Mentoring

As the end of another scholastic year approaches, the time comes to, as they say, 'pass the torch' to the next class of students and to look ahead to the future that awaits. An integral part of a successful transition in any organization - whether it be social or professional, is a prepared and informed successor leadership group that can step in to do the job without missing a step. In order for the incoming group to be in a position to take over, however, they must be provided with enough mentoring and counseling from the current leadership group to make an effective transition possible.

Take, for example, an outgoing executive board of one of Smeal's many business organizations. Throughout the year, the organization's leaders will develop a network of contacts, a plethora of experiences, and an abundance of insight that helped make the year a successful one. For the organization to be able to continue to grow, they must efficiently and effectively pass along this information to the next President and his/her fellow board. This process can occur formally at or near the time of the transition or informally at events throughout the year, but both serve their own important roles in establishing a confident leadership group that will be prepared for the upcoming year.

At PricewaterhouseCoopers, mentoring and information sharing are concepts that are at the heart of our core competencies. From the formal Mentoring and Coaching programs that are in place to help develop our Interns and New hires to the informal, everyday coaching that occurs in our audit rooms, Sharing and Collaborating is what allows PwC, and our people, to grow. As our experienced and senior associates and managers move on to new opportunities within the Company, they must be succeeded by colleagues that have been prepared to take over their responsibilities.

Now it's your turn to tell us what you think. Have there been any times or experiences in which Sharing and Collaborating has helped you through a difficult situation? What roles have mentors played in your lives?

Teamwork

The best solutions come from working together with colleagues and clients. As a first-year associate working in the Pittsburgh office I have experienced what teamwork is really about. I'm sure that most of you have worked in a team setting at Penn State during some point in your academic career. At PwC, teamwork is vital to an engagement team's success - this is why teamwork is one of the firm's core values. Effective teamwork requires relationships, respect, and sharing.

During your first engagement mostly every audit area you work on will be a new experience. Other colleagues on your team won't expect you to know everything. Your team will help 'coach' you through your audit work. One thing to keep in mind, try to be sensitive to the workload of other team members; for example, proactively use the firm's resources to try and find an answer to your question. If that still doesn't help, then reach out and ask a team member. Coaching is part of the culture at PwC and helps shape the development of our people.

During your time at Penn State make an effort to expose yourself to team experiences. Effectively being able to work on a team by incorporating your ideas, handling a disagreement, brainstorming, and building relationships will help generate creativity and ideas and ultimately lead to success of the team and your development as an individual. Feel free to comment on your team experiences at Penn State. Hopefully your experiences have been positive, but if not, how have you learned to adapt or manage your team?

PricewaterhouseCoopers is dedicated to helping address the challenges that you and recent graduates are facing in the wake of the current economic downturn. We hear your questions and concerns nearly every day on campus.

We teamed with Lindsey Pollak, career development specialist and author of "Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World," to package an online toolkit of Career Resources that you can access right now at www.pwc.tv.

Regardless of your major, once you are on the site, you can find sound, objective, and actionable tools and information to help you with your job searches including:

• Answers to some of your most pressing questions,
• Highlights from the workshop, "How to up your chances in a down economy,"
• Job search worksheets to help you get organized and understand the action steps you can take,
• Must do's for landing a job,
• Interviewing tips, and
• A career advice blog where you can pose questions directly to Lindsey.

In this unprecedented economic time, we hope that you find these Career Resources useful. What you think matters to PricewaterhouseCoopers and we invite you to comment.