Individuals in the Tamil community who are looking for a mentor & seeking to network with established professionals, advance professional goals, gain guidance or develop and improve key skills.

Emerging and experienced Tamil professionals, including post secondary students, entry-level and senior level individuals from various sectors and industries or individuals who are looking for a career change, can apply to become a mentee.

Individuals in the Tamil community who are willing to demonstrate leadership, seeking new challenges and looking to contribute to the community. Emerging and experienced Tamils professionals at any stage of their career, from various sectors can apply to become a mentor. Previous mentorship experience is considered an asset, but is not mandatory.

There is a $50.00 CAD program fee for the mentee to have access to Paalam resources. The fee is used towards the betterment of the program such as organizing mentorship events and better connecting applicants in the pairing process.

Yes, we highly encourage participants to apply from across Canada. Location is a factor taken into consideration during the pairing process, due to COVID-19 all meetings will be virtual which may expand the chances of pairing a mentor and mentee in different cities and/or provinces.

There is no time limit on how long it will take to pair a mentor and mentee, as it depends on the pool of applicants that fit the criteria of both participants. At this moment we do not guarantee a pair, although we strive to connect all those who apply.

The pairing of mentors and mentees varies considerably from one mentorship pair to the next, as the identification of mentors largely depends on mentees’ preferred qualities and interests from a mentor as well as their professional goals and objectives.

However, the criteria most often used by the Paalam team to pair mentors and mentees include, but are not limited to the following:

• Common hobbies, interests and extracurricular activities (e.g. volunteer work in which the mentee might be involved) 
• Shared interests and skills  (i.e. mentee and mentor belonging to the same industry, mentor is experienced with specific skills and/or has expertise in a particular field) 
• Common professional goals and objectives (e.g. mentee is seeking career change, feedback on current or new ideas in the market, tips and tricks on how to network and build professional relationships) 
• Willingness to network with other industry experts (if interested) 
• Expected goals or outcomes from the mentorship relationship 
• Level of commitment (i.e. bi-weekly or monthly availability)

While it is amazing if you do end up finding a job through a mentor, it is not the mentor’s responsibility to get you a job. Their role is to offer you career-specific networks and advice. Mentors can provide you with guidance on how the hiring process works in their field, and may be able to help you prepare for an interview.