colleague and, if so, why?
I would wholeheartedly recommend volunteering to anyone who can contribute to someone else’s pursuit of professional aspirations. In my experience, volunteering is more often than not about much more than just giving; any volunteering experience often combines elements of helping, learning, networking and many others. In the context of the Mentoring Works programme, I learned about, for example, recent recruitment trends, including job applications and mock assessments. These are takeaways I find useful, for example, in reviewing applications and interviewing candidates seeking to join the organisation where I currently work.

I would particularly recommend volunteering in partnership with organisations like ELBA, which benefit from a long-standing experience and a robust infrastructure, making mentees’ and mentors’ lives easier and allowing them to focus on substantive  work. Coordinators at ELBA have showed great flexibility to make the Mentoring Works programme work, including by accommodating everyone’s competing commitments whenever necessary and providing practical and sensible guidance to the mentees and mentors throughout the programme.