The Faculty of Engineering Hosted the Concluding Mentorboost Session

This September, the Faculty of Engineering hosted the final session of Bar-Ilan's Mentorboost program. This was the first cohort of the program, designed to help students on reserve duty return to campus, complete their studies, and join the industry. "The war created a gap for students on reserve duty, one that is not academic but also in terms of employment opportunities, and students in their final year experienced this more than everyone," says Sigal Harel Mor, the university's Head of Alumni and Friends Impact Engagement Department. "To that end, we created Mentorboost. We invited alumni in key positions in the high-tech industry to act as mentors for students who had served on prolonged reserve duty."

The program was launched during the second semester of the previous academic year. The Alumni and Friends Department teamed up with the Sunflower Resilience Center, which gathers the university's entire resilience offerings under one roof, and the Gesher Employability Center. "The program does not guarantee placement," Harel Mor clarifies, "but it does help participants by providing them with tools, business mentoring, support, and connections to professionals in their field who can share their experience, show them what the industry looks like from the inside, and help them build a professional network."

A total of 33 student/mentor pairs participated in the program, 11 of them from the Faculty of Engineering. Mentors from the latter group hold key positions at leading companies, including Nvidia, Amazon, Google, Apple, and Cisco, in fields such as software engineering, chip design, signal processing, artificial intelligence, and deep learning. The program included five Zoom meetings between the students and mentors, although Harel Mor notes that "many of the mentors hosted the students at their company." Students also attended a launch event hosted by Microsoft, and enjoyed a lecture on building a LinkedIn profile, provided by the Gesher Employability Center. The program also gave students access to an occupational psychologist from the Sunflower Resilience Center, who provided emotional support. "There were also lovely private initiatives," says Harel Mor. "For example, one of the mentors, who works at Bluevine, wanted to invite his student for a visit at his company; while preparing for the visit and coordinating with relevant personnel, they decided to allow other mentees from the program a behind-the-scenes look at a high-tech company and the people behind the code. In the end, the company hosted 13 students for a day that included a lecture by the company's founder, a panel on data science tracks, advanced analytics and genAI, a developers' panel, and a lecture by a recruitment manager who explained to them what their resumes look like from the other side."

The program's closing event, hosted by the Faculty of Engineering, was a round-table format. "One of the issues we identified during the activity is the matter of junior positions. Students in STEM who wish to integrate into high-tech companies struggle, regardless of whether they served in the reserves or not, because quite a few high-tech companies are reluctant to onboard fresh graduates without industry experience," explains Harel Mor. "The engineering table included mentors and researchers, fostering a discussion about how academia can support juniors. Participants discussed creating industry ties, mentorships and internships, curricula that are more precisely targeted to industry, and visits by students in their final year of study to high-tech companies." Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Orit Shefi, stressed the significance of maintaining ties between the Faculty and its alumni, and the ties between alumni and students.

Building Resumes, Simulations, and Life Tips

"I won the jackpot," says Hila Mashiah, a graduate of the electrical engineering program in the nano-electronics and bioengineering track, who participated in the program. "I feel that every request I made to Chen, my mentor, was answered. We went through a job search process together, did job interview simulations, and after I had an interview we also analyzed the process together. Chen is Senior Director Chip Design at Nvidia, and he's an exceptional mentor." In addition to his participation in the program, mentor Chen Gates also organized a donation of 20 laptops for reservists, on behalf of Nvidia.

T., a graduate of the electrical engineering program in the nano-electronics track, shared that "during my meetings with my mentor, Netanel, he helped me structure my resume so that it could help me find jobs, and gave me tips and relevant questions for prospective job interviews. Netanel is Physical Design Team Leader at Amazon. I feel he was the right mentor for me, and I'm sure we'll stay in touch even beyond the program."

"Particularly at times like these, our people and country must recognize reservists, show them that they matter and that they are taken care of," says Faculty of Engineering alumnus, Aharon Taub, an Apple employee and a Mentorboost mentor. "I think this program is important because it helps those who deserve every bit of help, no shortcuts, no hidden fees. Students learn that they are not alone, that despite all the hardships, they can achieve anything, and that not only does Bar-Ilan not desert them – it does everything in its power to help."

The Mentorboost program is going on its second year. Prospective mentors can contact Sigal Harel Mor at sigal.harel-mor@biu.ac.il.