The Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) encourages doctoral candidates volunteering in order to give back and continue their relationship with the university after completing their dissertation. Volunteering can take on many forms, from acting as doctoral assistants to performing the role of critical friends on future doctoral students' dissertations. The third guiding principle of CPED's doctorate in education provides opportunities for candidates to develop and demonstrate collaboration and communication skills to work with diverse communities and to build partnerships (Perry & Imig, 2010; Zambo, Buss & Zambo, 2013). The authors of this article look at the process of how six doctoral candidates who successfully defended their dissertation provide guidance for two up-and-coming cohorts of doctoral students as they began their first dissertation class at a south Florida university. The first dissertation class occurred during a weeklong Summer Institute. The authors address the process, the experiences and the benefits perceived by the doctoral candidates as a result of mentoring the doctoral students.