Young Adult Video Mentoring: Career Navigation Series

Step Up invites mentors to support our young adult mentee community (ages 18-29) through video mentoring. Mentors can create short, insightful video messages, sharing their experience and wisdom across several career navigation topics. Read on to learn more about the topics and how you can participate.

Video Mentoring Tips

• Your video should be focused on a single individual question from the list below.
• Always start your video with a brief introduction – your name, current role/company, how/why you became involved with Step Up and what you’re going to be talking about/question you’re going to answer.
• Videos should be approximately 3-5 minutes in length.
• If you’re unsure of best practices for how to record your mentoring video, check out Northwestern University’s Tips for Recording Yourself on Video for guidance on choosing the ideal shooting location, phone settings, lighting and other helpful tips. We recommend shooting your video in vertical format as it’s expected that young adults will access the videos primarily from their mobile phones.

Topic 1: Career Insights

• “Walk us through a typical day in your role—what does it really look like?”
• “How did you know this career was the right fit for you?”
• “What’s something about your job that people don’t usually see or talk about?”

Topic 2: Early Career Lessons

• “What’s a mistake you made early in your career, and what did it teach you?”
• “What’s something you wish your first manager had told you?”
• “How can someone ask for help at work without feeling like they don’t belong?”

Topic 3: Advocacy & Workplace Skills

• “What does professionalism look like when navigating conflict or disagreement with colleagues?”
• “What advice would you give to someone who feels overlooked or underestimated at work?”
• “What does giving and receiving feedback well look like in practice?”

Topic 4: Identity, Values & Purpose

• “How do your personal values show up in the work you do?”
• “What does finding purpose in your career mean to you?”
• “Can you share your experience navigating your identity in the workplace?”

Topic 5: Money & Financial Literacy

• “What advice do you have for negotiating your salary—especially early in your career?”
• “What’s a financial mistake you made in your 20s, and what would you do differently now?”
• “How can someone start building savings on an entry-level salary?”

Topic 6: Well-Being & Boundaries

• “How do you manage stress in a high-pressure role?”
• “What are your best tips for setting boundaries between your work and personal life?”
• “How did you learn to say no—and why is it important?”

Next Steps

Once you’ve completed your video, you can email it to mentor@suwn.org or upload it HERE if the file is too large to email. You don’t need a DropBox account to upload. The team will then review, edit (if needed), and share/post your video where it can be accessed by our young adult mentee community. By submitting your video via email to Step Up, you are granting Step Up permission to use and share it as needed. Please note that in order to provide diversity in the industries, career paths and voices represented, not all submitted videos will be shared on every platform.