The Reversed Mentorship Program is back for its second round, with the first meetings between mentors and mentees taking place this year. The Governor of Östergötland, Carl Fredrik Graf, is being mentored by Sofie Löfstedt, a Master’s student in Economics. We’ve asked them about their expectations and what they hope to learn.
Sofie is currently studying in her last year of the Master Programme in Economics at Linköping University. She has experience with project management from her earlier involvement in student organizations, which is one of the reasons why she applied for Linköpings Science Park’s Reversed Mentorship Program.
“I see this as a great opportunity for exchanging knowledge and experiences. I hope I can contribute with something valuable and learn more about Länsstyrelsen (County Administrative Board)” Sofie says.
Her mentee Carl Fredrik Graf, has a background in politics on a local, regional and national level and is now currently serving his fourth year as Governor of Östergötland. He has previous experience with traditional mentoring and is looking forward to switching roles this time and to and take part in unexpected questions that can come up along the way.
“The concept feels very exciting. I have high expectations on getting new perspectives on leadership and what characterizes an attractive employer for the next generation,” Carl Fredrik says.
Attracting talents to the public sector
Sofie says that many economics students are keen to work in the public sector but end up in the private sector.
“It would be interesting to see how Länsstyrelsen as a part of the public sector could attract more students. Students tend to mostly get exposed to the big private companies and not so much to politics or the municipality,” she says.
Marketing on social media is one way of attracting students and Carl Fredrik wants to learn more about how he can use Linkedin to reach the right target group when recruiting new employees. This will also be one of the main focus areas during their upcoming meetings.
Opportunity to test new ideas
“One thing that could be a challenge for me is to know what I can contribute with and if it will match Länsstyrelsen’s work. However, I believe seeing this organization with fresh eyes is a strength and opportunity to test completely new ideas,” Sofie says.
In the first exercise in their mentorship journey, Sofie will reflect on a company introduction for new employees. This will be the first step in investigating how Länsstyrelsen can develop their attractiveness in the job market. Discussions about Linkedin are also planned further down the pipeline.
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