From conversations to careers: how Birkbeck alumnus is paying it forward

“Everybody’s experience is unique and everybody has a story to tell. Anybody can be a mentor.”

That’s the message from longstanding Birkbeck supporter Phill Collins (MSc Organisational Behaviour, 2011), who has spent more than a decade helping students navigate their paths to their future careers through the university’s Mentoring Pathways programme. The programme gives Birkbeck students the opportunity to engage in a mentoring relationship with alumni and corporate volunteers.

Birkbeck alumnus Phill, who is a business development consultant, is passionate about encouraging more people, especially former mentees, to step forward and support the next generation.

He said: “I suspect a lot of people are put off mentoring because they think they don’t have enough experience or the right gravitas or they aren’t old enough. But it’s not about having all the answers. It’s about being an impartial third party for students to talk to and just listening. I think a skill you predominantly need as a mentor is about listening.”

Phill has seen the ripple effect firsthand. One of his former mentees, Amir Khan, was so inspired by the support he received from Birkbeck that he returned to the programme to give back as a mentor. “I was really pleased that Amir had stepped up to be a mentor,” he said. “I didn’t even know he had signed up until I saw him at the celebration event. It's amazing to see someone you’ve mentored feel confident enough to take on that role.”

Thanks to a nomination from Phill’s current mentee Inna Kucherenko, Phill was named Mentor of the Year at the 2025 Mentoring Pathways celebration, which took place in July. In her nomination, Inna described Phill’s advice as “always easy-going and hands-on, making complex challenges feel manageable”. Phill said he was “genuinely surprised” to learn he had won the award.

Reflecting on the realities of mentoring, he said: “There are no Hollywood moments. You don’t change someone’s life overnight. But you can help them take the next small step. I can pick out half a dozen moments in my time as a mentor that have felt meaningful, but without being spectacular.”

His mentoring style is pragmatic and reflective, drawing from his own career, which he describes as “opportunistic rather than planned”. Having received career advice from generous contacts early in his life, Phill has always seen mentoring as a way to give back.

Now, he wants others - especially those who have benefited from the programme - to consider giving it a go. “As mentees, you have to take action, you must take that step forward. Do not ever underestimate the value of your lived experience and what that might mean to someone else. If you are a mentee this year, I would love to see all of you as mentors next year.”