There are four pillars to the iEducate program: Tutoring, Mentoring, Summer Enrichment and Professional Development. While the first three are focused on the elementary school students, the fourth is geared towards the college student tutors. The primary focus of the Professional Development pillar is to prepare iEducate tutors for success as they embark on their own careers. This value proposition offers tutors a unique opportunity to meet individually with seasoned HR professionals across various industries who not only help review their resumes and cover letters but also provide them with guidance on job search and interview skills. In several cases, the first resume a tutor had prepared was for iEducate.
The professional development pillar is led by Rachana Wood, HR Manager at Shell Oil. Rachana brings in years of valuable experience in human resources and strategic guidance to all the iEducate tutors. Rachana emphasizes the importance of this initiative and said in a statement: ÔÇ£The primary aim of the professional development of our tutors is to help them bring out their accomplishments in a way that enables them to confidently present themselves to future employersÔÇØ.
iEducate tutors are provided opportunities for leadership development through workshops and seminars. In the 2015-2016 school year, 25 tutors received over 30 hours of professional development and the opportunity to attend 2 seminars, one focused on ÔÇÿbuilding their brand and market valueÔÇÖ (led by Karthik Rajan, mentor & advisor to social entrepreneurs) and the other on ÔÇÿteam building and leadershipÔÇÖ. In addition, 3 tutors who are studying Petroleum Engineering obtained summer internships in their field of study ÔÇô which is highly commendable given the tough market environment in the O&G business.
Rachana is growing the professional development team to provide every tutor with a mentor in an industry pertaining to their major, and has already expanded the team to include Ryan Arnold, a project manager at Houston Methodist, and Natasha Bajaj, a financial analyst at DistributionNOW. If you are interested in joining the iEducate professional development team and lending your career advice to our college student tutors, please reach out to Rachana at rachana@iEducateUSA.org.