The Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering offers three mentoring programs for graduate students: a peer mentoring program, a faculty mentoring program, and an alumni mentoring program. 

Peer Mentoring Program

Incoming students are assigned a peer mentor, one of our current graduate students, during the summer prior to the start of their graduate program. In addition to being a resource throughout your graduate studies, your peer mentor will help you in the transition to graduate student and will provide a familiar face when arriving on campus. Students maintain a peer mentor throughout their entire graduate program.

Faculty Mentoring Program

Incoming students are assigned a faculty mentor, a faculty member different from their research advisor, during the summer prior to the start of their graduate program. Students will maintain a faculty mentor throughout their entire graduate program. The faculty mentor will serve as a resource and advocate for the graduate student.

Alumni Mentoring Program

The alumni mentoring program seeks to connect past and current graduate students to help transition CBE students to a successful professional career outside of academia (including both industry and government sectors). Mentors and mentees are paired based on mentor expertise and student interests and goals.  This will provide mentees an opportunity to interact with chemical engineering professionals and gain insight into the working world ahead.

How do I sign up for a mentoring program?

Joining the mentoring program is easy! Just fill out an application below!

Resources for mentors

Sample mentee questions

Getting the First Job (resume writing, interviewing, etc.)
  • What can I do while in graduate school to improve my resume/marketability? For example, course work, research and publications, volunteering activities, other experiences, etc.
  • How do I tailor my resume to a specific job opening?
  • How do companies evaluate candidates for positions requiring a graduate degree in chemical engineering?
  • What types of interviewing processes are used by companies and how do they differ? How should I prepare for each? For example, behavioral based interviews, one-on-one vs group interviews, remote vs on-site interviews, etc.
  • Can you please review my cover letter/resume and provide feedback?
  • Can you please conduct a mock interview with me and provide feedback?
  • Where should I look to find job openings?
  • What questions should I ask at an interview?
  • How should I evaluate a company when deciding if it’s a good fit for me?
  • What kind of salary range and benefits package could a recent MS or PhD chemical engineering graduate expect to receive?

Business Cultural Norms and Processes
  • How would you describe the company culture at your current and past employers?
  • How do small and large companies differ in terms of a professional career?
  • What are the differences working in private industry compared to governmental entities?
  • What are common processes used in managing technology projects (R&D, process and capital engineering, new product development, etc.)? • How is intellectual property handled in industry?
  • What type of human resources (HR) processes are used to evaluate employee performance?
  • If I am asked to do something by my employer that is not consistent with my values, what should I do?
  • How would you describe your current thinking about diversity, equity and inclusion and how has it changed over time?
  • What makes a company’s safety culture “good” or “bad”? How do company’s track safety performance?
  • How are investment decisions made in your company?
  • Can you tell me about a time when you had a difficult boss? How did you handle it?

Work/Life Balance
  • How do you maintain work-life balance while still progressing in your career?
  • What are some habits you’ve implemented in your personal life to achieve a better work-life balance?
  • How many hours do you work in a typical week? What is a reasonable expectation?
  • How much have you had to travel for work? Has travel ever interfered with your work-life balance and if so, what did you do?
  • What if you find yourself in a job where work-life balance doesn’t seem possible?
  • Are there times in your career where you’ve sacrificed work-life balance to achieve a specific goal?
  • What does work/life balance look like for you?
  • How do you manage stress and fatigue at work?
  • When things are extremely busy at work, are there any quick or easy strategies that can help to maintain reasonable work-life balance?

Career Planning/Career Paths
  • What sort of career paths do graduate degree chemical engineers typically follow? (R&D, operations, technical service, managerial, etc.).
  • How far ahead do you think in terms of your career at any given time?
  • What attributes do you think are most important to move ahead in the workplace?
  • Can you identify one change you've made in your career that brought a lot of success?
  • How can I become more proactive about my career path?
  • What are the pros and cons of taking a “stretch” assignment to improve career trajectory?
  • How would you choose doing something that makes you happy or something that makes you a lot of money?
  • Tell me about the jobs you enjoyed the most and least?
  • What are the most and least favorite aspects of your job?
  • How should a recent graduate measure success during the first few years of a professional career?

Leadership and Management Skills
  • What can I do in graduate school to demonstrate/improve leadership and management skills?
  • What interpersonal skills have you developed in order to effectively lead?
  • How can you assert yourself as a leader early on in your career?
  • How can you lead as an individual contributor before you formally become a team leader/manager?
  • Can you give examples of “good” and “bad” leadership you have observed during your career?
  • What experiences were helpful to you in becoming a better people manager?
  • What qualities do you consider important to be a good team member?
  • What does effective communication look like to you?
  • How have you improved your communication skills over time?

International Students' Job Searches
  • Where are good places to look for job openings?
  • How many job openings should I apply for?
  • When is the best period to start applying for jobs?
  • If I don’t find a job by the time I complete my graduate degree, what options do I have?
  • Do all international students find a job in the US after obtaining the advanced degree here?
  • How can my advisor help me as an international student to find a job in the USA?
  • Do companies sponsor work visas or green cards?
  • Can I self-sponsor for green card? How long does it take?
  • What kind of conferences may be helpful to get connected with industry people?
  • Is applying to a start-up company a good idea?

Growing A Professional Network
  • Where should I look for networking opportunities?
  • How do you identify people you can build a relationship with to be more successful?
  • How do you maintain relationships with your network contacts?
  • Can you give me examples of how your network has contributed to your career success?
  • What have you done to help individuals in your network?
  • How much time do you spend on networking activities?
  • What organizations or memberships have helped you the most in your career?
  • What qualities do you look for in a mentor? How do I ask someone to be my mentor?
  • Tell me about a mentoring relationship that was helpful in your career growth.

Continuing Education/Skills Building
  • What skills have been most beneficial for you during your career progression?
  • What sort of formal continuing education courses have the companies you worked for sponsored? Who was eligible? How were people chosen to attend?
  • Which company sponsored continuing education courses did you find most helpful and why?
  • Have you ever taken a continuing education course which was not company sponsored (i.e., where you paid) and if so, what was the course and why did you enroll?
  • Besides formal courses, what opportunities are there to expand your knowledge/skill base? Can you give an example during your career?
  • How do you approach time-management?
  • How do you approach a project when you have little experience with the related tasks?