SAGE

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

No

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

No

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

No

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

No

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

No

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

No

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

No

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

No

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

No

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

No

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "I believe mentorship is important but have never had a mentor."

Yes

In response to "I do not have a mentor because finding one takes too much time / because I am afraid to reach out for advice."

Yes

In response to "I would like an easily accessible, and reliable, pool of mentors that I can tap on for advice."

Yes

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Sometimes youth may not know why they even need a mentor. Would be good to give open ended questions and possibility before helping youth to streamline what exact support they need.

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

The idea of a directory is a useful way to lower the barriers for potential mentees to reach out to mentors. How can the envisioned super-connector platform ensure that the connections formed add value to those who are connected?

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Great idea! Would appreciate if the process is as fuss-free as possible, for any required information can be requested at a later time when the value of using the platform has been better established.

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Just curious if you have found out from the youths when do they want to seek a mentor? And for what purpose? How many of them successfully found a mentor? How did they get that mentor? How many did not find a mentor? And of these who didn\'t have a mentor, were they actively searching for one? or they did nothing to find one?

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Be able to send AMA request to other users anonymously

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Perhaps you can try to let people know what exactly does mentoring help with in a more layman term way. Lacking of mentorships is only a problem if people recognise the value of having a mentor. Cheers!

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Really love the idea of your platform. Is it self sustainable btw? One way I can think of to make this more sustainable is to train volunteers to be mentors or ask mentors to volunteer themselves. However, for them to commit to this, the mentorship programme must be very light and reasonable. You guys could think about the various benefits the mentors might want to reap from this programme as well.

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

This is a great idea. Make the onboarding process as smooth and easy as possible, don\'t have to give so much info to sign up, can quickly pair up with mentors etc. Main difficulty in seeking mentorship is time hassle and difficulty in sourcing, so your solution fixes that

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Thank you SAGE team for building this wonderful platform for youths to seek advice and guidance from the Sages onboard the platform. I have been using SAGE since it’s early days. To improve, I think it might be a good idea to explore features that focus on user-generated content as well!

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Thanks SAGE team for creating a safe space for mentorship! As the community grows though, perhaps to continually keep mentors engaged, SAGE can implement a gamification model that serves to further incentivise your mentors to guide their mentees consistently? Example: A quest that gives them points if they help 1 new mentee a month over 3 months

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

There can be questions by mentees to mentors on online forum and they can help to answer the career questions online. There can be interactive forum like quizzes and sharing of their career story online and how they reach their career decision.

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

I appreciate the work by SAGE to create a safe space for mentorship!! One concern that I have is that of financial sustainability - how will the team scale up and sustain operations given that the current model if free-of-charge for all users? Maybe one thing that the team can consider is to get sponsors such as corporates keen on starting Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes or foundations/philanthropic donors that are keen to support such initiatives. E.g. Linkedin/Google/Etc The team can also explore reaching out to Polytechnics and ITE Colleges to reach out to these communities of students and increase their access to mentorship. If bold, the team can also explore creative content types like tiktok and short-form content haha! All the best!!

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Firstly, as a youth, to reach out to a mentor to ask for advice, I must be comfortable enough or at least have a certain understanding or familiarity towards my mentor. Hence, maybe before every session, you can create a simple bonding session etc. play some games and get to know one another better! Some multiplayer games can be easily found online if your sessions are conducted online, so it’s sort of like an icebreaker to kick start the session! Or you can even start ( or end ) it off with a Kahoot quiz on your session’s topic or maybe a quiz about each other! For e.g What is person’s XX favourite food

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

By far you guys have the most fleshed out progress I\'ve seen. Great work. There is potential for this project to bear fruits. However with every platform, there are many challenges faced, such as dealing with copycats. You will need to gain critical mass and keep adding value to deal with competition. You will also need to figure out your revenue model.

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Defining the Program Outline The lack of clarity about what people are expected to contribute is generally the largest issue people have before signing up for a mentorship program. Assisting them in comprehending the relationship\'s goals will guarantee mentees of the benefits they may expect while also assisting mentors in structuring their sessions. Setting clear goals early on helps to establish accountability and ensure that the relationship gets off to a good start. Second, both mentors and mentees must understand how much time and effort they must devote to the connection. Creating an action plan can aid in the clarification of details such as the expected frequency and duration of sessions, as well as the essential pre-work. During the initial session of many mentorship programs, these details are shared. When publicizing the program, it\'s also a good idea to mention these facts so that everyone is aware of the expectations ahead of time.

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Given the SAGE platform is relatively new, how does the team filter out proficient and experienced mentors to assist with this project? Assuming that the team is able to seek the assistance of proficient and/or experienced industry leaders, how will they renumerate these people, given that time is almost money for these people. Do note that people definitely would want mentors with a wealth of experience, and not someone who is only relatively new to the job market.

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

I have been actively following the SAGE community on LinkedIn! As a young pharmacist, I have been very fortunate over the years to be guided by many wise mentors, who have taught me valuable lessons beyond school. Mentorship is immensely important, and I see the value that SAGE brings by bringing mentors closer to the students. Kudos to the team for reaching out to so many mentors from different industries! It has been a pleasure to learn from seniors inside and outside of the healthcare sector. Yes, I do recognize some of my pharmacy seniors in the sharings :) Seeking Advice Just Got Easier. Here are some ways I feel the team can do even better. 1. Reach out to educational institutions to spread the word! I\'m sure there are many student bodies that will be keen to partner with SAGE and get more users onboard. 2. There is a huge variety of content accumulated in the past months. Moving forward, it will be beneficial to arrange the content into various themes (e.g. pharmaceutical, data science, finance etc.), to help students easily look for the topic that will interest them. 3. The team has done good work reaching out to seniors and demystifying what it is like working in the various sectors. Perhaps it will be good to have speakers share about non-career related topics (e.g. resilience, emotional intelligence etc.). These skills are increasingly important to emerge stronger from this pandemic. 4. More opportunities for reverse mentorship! I think the mentors would love to hear from the apprentices on what the young community feels. Interests, career aspirations, hobbies … Whatever is the latest hype! There are so many things to talk about! Keep up the good work :)

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Youths change their minds all the time, they may not like to stick to one mentor and follow suit, tie-in their interests and personality, then match them with several like-minded mentor connections.

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

I am unable to find the website or telegram bot so I am unsure of how the whole process works (and whether it has been addressed), but perhaps it would be good to have a point to target people who are afraid to reach out for advice, be it through publicity or other avenues! :)

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

Can reach out to more educational institutions to spread the word :)

In response to "How Can We Improve?"

I feel that SAGE is more of a community platform and I believe that you guys can head in that direction to build a budding community of learners where students can learn, inspire and also encourage one another to chase their dreams and passions. Also, I feel that other than interactive dialogue sessions, you guys can have group chats on telegram, or other platforms to host get-togethers or simply make new friends and aside from learning from dedicated mentors, I feel that this camadarie from learning from fellow peers and students would be very valuable for SAGE in time to come and it will become a necessity for students. Having partnerships with intuitions to promote this platform to encourage more users would be beneficial as well.