Ascend Career Mentor Spotlight: Bob Shannon

Bob Shannon, an Ascend career mentor the past two years, has been helping early-in-career and recent graduates discover internships and job opportunities, but his experience with working with young adults goes back decades before his time at Ascend.

“I had been in the restaurant industry for 35 years as a manager and years before that as an hourly employee,” says Bob. As a manager, Bob worked with a lot of high school and college-age students. He says they kept him young and taught him how best to communicate with a new generation. “I would write their schedules, do their performance evaluations, interview them, and hire them.” Interacting with this age group came naturally to Bob, so the transition from managing restaurants to becoming a career mentor was almost seamless.

After many years in the restaurant industry, Bob returned to school and earned his master’s degree in Business Education. “I was becoming a grandfather, and I didn't want to work those hours anymore. He attended and graduated from Ball State University, his daughter’s alma mater, and worked with a career coach to find his next role, learning skills he still uses today when working with job seekers. “My career coach was kind of a mentor to me,” he says. Eventually, Bob’s career coach helped him find the career mentor position at Ascend. His career journey has come full circle as he helps young Hoosiers find the same success he has found in his new-found career.

As a career mentor, Bob talks with job seekers who have signed up for the Ascend Network. “My goal is to make sure they understand who we are, why we exist, and then how to navigate the Network,” says Bob. Then he asks the job seeker if they're looking for an internship or full-time role and if there's a specific industry they’re interested in. Bob can then provide them with role recommendations, how to curate a resume to complement a job description, and how to write a cover letter. “I then let them know that if they get an interview, then we could certainly talk about it beforehand, and I can help them prepare with how to give structured answers and what questions to ask.”

When advising early-in-career and recent graduates, Bob emphasizes the importance of having a strategy during the search for an internship or job opportunity. “I think the worst situation that I deal with when interacting with job seekers is they're demoralized because they've sent out one hundred applications. That's not recommended. You're going to drive yourself crazy. Just do five at a time and make sure they’re 100% quality.” Bob says this strategy will not feel so much like work.

Bob expresses he is here to help as much or as little as needed, but that his goal is to help job seekers be prepared and hopefully see them through the connection and then celebrate with them. The most rewarding part is when he can provide something useful to a specific student that helps them or meets their needs in a significant way. Since 2022, Bob has connected more than 250 job seekers to an internship or job.