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mentorship
The ProductBC mentorship program enables product people to improve their skills by learning from seasoned professionals. Mentors work on their coaching skills and give back to the product community, while mentees benefit from one-on-one advice and assistance.
Please note, the program admission criteria, number of spots available and matching process has changed this year. Please read details below.
Program duration
The program is 3 months in duration and may extend beyond if both participants desire.
Mentee requirements
Mentees are product professionals with 3+ years of product experience and must be active members of ProductBC. Mentees will enter the program with a predetermined SMART goal to work on.
Mentor requirements
Mentors must have at least 5 years of product experience.
Program Details
During the program, mentors and mentees will meet a minimum of 5 times. Mentor and mentee pairs manage their own meetings and they can meet either in person or remotely. Each participant must sign a confidentiality agreement before the program kicks off.
Participants apply through a web application and submit resumes as part of the process. Program leaders will review each application prior to the matching process. Spots are limited, if you don’t get matched this cohort, we encourage you to apply for the next session.
Mentee applicants must be able to attend our online matching event on Sept 27th, 2023 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM PDT (online).
Please subscribe to our updates by joining as a member (if you haven’t already), to receive updates about upcoming mentorship cohorts.
Thank you!
The matching process focuses on aligning expectations and capabilities of mentors and mentees. The process consists of:
Phase 1: Profile Matching
Mentee and Mentor applications are reviewed and assessed by the mentorship program team in order to identify matches.
Phase 2: Match Introduction
Matched mentors and mentees are invited to a Kickoff event, where each pair has an opportunity to interview each other to determine if they would like to engage in a mentorship relationship. Please note if either individual does not wish to continue, no rematch is offered.
Participants will select their focus area from the following:
Career Development: advice on the next steps in your career, joining a new company, resume and networking tips
Leadership Development: thought leadership, management and cross-functional management skills
Product Advisor: Support in finding alternatives/solutions to the specific challenges of the products you manage
The primary focus of our Mentorship Program is to help product managers, product owners and other product professionals in the entire British Columbia. Hence, participants from Vancouver Island as well as other regions in BC are strongly encouraged to apply. We welcome mentors from outside of Metro Vancouver & abroad. Mentoring in our program can be conducted 100% remotely. There is flexibility with meeting frequency (monthly, bi-weekly or weekly), but the mentor and mentee pairing should meet a minimum of 5 times.
From Past Mentors:
“Mentoring through ProductBC has been a great way for me to improve as a teacher, and consequently as a better people manager. It’s also an incredible way to contribute more broadly to the Vancouver tech industry by ensuring that the products being made here are lead by a new generation of knowledgeable product managers. The added benefit is that you get to meet and get to know interesting people from various backgrounds. I’ve already mentored 4 people and I have no intention of stopping.” A.D. – Autumn 2019
“The ProductBC mentorship program is a very well organized and designed program. As a mentor, we were given the opportunity to give back to our product community by sharing our experiences and knowledge with other product management professionals. By being a mentor, you actually end up learning a lot about yourself and how impactful your experience can have on your mentees. In parallel, you also get a chance to develop your coaching capabilities which will benefit you in any leadership capacity. All in all, the ProductBC mentorship program is very valuable and definitely worth experiencing in a mentor or mentee capacity. Or both if you have the time for it!” B.H Fall – 2018
From Past Mentees:
“We met online for an hour with video chat, which made the experience feel personalized. Previous to this program no one ever told me what my job was in an easy to understand way, and I often felt chaotic in trying to time manage. My interactions with my mentor helped me come to the realization that my job is ultimately simple! I now feel that I understand what is important, and what I should reprioritize”.J.L. – Fall 2018
“My mentor connected me with more opportunities and people whom I would never have otherwise met” J.H – Fall 2018
“During the program we identified areas for me to improve, and validated the things I was actually doing right but felt like I didn’t have confidence in. Got recommendations of a variety of resources to help my growth and development. I signed up for this mentorship program feeling at a loss of where to start my journey of learning, and my mentor really helped me get clarity and confidence in where to go and what my options are” J.G. – Fall 2018
“My mentor helped me identify areas of weakness and made many great suggestions to improve upon them, helping me become better at mapping out stakeholder interests and also get better at networking” S.M. – Fall 2018