Ever imagine creating an online profile in hopes of meeting another fed with similar interests, challenges and skills?
It's not another dating website, but rather a new social network launched last week by Young Government Leaders and social networking website GovLoop. The website -- the GovLoop Mentors Program -- allows government workers of all generations to meet and learn from each other. Launch of the website was announced at last week's Next Generation of Government Summit.
GovLoop Founder Steve Ressler told Wired Workplace on Tuesday that the website is now running as a three-month pilot that brings retired federal workers, Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y employees together for mentoring opportunities.
"It's a little like eHarmony," Ressler said. "What we saw is that the generations are looking for mentoring opportunities. So they can create a profile, get matches and accept the match."
Matches are made based on user interests, skill sets and other areas like help with management or technology, Ressler said. After a match is made, participants commit to meeting on Skype or in-person twice a month for the duration of the three-month pilot.
"We'll learn from it and see what people like and what they don't," Ressler said. "If people like it, we'll do even more of it."
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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