How to Become a Mentor

As a mentor, you would share knowledge, life experience and skills to a variety of young people, allowing them to learn and grow from your guidance. The mentoring relationship is highly important both to the mentee and you as a role model; a good mentor will be dependable and authentic in having a sincere desire to help someone struggling with an array of issues.

Starting a new career typically means obtaining the right kind of qualifications, but one of the best things about being a mentor is that you can be one in different backgrounds and areas of your own previous work experience. To know how to start a mentorship is to have a grasp on your own personal growth and professional development within your sector.

Once you know where and how you can help others, it is important that you engage in mentor training through online certificates or short courses before engaging in any mentoring programmes. Ask yourself a variety of questions before completing the application process for any training or programmes, these can centre on time commitment, age of mentee, whether you prefer working with a group or individual persons and most importantly, what you would actually like to be a mentor in.

Being a great mentor does not happen straight away, it takes time and experience of working within your own field of expertise and helping others to achieve their full potential. There are many organisations out there offering mentor training and support for when you need it. When you mentor for the first time it will be an overwhelming experience, consider starting a mentorship with an experienced mentor, or purely reach out to the best mentors on LinkedIn and ask for any advice and tips on how to be a good mentor.

Working as a mentor is a pretty big deal as the quality of your work affects your clients’ life success and satisfaction. For this reason, it’s crucial for mentor to have the following skills:

A mentor believes in their mentee, both personally and professionally. Every mentoring relationship will require a different level of time commitment and dedication in order to ensure the mentee has reached their full potential. As a mentor, you would advise, encourage, help and commit to improving one’s self-esteem and professional or personal goals, as well as being a positive role model for them.

Though people often perceive mentors as merely telling their mentees what to do, that actually couldn’t be further from the truth. Mentors need to utilise all their skills in:

Being a mentor does not have to be a full-time job, a mentoring relationship can occur at any workplace with members of staff or even at university. There are options to pursue mentoring as a full-time career path, with one of the most popular choices being work as a career coach/mentor. There are also many opportunities within the voluntary sector to help a variety of young people who are struggling with their personal growth and development. Ultimately, the choice is yours when deciding how far you wish to take mentoring as a career option and what you choose to do with it.