UCD undergraduate commerce students Oisín Mallon and Oisín Walsh have unveiled a new mentorship platform intended to help students connect with experienced mentors for career guidance and support.
The StepAhead platform, which is being developed by Mallon and Walsh, is built on the idea of connecting individuals with mentors who have recently navigated similar paths.
Established as an alternative to traditional career counsellors, StepAhead offers mentees such as secondary school and college students and recent graduates access to real-work insights from people who are a step ahead of them on their career path.
“We are delighted to unveil StepAhead, a new mentorship platform which we are developing to address the challenges young people face when making critical educational and career decisions and which was born from our own personal experiences," said Mallon.
In 2024, Mallon completed the one-year Mont Kavanagh Enterprise Internship Scholarship at NovaUCD through the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business, during which he worked with Binarii Labs and Giyst.
"Coming home from work during our internship year, we both felt completely lost about what we wanted to do after graduation. We were frustrated with the lack of practical, relatable advice, and realised there had to be a better way," he continued.
"StepAhead aims to take the guesswork out of guidance and to level the playing field in career guidance, ensuring access to good advice is not limited by personal connections or advantages, by connecting mentees with mentors who have recently navigated the same path.”
StepAhead won one of 10 projects from around the world selected to pitch at the 2024 Red Bull Basement World Final in Tokyo.
The competition, which attracted over 110,000 applications, champions student innovators who are tackling real-world problems with fresh ideas and creative solutions.
“To represent Ireland and to be recognised at the Red Bull Basement main stage among the top 10 finalists was an incredible honour. It demonstrated to us how universal the need is for good, real-world mentorship and guidance," said Walsh.
"For the year ahead, our focus will be on advancing the development of the StepAhead platform and forging strategic partnerships to bring our vision to life, with the goal of formally launching the platform in Q3 this year.
"With a mission to re-engineer how people access career guidance, we believe StepAhead has the potential to make a significant impact not only in Ireland but around the world.”
Photo: (l-r) Oisín Walsh and Oisín Mallon at the Red Bull Basement 2024 World Final in Tokyo, Japan. (Pic: Jason Halayko/Red Bull Content Pool)
