NEXUS

MENTORSHIP FOR SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN OSLO

September 2024 – December 2024

The program is free for all participants!

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED!

 

Nexus Mentorship platform logo

What is Nexus Mentorship

The Nexus Mentorship program was launched in 2021 with 75% of mentees finding relevant work by the end or closely after finishing the program.

Nexus has been developed to address socio-economic discrimination and difficulties that people with immigrant background face in Norway when securing relevant and skilled employment. The Nexus Mentorship Program will reduce some of the common barriers that immigrants face when trying to enter the Norwegian job market, namely:

  • Lack of an effective professional network, which limits their access to the “hidden job market”.
  • Lack of understanding of Norwegian recruiting norms and effective job search strategies.
  • Unfamiliarity with Norwegian workplace culture and employer expectations in different roles.

The core of our mentor program is the collaboration between each mentee and their mentor. From September to December, the mentor and mentee meet two times a month. The wide range of support functions we offer increases the chances of success for the mentees and the mentors.

Strategy

Strategy

Support via Mentoring

Each mentee is paired with a primary mentor from a similar/relevant professional field. This mentorship relationship takes 6 months.
Each mentee has access to the entire pool of mentors whom they might reach out to with skill-specific questions which the primary mentor might not be able to fully answer.
Group mentoring sessions where both the mentees and mentors can meet to discuss their experience of the program. This will act as a way to check in with each other and allow individuals to share any challenges they have experiences and how they overcome these.

Support via professional courses

Diversity will facilitate monthly events on various topics concerning professional development and job-search in Norway, such as CV writing workshops, Interview workshops, etc.

Via the collaboration with Sammen om en Jobb  (SAJO), mentees with a language proficiency in Norwegian also have access to the professional development events of SAJO.

Support via networking and community-building

The primary mentors can help the mentees develop interpersonal skills, broaden their networks, and find career opportunities in their industry or academia.

The access to a wider pool of secondary mentors, facilitators but also other mentees will naturally broaden the network of the participants, strengthen their sense of belonging, and offer an extra support net.

Via the collaboration with SAJO, the mentees with a language proficiency in Norwegian also have access to the industry-specific networking events organized by SAJO.

Support via Mentoring

Support via professional courses

Support via networking and community-building

Mentees

Who you are

Identity

18 – 55 years of age, skilled and identify as being an immigrant or a member of minority group in Norway

Interest

Ready to find relevant employment in accordance with skills and experiences

Personality

Responsible, ambitious and committed to professional growth

What you get

Mentoring

Wholesome mentorship support provided simultaneously via 3 styles of mentoring (one-on-one mentoring, advisory pool of mentors, group mentoring).

Capacity Building

Monthly professional courses and workshops focused on improving chances to get and keep employment

Networking

Improved professional networks in relevant professional fields due to the support of the various mentors, course facilitators, and other program participants

The Mentee registration period is closed.

Register for the program

Mentors

Why Mentoring

Based on successful examples, mentoring has proven to be an integral strategy in assisting skilled immigrants to find suitable employment and professional networks. Diversify is introducing an innovative approach to mentoring, as we will match our mentees with a primary mentor as well as a wider pool of mentors who will provide additional multi-disciplinary knowledge, experience and network. Each mentor will provide critical information about their professional experience, a connection to people within their professional networks, and input on how the mentee might leverage their skills or apply for a job in Norway, so as to enhance the mentee’s knowledge of the Norwegian workplace culture and norms.

Workshop Facilitators

Chisom Udeze

Chisom Udeze

Founder of Diversify, HerSpace & Mettle Consult

Hyacinth Walters-Olsen

Hyacinth Walters-Olsen

Founder of YUDconsult

Meryn Zumbo Willets

Meryn Zumbo Willets

Leadership and Strategy Consultant

Ateh Atabong

Ateh Atabong

Business Development Manager, Pharma and Healthcare at DSV

Ka Man Mak

Ka Man Mak

Founder of The Oslo Desk

Carl-Johan Sylvan

Carl-Johan Sylvan

IT COnsultant at Netlight Consulting

Sara Pestana

Sara Pestana

Founder of Humans for Humans

Dejan Antic

Dejan Antic

Junior Developer at Storebrand

Kim-Andre Nikolaisen

Kim-Andre Nikolaisen

Claims & Service Manager at Heidenreich; Founder of TechUp

Who you are

We are searching for professionals with both immigrant and/or Norwegian backgrounds coming from all kinds of work fields in Norway, who are passionate about sharing their job-searching and work-related experience, inspire, motivate and lift up others to fulfill their aspirations of working within their fields of expertise in Norway.

Together, we can foster diversity and inclusion within Norwegian workspaces, help people get their dream jobs, and fight `brain waste` in Norway.

What you get

As a mentor at our Nexus Mentorship program, you will have a chance to develop your leadership skills alongside other professionals from a variety of fields in Norway. Throughout the program, the mentors will receive guidance and supervision, while also having access to our wide network of experts and like-minded people from all around the globe, living in Norway. Moreover, as a mentor, the interaction with a mentee from the same or similar field of expertise will be enriching for both, as you will exchange thoughts, experiences and viewpoints on similar topics from different angles.

If you would like to become our mentor, register here.

Become a mentor

To join us as a mentor at NEXUS program please fill the form

Chisom Udeze

Founder of Diversify, Diversify Consult, HerSpace & The Annual

Chisom is an Economist, a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Strategist, and a 3 times founder of impact driven companies. She has over 14 years of experience working with organizations like the European Commission, The United Nations, ExxonMobil and The Economist Group. Chisom is analytical and a data enthusiast. She is passionate about interrogating the cross-sectoral relationship between society’s inhabitants, resources, production, technology, distribution and output. She efficiently and effectively unlocks complex systems, interprets data, forecasts socio-economic trends and conducts research.

Having lived and worked in 7 countries across 3 continents, she is highly adaptable to different circumstances and people, and thrives in uncertain environments.

As the founder of Diversify and Diversify Consult, Chisom and her team work with companies, institutions, governments and civil society to develop sustainable DEIB strategies and embed measurable diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace and society. In addition, in 2022, Diversify launched the Diversify Nordics Summit, the largest conference in the Nordics that gathers cross-sectoral stakeholders to amplify DEIB in the Nordics and beyond.

In 2020, she founded HerSpace, a diverse and inclusive co-creation community for all genders, with particular focus on women and non-binary people. In 2022, HerSpace launched HerTech, Women in Tech incubator, for women-led companies, with a focus on the inclusion of diverse founders. 

Chisom is a thought-leader in DEIB and a passionate advocate for mental health and wellness. She writes often on DEIB and justice related topics, some of her work is published on Forbes.

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