EntryPoint was a chance for Andrew Dang and Fabrizio Trotti to learn from each other

Mentee Andrew Dang and mentor Fabrizio Trotti proved to be a perfect match paired by the mentoring programme EntryPoint. It wasn’t just Dang learning from Trotti but the other way round as well.

When Andrew Dang applied for EntryPoint mentoring programme, he was looking for a job in marketing. However, before the start of the programme, he got a position as a digital marketing specialist at HEI Schools, a company that provides early education based on the Finnish model all over the world.

Despite the change, EntryPoint proved to be very useful to him.

“My goal for the mentorship switched from how to get a job to how to get the best out of my job,” explains Dang.

Dang’s mentor Fabrizio Trotti is a marketing professional with a long career both in Italy and in Finland. He also has a lot of experience as a mentor as he has taken part in EntryPoint several times.

“Typically mentoring programmes focus on getting a job but the work doesn’t end there. It actually starts there. Mentoring can offer a lot of insight for a specific career,” says Trotti.

EntryPoint always matches the mentors and the mentees according to their skills and needs, but the similarity of Dang’s and Trotti’s careers took them both by surprise. It also proved to be useful for them both.

Dang tells that Trotti was able to offer him insight on industry specific topics that he couldn’t have learnt during his studies. Trotti on the other hand was able to get another perspective on his own field of work.

“They say that to really master something you have to teach it because when you teach something you really have to think about why and how you’re doing what you’re doing. I found it really energizing,” tells Trotti.

Even though Dang and Trotti are at different stages of their career they have both found it somewhat challenging to find a job in Finland as an expat as they originally lacked both a network and Finnish skills.

Trotti moved from Italy to Finland 11 years ago when there was no similar mentoring programmes. Even as a professional with a steady career he found it challenging to enter the Finnish job market.

“Now there are several programmes and I think EntryPoint is one of the best. It is very important to have these kinds of communities, where people can come together to learn from each other and to support one another. That is also why I’m participating in EntryPoint. I want to offer my knowledge for those who have just come here,” says Trotti.