RTSWS Protege Handbook by Rock The Street, Wall Street

Protege Handbook

Protege’s name:

My mentor’s name, title, and company:

My mentor’s contact info:

Protege Handbook

Mission “In order to be a mentor, and an effective one, one must care. You must care. You don’t have to know how many square miles are in Idaho, you don’t need to know what is the chemical makeup of chemistry, or of blood or water. Know what you know and care about the person, care about what you know and care about the person you’re sharing with.” — Maya Angelou "Search for role models you can look up to and people who take an interest in your career. But here's an important warning: you don't have to have mentors who look like you. Had I been waiting for a black, female Soviet specialist mentor, I would still be waiting. Most of my mentors have been old white men, because they were the ones who dominated my field." — Condoleezza Rice ●●● The Rock The Street, Wall Street Mentorship Program is designed to encourage high schools girls to take a strong interest in their personal finances at an early age and to explore the possibility of a career in the financial services industry. We do this by offering a five-week series of classroom workshops and a Wall Street Experience Field Trip in the fall. And then, in the spring, we pair those students who wish to be mentored with professional females in finance. Our professionals offer a firsthand (and very often, first-time) view into the world of business. The mentor provides guidance to the protege about savings and investments, presentation skills, resume preparation, college major/minor preparation, job preparedness and career interests. The goal of the mentorship program is to encourage girls to take charge of their financial lives at an early age and increase the number of women entering the financial services profession. Mentoring is a valuable resource in developing the protege’s self-confidence, providing accountability for her goals, and discovering her interests and professional aspirations. By sharing your time and expertise via face-to-face meetings, emails and text messages over the course of your relationship, it is our hope that both of you will become comfortable sharing ideas on life, leadership, academic and career goals, and overcoming obstacles. Our larger goal is to have the two of you stay in touch longterm as your protege grows into a college student and beyond. We know of RTSWS mentor/protege relationships that have lasted for years, attesting to the effectiveness of a formal mentorship program.

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Protege Handbook

Background Two out of three women state that they know little to nothing about finance. By reaching out to girls in high school, we commission them to take charge of their finances at an early age. We illuminate the relevance of finance in everyday life and encourage girls to study business and seek a profession in the financial industry, where women are vastly underrepresented in the upper ranks and comprise only 2.5% of hedge fund CEOs, 8% of venture capital professionals, 9% of mutual fund managers, and 11.7% of private equity executives. Let's face it. Financial naivete among women cuts across all socioeconomic classes. RTSWS is reaching young women in 15 cities nationwide through local public and private schools, introducing them to financial concepts such as savings, investments, budgets, stocks, bonds, derivatives, private equity and college financial preparedness. We offer young women a pathway to financial literacy and career preparedness through financial hands-on projects in our workshops, role modeling, mentoring, strengths assessments, and real-life Wall Street field trip experiences.

Traits of a Protege The following are the traits that RTSWS believes makes for a good RTSWS protege: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Sincere desire to take personal charge of being mentored Being a self-starter who wishes to reach her greatest potential Ability to bounce back from mistakes and failure Enthusiasm to sustain the mentoring relationship over time Commitment to holding the mentoring relationship together Loyalty to one’s mentor by always maintaining confidences and willingness to share Sincere desire to be involved in the life of a professional woman in business Respect for older people Ability to accept differences. By being open-minded, a protege carefully considers all advice, including constructive criticism, that the mentor shares along the uphill path to wisdom. Active listening, suspending judgment, and asking thoughtful questions Willingness to act on opportunities Patience Regular access to a computer, an email account, and text messaging Comfort with technology and self-expression online. When mentoring, the online relationship can be just as valuable as meeting face-to-face. Gratitude for all the things that the mentor has done. Proteges can repay that debt by later becoming mentors themselves.

“The way I see it, a lot of people are waiting to be invited for someone to tap them on the shoulder and then take them under their wing. In my experience, that just doesn’t happen; you have to go after someone.” — Savvy

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Protege Handbook

Applying to the Program RTSWS Protege Applications become available at the completion of the fall RTSWS program. Students who did not participate in the fall are welcome to apply by speaking with their school contact. On the Application form, the student will list her interests, why she wants to be part of our mentorship program, and what she hopes to achieve by partnering up with a mentor. This document allows for better matching opportunities.

Matching Mentors with Proteges Here’s how the program begins: ● ● ● ●

All proteges and mentors will come together as a group for the first time at Session 1. You will meet your assigned mentor then and break off into groups for the duration of the session. At this session, the “rules of the road” will be introduced. This session will describe in more detail the set of expectations for each participant. At this session, both parties will bring their calendars so they can record their subsequent mentoring sessions. If a relationship is not working out (it happens!), please contact us and we will try to assist.

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Protege Handbook

Mentorship Process ●

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Preparing: We will email each protege a short video about Spring mentorship before Session 1. Before each individual session please review the session tasks, activities, and notes. After Session 1, you will also be communicating with your mentor about your tasks to complete and the survey. Conducting the Session: Follow the tasks outlined in each session, but please still allow for the conversation to take a natural course as you approach each subject. Reporting: “What gets measured, gets done.” After each session, both mentor and protege will receive a text message to complete a 3-question survey through Survey Monkey. This feedback will help us improve the program. We implore you to please complete these surveys after each session. Reflecting: After each session and at the conclusion of the mentorship program, each protege should reflect on her own learning from this experience. For example, what have you learned about yourself as a protege? How will you take what you’ve learned and apply this to your life and future ventures? What have you learned about building a relationship with your mentor and the mentorship relationship?

Communication with your Mentor ●

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Over the course of the spring semester, it is expected that the mentor/protege teams will meet five times. RTSWS will work with schools and volunteers to select mentoring dates. Make note of the dates of the subsequent mentoring sessions with your mentor. Establish how you will each remind the other of the upcoming meeting, whether by phone, text message, or email. Notify your mentor well in advance if you will be absent from school and need to connect over Skype, Facetime or a similar form of video conferencing.

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Protege Handbook

Topics for Discussion Mentors and proteges will discuss ways to improve the protege’s high school, college, and career path. Some common subjects for conversation include: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Academic development and ways to improve the path toward college Student/Teacher/Professor roles and interactions Studying practices Guidance/recommendations on resources Stock/bond market performance Entrepreneurship Saving and investing Contacts and referrals Goals and progress toward goals Networking Job shadowing

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Protege Handbook

Responsibilities of Mentors Typical mentor responsibilities include, but are not limited to: ● Acting as a resource for information about the financial profession and savings and investment concepts ● Establishing the meeting agenda ● Helping the protege identify and reach specific goals ● Establishing trust with the protege and maintaining confidentiality ● Listening actively ● Challenging the protege to think and analyze options ● Sharing unique professional experiences ● Serving as a sounding board for ideas ● Providing college and career guidance (However, she is not expected to be a college counselor.) ● Providing encouragement for building selfconfidence and stronger self-esteem ● Serving as a solid role model ● Offering constructive and meaningful feedback and critical analysis

Benefits to Mentors Serving as a mentor offers the following rewards: ● ● ● ● ●

The personal satisfaction of giving back to her community A legacy of personal knowledge, insight and experience Professional enhancement, higher visibility and prestige Expansion of her community network Expansion of her professional network

"Volunteering with RTSWS was a really rewarding experience. It was really cool because normally every day you come into work and you do a job and you don’t always see that tangible impact you are making on someone but when you come into the classroom and you interact with these girls you can see right then how you are making a difference in their lives.” — Sacramento volunteer

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Protege Handbook

Responsibilities of Proteges Each protege is expected to: ● ●

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Stay in contact with her mentor Attend the scheduled sessions and notify her mentor 24 hours in advance if she will be absent from school and needs to change the meeting date/time or format (to electronic) Help to establish the meeting agenda Maintain confidentiality at all times Respect her mentor’s time

In addition to the responsibilities above, the protege is expected to: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Be receptive to feedback and coaching Assess her own individual needs Openly share successes and failures Take advantage of opportunities presented by her mentor Follow through on commitments and goals set during the mentoring sessions Admit mistakes and take responsibility for them Have a personal vision, specific goals and a good grasp of her own reality Not be afraid to tactfully and respectfully disagree with her mentor Actively participate in the mentoring relationship

Benefits to Proteges The protege gains the following benefits from being mentored: ● Assistance in defining college and career goals, strategies and options. (But keep in mind that RTSWS mentors are not college counselors.) ● Help in building confidence to grow beyond the usual expectations ● Personalized attention geared toward specific needs ● A sounding board for ideas and approaches ● Referrals to experts with specialized industry knowledge ● Recommendations for helpful articles and texts

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Protege Handbook

Mentoring Information Write down your mentoring session dates, times, and locations in the spaces below. Session Date/Time/Location Session 1: Networking & Social Media Etiquette

Session 2: Resume Building

Session 3: Resume Review & Career Assessment

Session 4: Career Choices & Interview Skills

Session 5: Women in Finance

Session Reminders ● ● ● ● ● ●

Contact your mentor 24 hours in advance of the session with any schedule changes. Bring Protege Handbook to each session. Bring phone, tablet, or laptop to each session. Come prepared with tasks completed to each session. Complete 3 question survey after each session. Be open and engage with your mentor!

Allow for conversations to take a natural course as you approach the subject of each session. There may be times when you’re not sure what to talk about. Consider asking your mentor questions that fit the following categories*:

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Protege Handbook

● Stories — Was there a time you messed up and felt like you’d failed? How did you bounce back? — How did you learn to embrace risk-taking? — What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned and how has it proven invaluable? ● Situations — Who are the people I need to align with in this organization to achieve success? — When trying to gain buy-in to implement a new program, what tactics have worked for you? ● Self-awareness — Where do you see my strengths? — How could I have communicated my idea more clearly? ● Skill-building — How can I become a more assertive negotiator? — What practices can you recommend for dealing with nervousness when speaking to groups? — What’s a good methodology or tool for project management and tracking team commitments? *Question list referenced from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jomiller/2018/03/25/40-questions-to-ask-a-mentor/#7f8bb1ef261b

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Protege Handbook

Session 1: Networking & Social Media Etiquette Meeting Date, Time & Location: _______________________________________________________ Notes

Tasks ● Take a selfie with your mentor and send it (please include your names and the school name) to RTSWS at pictures@rockthestreetwallstreet.com. ● Ice Breaker (5 min) ● Social Media Etiquette Activity ● LinkedIn Activity ● If you are 16 years old or older, your mentor will help you sign up for a LinkedIn account and join the RTSWS Students & Alumnae group ● If you are not yet 16 years of age, discuss with your mentor the benefits of LinkedIn and brainstorm what your LinkedIn profile should look like when you are old enough to create one.

● My LinkedIn username: ______________________________ ● My LinkedIn password: ______________________________

Protege Tasks to Complete Before Session 2: 1. Watch the 2-minute overview video on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/RTSWS_MH_1 2. Explore LinkedIn from your profile. 3. Complete 2-3 sections from the LinkedIn Profile Checklist. 4. Mentor and Protege complete the survey from RTSWS to provide feedback and help us improve the program.

Icebreaker Activity Icebreakers play a significant role in forming relationships by connecting over similarities and interesting differences between mentors and proteges. Please allow the conversation to get deeper by intermittently asking “why” to learn even more about each other. You may continue to try out new icebreakers if you see fit at the beginning of other sessions. Remember to have fun and enjoy building this meaningful relationship! Funny Questions 1. Who was your childhood crush? 2. What song gets you most energized in the morning? 3. Have you ever been told you look like someone famous, who was it? 4. What is your favorite television show? 5. What would your dream house be like? Thought-Provoking Questions 1. What’s your favorite family tradition or holiday? 2. Say you’re independently wealthy and don’t have to work, what would you do with your time? 3. If you had to delete all but 3 apps from your smartphone, which ones would you keep? 4. What is your favorite magical or mythological animal? 5. What is something you want to be remembered for?

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Protege Handbook

“Would You Rather” Questions 1. Would you rather live in the ocean or on the moon? 2. Would you rather travel back in time to meet your ancestors or to the future to meet your descendants? 3. Would you rather lose all of your money or all of your pictures? 4. Would you rather have invisibility or flight? 5. Would you rather live where it only snows or the temperature never falls below 100 degrees?

Social Media Etiquette Activity Discuss social media etiquette using this document (please pull up on your phone or computer): http://bit.ly/RTSWS_MH_2

LinkedIn Activity LinkedIn is a social media network designed to connect business professionals. It is a way to connect with potential employers, school alumni working in your ideal career fields, teachers, and college recruitment teams. Why is it so important to create a professional social media presence in high school? ● ● ● ●

To stand out from the college competition To set yourself up for career success To take control of your own online narrative To start professional networking early

List provided courtesy of https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-tips-high-school-students-judy-schramm/

Creating a LinkedIn Profile Activity Directions: 1. Go through the checklist on the following two pages with your mentor’s LinkedIn profile. 2. Then, if you are 16 years or older, your mentor will help you sign up for a LinkedIn account.

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Ideation Use this page to brainstorm ideas you have for your own LinkedIn profile after completing the LinkedIn Activity with your mentor. Summary:

Experience:

Honors and Awards:

Projects:

Courses:

Skills and Expertise:

Organizations:

Volunteer Experience and Causes:

Education:

Recommendations:

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Checklist provided courtesy of: https://university.linkedin.com/content/dam/university/global/en_US/site/pdf/LinkedIn_Sample_Profile_onesheet-David.pdf

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Protege Handbook

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Protege Handbook

Session 2: Resume Building Meeting Date, Time & Location: _______________________________________________________ Notes

Tasks ● Review and get feedback on the items you added to your LinkedIn profile since Session 1. (Remember to refer back to the Checklist when needed.) ● Discuss with your mentor the similarities and differences between LinkedIn profiles and resumes. ● Start creating your resume with your mentor. Use the sample resume on the following page as a guide. On a piece of paper, brainstorm ideas to put into your resume. (If you already have a resume, show it to your mentor and discuss how you can improve it.)

● The Rice University Center for Career Development has a detailed resume guide for high school and college students at: http://bit.ly/RTSWS_MH3 Protege Tasks to Complete Before Session 3 1. Protege should complete her resume and continue adding to her LinkedIn profile. 2. The protege should connect on LinkedIn with her mentor and RTSWS Founder, Maura Cunningham. 3. Mentor and Protege complete the survey from RTSWS to provide feedback and help us improve the program.

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Protege Handbook

image courtesy of Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, www.mass.edu

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Protege Handbook

Session 3: Resume Review & Career Assessment Meeting Date, Time & Location: _______________________________________________________ Tasks

Notes

● Review your resume with your mentor and discuss how you can improve it. ● Complete the career aptitude test “Holland Code Assessment” found at https://www.123test.com/ career-test/. You will need a phone, tablet or laptop. This should take no more than 10 minutes. After answering the 15 questions, indicate the level of education you intend to pursue after high school, and make a note of your results. Send the test results to yourself and/or others via email, text message or social media so you can access them in the future. ● If time permits, research career choices based on your Holland Code Career Test results.

Protege Task to Complete Before Session 4: 1. Review a “Practical Guide for Kick-Starting your Career”: http://bit.ly/RTSWS_MH_4 2. Mentor and Protege complete the survey from RTSWS to provide feedback and help us improve the program.

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Protege Handbook

Holland Code Career Test Results My personality type (percentages):

My Holland Code is:

● Realistic: _________

______________________________

● Investigative: _________

My top 5 suggested occupations are:

● Artistic: _________

● ________________________________________

● Social: _________

● ________________________________________

● Enterprising: _________

● ________________________________________

● Conventional: _________

● ________________________________________ ● ________________________________________

Holland Personality Types and Sample Careers

Graphic referenced from: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/10/education/edlife/10Coach-Graphic.html

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Session 4: Career Choices & Interview Skills Meeting Date, Time & Location: _______________________________________________________ Notes

Tasks ● Discuss the results of your Holland Code Assessment. (You may want to revisit this report in your email, text or social media accounts.) ● Planning for Life Beyond High School Activity ● Engage in a practice interview with your mentor. She will ask you common interview questions and provide you with feedback on the answers you give. ● Work with your mentor on a firm handshake, and making good eye contact.

Protege Tasks to Complete Before Session 5: 1. Please review the document “Interviewing for Students and Recent Graduates”: http://bit.ly/RTSWS_MH_5 2. Mentor and Protege complete the survey from RTSWS to provide feedback and help us improve the program.

Planning for Life Beyond High School Using the results of your Holland Code Career Test, begin to discuss the careers you may be interested in from the list provided. Answer these questions with your mentor: ● Which career or careers jump out to you as the most interesting? Why? ● Are there any careers on the list you are not interested in? Why? ● Are there any careers that you are not sure what they are? (Please explain these careers to your protege and research further if needed.) ● What level of education is required to achieve the career you are most interested in (e.g.. certification program, 2 year degree, 4-year degree, or graduate degree)? ● What companies are potential employers for this career? ● Where are these companies located? Is there a certain city or state that will have more job opportunities for the career you are interested in (e.g. Los Angeles for acting/producing, Nashville for music/songwriting, or New York for finance/Wall Street)?

Practice Interview After learning more about potential careers, it is time to develop interviewing best practices with your mentor. This is a time to learn how to truly stand out by answering questions effectively, giving a firm handshake, and knowing the value of your skillset and background. Whether you are interviewing for an internship, college, job, or a volunteer opportunity, you must be prepared. Please answer the questions below with your mentor. ● ● ● ●

Tell me a little more about yourself. Why should we hire you? What is your greatest strength? What is your greatest weakness?

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● ● ● ● ● ● ●

What are your salary expectations? Why do you want this job? How do you handle stress and pressure? Describe a difficult situation and how you overcame it? What are your goals for the future? Tell me a time you have experienced conflict. How did you handle it? What questions do you have for me? (Always have 3 questions prepared and memorized!!)

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Session 5: Women in Finance Meeting Date, Time & Location: _______________________________________________________ Notes

Tasks ● Use the questions in the Notes section to discuss more about your mentor’s career path. ● LinkedIn Connections Activity ● Reflection Activity

If you haven’t already discussed some of the following questions about your mentor with her, consider these for your last session: ● What are the most important aspects of your role? ● What do you enjoy most about your job? ● What do you enjoy the least? ● Who do you partner with in your role? ● How does this partnership help you be more effective? ● How do you balance your personal and professional lives? Protege Tasks to Complete After Session 5: 1. Another awesome resource for proteges to check out is “Job Searching for Students and Recent Graduates” (part 2 of the other LinkedIn resource documents we provided): http://bit.ly/RTSWS_MH_7 2. Mentor and Protege complete the survey from RTSWS to provide feedback and help us improve the program.

LinkedIn Connections Activity Use the following LinkedIn suggestions to help connect to professionals in the roles that you’re interested in, companies, organizations, public figures, colleges, and teachers in your community who may be able to write references for you in the future. ● If you have not done so already, connect with your mentor and Maura Cunningham, RTSWS Founder and CEO. ● Join the LinkedIn group, Rock The Street, Wall Street - Students and Alumnae. Former RTSWS members from all of our different cities have already been utilizing this networking group to find job opportunities and get advice from peers about their career path. ● Joining this group and participating in RTSWS sets you apart when applying to colleges and from other job applicants. RTSWS is a unique Wall Street experience that gives you a set of skills to bring to the campus and add to the community/organization. ● Connect to your high school’s LinkedIn and any of your high school’s alumni who may be working in fields you’re interested in.

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● Connect to any volunteer groups and/or organizations you belong to or may be interested in joining. Also connect with any colleges or public figures you are interested in. (You can also suggest strong female role models to connect with.) ● Your mentor will show you how to follow companies you may be interested in working for and explain why this looks good to future employers. Analyze the community partnerships the organization has, if any high school alumni work for them (found by clicking “See all employees on LinkedIn”), and what jobs they currently have available. ● Search for professionals in the types of roles you’re interested in. If you know what city or cities you are interested in, look for professionals in that city or those cities. ● Your mentor will show you how to connect with people who are not in your network yet. Click on the person’s page, click “more”, and then click “connect”.

Reflection Activity The mentor and the protege should end the session asking each other the following: ● ● ● ●

What have you learned about yourself as a mentor or protege? How will you take what you’ve learned and apply this to your life and future ventures? What have you learned about building a relationship with a protege(s) or mentor? How will we continue to foster a mentor/protege relationship beyond these five sessions?

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Connecting through Online Tools Within a mentorship, electronic communication can be just as relevant as face-to-face time. Emails and text messages, as well the other online tools listed below, will be important parts of your ongoing relationship and participation in the program.

Reminder Text Messages and Emails RTSWS will send reminder texts to proteges and mentors about their monthly meeting with their mentors.

Survey Monkey Please complete the post-session surveys that we send you via text message. This should only take a few minutes.

LinkedIn All mentors are required to join our LinkedIn group, Rock The Street, Wall Street Professionals. All proteges are required to create a LinkedIn profile and join the LinkedIn group, Rock The Street, Wall Street Students and Alumnae. This allows for the mentors and students to gather electronically via a professional site so that the proteges can grow and learn from the mentors. RTSWS periodically posts articles relevant to the RTSWS curriculum and encourages students to connect with other RTSWS students from around the country. We know of students who have already reached out to other members of the group for job opportunities in cities away from home.

Pinterest All proteges are strongly encouraged to follow the RTSWS Pinterest boards. There are 14 boards with over 4,000 pins. Mentors and proteges can create their own boards and pin articles that are of particular interest to them.

Other Social Media Follow RTSWS on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for articles, blog posts, and news from RTSWS around the country. Be on the lookout for contests on RTSWS social media platforms throughout the semester.

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CareerGirls.org Career Girls is an online platform with video clips of diverse women role models sharing career and educational advice to inspire young girls to expand their horizons, improve their academic performance and dream big about their futures.

Knowledge @ Wharton High School This website, affiliated with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, provides high school students with a deeper understanding of business and personal finance. RTSWS students are introduced to this site during their classes. Find it at kwhs.wharton.upenn.edu.

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