This page is intended to provide mentors with helpful resources to seek, find and conduct a successful mentoring engagement. Browse our resources and and feel free to suggest others you may find on your own.
Becoming a Mentor
Minimum Requirements:
- Should be EngrIT employee for at least six (6) months prior to enrolling.
- Have at least five years of (relatable) professional experience.
- Be able to commit the time and energy required to run potentially long pairings. Time commitment refers to the length of the engagement.
**Typically, a mentor does not need to spend a lot of time preparing for each meetings. The key seems to be that you know what your scope and limits are and that you believe in what you can offer a mentee. If you can get a clear idea of what you bring to the table, conversations usually take care of themselves. Minimal planning might be required once the mentee offers some topics you will need to help them explore.
Required Preparation:
This short course (14 minutes) steps through the basic skills and mindset of a good mentor. It is a good introduction or a refresher to mentoring and provides enough detail for further exploration on your own (see more resources below).
- Develop your mentor profile and send it to the program coordinator (currently Irene).
- Decide how many mentees you can manage at one time and let the program coordinator know.
- Wait for mentees to contact you.
Profile style guide
- This is neither resume nor biography; work experience is less relevant than the internal process of how you got where you are, and do what you do
- Keep it short – 1 neat paragraph
- Write from 1st person
- Lead with your mentoring interests
- Point out 1-2 things you feel are your strong points/interests upon which to mentor
Engaging with Mentee
The first step is to set the tone, expectations and rough goals for future sessions. We suggest you start with a review of the Mentoring Rights and Responsibilities. Next recommendation is to discuss and agree on expectations for your time together. Finally, if it fits with what you want to do, follow up with a goals’ setting exercise. These elements form the platform upon which you can establish and evaluate your direction and progress.
Once you have spent some time laying the groundwork and ensuring you both have a common understanding of your direction, you are ready to tackle your goals. We recommend a mid-point check-in to track progress and check on if your direction needs to be adjusted.
Useful Reads:
Handling difficult conversations
Difference between mentoring and coaching
A Guide for Mentors (From Women in IT on campus)
Engrit Mentor training slide deck – Teresa Cardador
Skills for effective mentoring