What is a mentee?

A self-motivated individual who grows professionally and /or personally through a mentoring relationship with a more experienced person (the mentor). Every mentee is unique and has different goals, strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of a given mentoring interaction may also change based on the context of the mentoring engagement. For example, if this is the first time you are attending the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) or the Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA), your goals could include requesting your mentor provide tips on how to resolve scheduling conflicts, explain best practices and common mistakes for conference attendees, or highlight events or programs you may want to consider.

Mentees direct the mentorship discussion about their individual needs which means that mentees need to share their own needs, goals, strengths and weaknesses with their mentors proactively. Your resume or CV is one starting point, but it doesn't address your questions, aspirations (especially long term), passions, strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, when you sign up for the PSMA Mentoring Program, you can specify a desired mentor trait/experience for your mentorship depending on your needs. For example, language proficiency to talk about your needs in your native language. Other requested traits can be mentors from academia or industry or both; mentors from startups, research institutions, large multinational company, early career professional, etc. By default, in the PSMA Mentoring Program, mentees are matched with mentors based on similar technical interest.

Mentees who take the time to drive their mentorship will naturally benefit more. Therefore, before you sign-up, consider what goals you have for the Mentoring Program, and what mentor traits might be helpful.

PSMA Mentorship Program

PSMA Mentorship Program offers two types of mentorship:

Basic (or mini) Mentorship: A simplified option designed to give a taste of mentorship as many students do not understand what a mentorship entails and the benefits. Also good for students who do not have much time/effort to invest.

Immersive Mentorship: A more traditional mentorship compressed into a short timeframe (less than 2 months). Very good for motivated students who are willing to invest effort.

This recognizes that not all mentees are the same. Each mentee has different needs and situations which may constrain their time/effort/receptiveness. However, in each type of mentorship, the student takes the initiative to drive the mentorship. Consequently, the more effort the mentee invests, the more the mentee benefits.

Basic (or mini) Mentorship

Mentees who are not ready for a deep mentorship experience can sign up for a "basic" or mini-mentorship:

1. Schedule and attend a meeting with mentor at APEC or WiPDA
2. Decide on two questions or topics to discuss with mentor
3. Bring printed resume (or CV) or professional social media profile such as LinkedIn
4. Fill out a short survey and get a goodie

This "basic" mentorship will give students a taste of mentorship with minimal preparation. However, their mentor may provide less guidance since they have less time to prepare.

Note: Students can add additional meeting(s) with their mentor before APEC (or WiPDA) or before the program ends or choose to do additional activities found in the mentorship workbook guide especially as students discover the benefits or as their situation changes. This means that students are not "locked" into only the basic mentorship, but they may struggle to win cash prizes as they typically earn fewer points.

Immersive Mentorship

For mentees who want the full mentorship experience compressed into an almost two-month timeframe. It includes all the activities of a basic mentorship, but with more mentor meetings and event-related activities. The key to a great mentorship experience is exploring your options and where you see yourself to guide your mentoring discussions.

Mentorship Workbook Guide

Every mentee will receive an Excel workbook guide full of suggested activities specific to APEC or WiPDA to augment the mentorship and to fulfill six main objectives:

1. Take advantage of APEC/WiPDA
2. Explore career options & directions
3. Promote self & network (socially)
4. Meet subject matter experts
5. Learn about sponsors (PSMA & IEEE)
6. Have fun along the way.

This guide assigns point values to each activity. The mentee who accumulates the most points by the end of the program wins a cash prize. Mentees who reach a minimum threshold will be recognized as a Rising Star. This points-based system is to encourage students to try more activities that they may otherwise be uncomfortable with on their own.

The guide is divided into three sections:

1. Pre-Event – prepare for the event & initial mentor meeting
2. During Event – participate in the event, implement suggestions, & meet mentor in person
3. Post-Event – follow up with mentor on how the event went with improvement tips

Each mentee is encouraged to meet with their mentor three times: once virtually beforehand, once in person during APEC (or WiPDA), and once virtually (or by email) afterwards.

Pre-Event Worksheet in Mentorship Guide

Consequently, the mentorship program encourages mentees to complete a "worksheet" which has around seven topics to discuss and for your mentor to get to know you better quickly before you meet your mentor virtually. In addition, you can share your resume (or CV), or social media profile. Naturally you can bring up your own topics and questions, as the "worksheet" is a starting point.

Determine what goals you wish to accomplish and make plans to accomplish them.

In addition, the worksheet assists you in preparing for your event whether you are attending WiPDA or APEC. As a minimum, the worksheet encourages you to plan your schedule as some activities such as tours, networking events, etc. require early registration. Since APEC is the fourth largest IEEE conference, it has many activities and presentations scheduled in parallel, so it is vital to plan your schedule in advance to make the most of your time.

Post-Event Worksheet in Mentorship Guide

The program encourages mentees to follow up with their mentor by looking back on how they did at the event and address any new questions or concerns. Consequently, there are four topics or questions to think about in preparation for meeting with your mentor virtually (or by email) after the event. Remember, you can bring up your own topics and questions as the "worksheet" is another starting point.

Common questions and topics to cover with mentor

Ask questions about information you need. Know why you need it and how you will use it.

Here are some examples of common questions, especially if you are unsure how to start. Remember to reserve time to ask your own questions beyond these examples.

"What is the best career advice you ever received?"
This is a simple question to start a discussion. Listen carefully and be ready to follow-up on the response.

"What is your favorite thing about your career?"
A good question for a mentor who has a career that you think might interest you. Is the answer what you expect?

"What skills did you need for your career that you did not learn in college?"
A nice question if you think your career will match your mentor. However, if not, share with your mentor what career aspirations you have and ask, "What skills do you think will be attractive to future employers and that I'm unlikely to learn typically in college?

"Should I investigate a double major or a minor in <something else>?"
Typically, a good question for undergraduate students. Possibly a good follow-up question too about skills you don't normally learn in college.

"Is a master's degree adequate or do I need to go for a PhD?"
Great question – but the answer is only useful if you have shared with the mentor what job role and career you desire.

Common Topics

These are some examples to inspire you. However, your priorities may encourage you to focus on different topics.

• Career goals (short and long term)
• Key problems or barriers in your research area
• Career in academia versus industry
• Transition from student to early career professional (academic or industry)
• Networking tips
• Work-life balance

Career Options

Many mentees are not aware of the many types of career opportunities available when they have only studied circuit design. Consequently, PSMA created this generic careers presentation to give a sense of what is available: https://www.psma.com/sites/default/files/uploads/tech-forums-education/resources/1367/Career%20Options%202025%20Final.pdf

Finally, the PSMA also offers advice on your educational journey here: https://www.psma.com/HTML/newsletter/Q4_2025/page10.html

What are the expectations?

Trust, respect and courtesy

Both the mentor and mentee need to build trust by agreeing not to share the personal details of the mentorship discussions with others without permission.

Respect each other's time by preparing for each discussion. Share details like a resume or CV, professional social media profile such as LinkedIn, or the "worksheet" in the mentorship workbook guide beforehand. To help your mentor prepare, share any questions, topics for discussion, etc. beforehand.

Life sometimes has a way of disrupting good intentions, such as an illness or cancelled flight. Let each other know of any changes to agreements such as meeting time, place, etc. in advance if possible. Naturally if forced to miss, make appropriate apologies and discuss ways to remedy the situation such as an online discussion for a missed in-person meeting.

Your mentor may not have all the answers as not everyone can know everything. However, they can demonstrate the power of networking by introducing you to someone else who may know about your topic of interest. Feel free to ask for an introduction or ask for recommended subject matter experts if they do not take the initiative to suggest someone else.

Follow up with your mentor to let them know if the advice, guidance or suggestions they gave helped or not. Perhaps you misunderstood the intent, or the situation required a different approach. You tend to learn more from your mistakes than from the things that went well. Perhaps your mentor may learn from your experience as well. Your feedback on your mentorship discussions is one way for mentees to give back to their mentors rather just take input from them to create a two-way relationship.

Express gratitude. This demonstrates good character. Furthermore, your appreciation shows that you value your mentor, their advice, their efforts and their time. By demonstrating your gratitude, you can encourage your mentor to keep on mentoring you even if the mentorship program has ended.

Previous Results

Finally, here is a link to the mentorship results from WiPDA 2025:
https://www.psma.com/HTML/newsletter/Q4_2025/page8.html

The mentorship results from APEC 2026 are here:
https://www.psma.com/HTML/newsletter/Q2_2026/page12.html

The PSMA wishes all mentees well on their mentorship and their event (APEC / WiPDA) experience!

Ada Cheng
Stephanie Watts Butler

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