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My Coast Guard
Commentary | May 13, 2021

Meet your mentor today

By Janki Patel, MyCG Writer

If you’re looking to take your career to the next level, connect with a mentor through the new Coast Guard Mentoring Program, designed to match enrollees based on compatibility and needs. Since announcing the program in April, over 400 Coast Guard active duty, reservists, and civilian employees have enrolled, and the program is bringing employees together who would not have otherwise met. It’s also helping members take their careers to new heights.  

If you don’t have a ton of time to carve out for formal meetings, in a traditional one-on-one format, flash mentoring is one of the four mentoring options available via the program. Members can pose questions on a specific topic and a speed mentor can connect to answer questions quickly, and directly.  

U.S. Coast Guard Distribution Facilities Specialist Brad Tachibana - attached to Sector Guam - leveraged the flash mentoring track to get feedback specific to a wage grade employee. “The Mentoring Program gave me an avenue to reach out to long standing members of the Coast Guard civil service regarding my personal career and career goals. As a new member to the Coast Guard team, I was pleasantly surprised by the opportunity and am taking full advantage to connect with senior members. The mentoring program and system are a great idea that allow members to research, reach out and connect with potential sources of valuable information not otherwise attainable,” said Tachibana.  

After enrolling in the Mentoring Program, Tachibana shared his resume with a fellow member and received constructive feedback that will help him with future job applications and enable him to advance his career.  

This is just one example of how the Mentoring Program’s Chronus Mentoring software platform can help connect Coast Guard members and civilians. Thanks to the modernized software mentors and mentees are matched based on commonalities in life experience, career focus, cultural values, and more. This heightened level of specificity leads to a unique online networking experience.  

There are four types of mentoring opportunities available: 

  • One-to-One: Gain insight from senior leaders and develop new skills in one-to-one settings. 
  • Communities Marketplace (Circle Mentoring): Satisfy your unique learning needs via a peer-run networking group that focuses on topics and skills specific to you. 
  • Fresh Perspectives - Insight from Future Leaders: This unique and modern approach to mentoring empowers emerging leaders to share their insight and point of view with senior leadership in a group setting. 
  • Flash Mentoring: Have a question about a specific topic or issue? Then flash mentoring is for you. This one-time session is a "speed mentoring concept," allowing you to gain insight in a concise manner. 

Visit the Coast Guard Mentoring Program website to enroll in the program.

Email your questions about the mentoring program.  

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