The role and importance of mentoring in the career planning process of university students: A non governmental organization example

One of the most important steps for university students towards their future is to have a good career plan. Nowadays, when the characteristics of having a good career plan are examined, features such as being suitable for the individual and having a structure that follows both academic and sectoral requirements come to the fore. The purpose of this research is to find out to what extent mentoring programs with university students cover the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required for career planning. The research was conducted by using the interview technique, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The data was obtained through semi-structured questionnaires from three different groups consisting of 30 participants in total, determined by the purposive sampling method. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the data. In conclusion, it has been determined that mentoring programs contribute to university students in various aspects, especially career planning. Students who take action on the issues they learn and realize during the mentoring process, take more successful and confident steps in their career plans. Additionally, suggestions were shared for developing and making mentoring programs more effective in the career planning processes of university students, in the results part of the research. Keywords: Career, Career planning, Mentoring, University students, Non governmental organization