Mentor

Mentoring is defined as a trusting and collaborative relationship in which there is a commitment of time and a series of interactions that contribute to the personal and professional development of one or more parties to the relationship. GoTeach mentoring enables young people to build relationships with skilled, qualified and motivated employees who share their knowledge, provide guidance and act as role models to young people. In addition, virtual platforms (e.g. YouthLinks) enable mentors to keep in contact with young people online, thus breaking geographical barriers, facilitating increased and regular communication, and supporting young people in taking further steps into the working world.

Programs can, for example, be used to support language learning among refugees, accompany students as they prepare to transition to professional life or provide job application training. What's more, they can also develop the leadership skills of your own employees. Mentoring is as simple as it is effective: an experienced person (mentor) accompanies a less experienced person (mentee) or a group of mentees for a predetermined period of time, e.g. during the trasition from school to work. During this time, mentees and mentors meet for personal discussions, and in doing so develop a trust-based relationship that in many cases does not end with the completion of the mentoring program. Mentoring can take various shapes and include different activities and formats. We distinguish between individual mentoring and group mentoring.

Individual Mentoring

How?

Whether for the entire program or specific individual partscomponents - the support of external experts or partners is highly recommended for both sides. Matching suitable mentoring tandems can be a great challenge. It can also be a great help to have an experienced partner at your side when identifying mentoring topics or potential conflicts that could arise in the context of individual mentoring tandems. Their help is also invaluable in terms of the organizational framework, which can require a lot of resources.

Goals

To achieve your goals you first need to know what they are. Perhaps it's a desire to acquire language skills, to gain access to "locals", feedback on one's own appearance or support in choosing a career. The list is endless. The final program and its content can be as varied as the participants. What's important is that the mentor and mentee clarify right from the outset what the mentoring should ideally achieve and what their focus will be so that time can be used optimally. A standardized questionnaire that mentor and mentee fill out together when getting to know each other can be a great help here. It is also helpful to consider your wishes and goals prior to the matching process to ensure a good fit.

When embarking on career-entry mentoring, mentees are at a crossroads in their lives, facing important questions about career orientation and possible career paths as well as application strategies. In order to make well-balanced, confident decisions on future careers, it is important to develop a sound knowledge base. This can be done with the help of the mentor's experience and discussed together. An important prerequisite for this process is having a mentor who is sensitive towards the topics of equal opportunities and social integration. The contribution mentors make is based on their own personal commitment and carried out on a voluntary basis.

Mentor/mentee matching

The matching process is designed to ensure that mentees are matched with mentors who are well-suited in terms of personal characteristics or experience, who are familiar with their future mentee's career aspirations in a given field, and who are a good fit in terms of background and interests. What makes matching quite challenging is that you are usually only equipped with the mentee/mentor's own personal details and, where appropriate, individual personal information from sources such as teachers or colleagues. Over time, a certain level of expertise develops, but it is still very helpful to have professional support on board.

Recommendations for successful mentoring

Willingness to volunteer - Mentee and mentor take part in the program voluntarily and recognize the personal benefit / value for both sides of the tandem
Independence - There is no relationship of dependency between mentee and mentor, i.e. no direct or indirect employment or care relationship
Defined period - The mentoring relationship exists for a defined period of time, but can also be continued informally beyond that time.
Personal contact - Getting to know each other personally is of great importance for the success of the mentoring relationship. The meetings can be supplemented by e-mail correspondence, telephone calls or, if necessary, Skype contacts, etc.
Confidentiality - The mentoring discussions take place in a protected environment and are to be treated as strictly confidential by the participants.
Commitment -The binding and reliable handling of appointments and agreements is an essential basic requirement for a successful mentoring relationship.
Expectations and agreement - At the beginning of the mentoring partnership, the conditions of the cooperation (e.g. contact, feedback, confidentiality) between mentor and mentee should be clarified, and the expectations and role concepts should be clearly communicated. Personal goals for the mentoring period and possible topics and issues should be discussed.
Mentoring as a process - Mentoring should be viewed as a process. Mutual openness is necessary for the development of plans or solutions during the mentoring process. In some cases the process may not reach a conclusion per se but the honinig of individual perspectives or the development of a strategy to enable an individual to embark on subsequent steps are also valuable results.

Content of a mentoring activity

The range of topics that can be covered by a mentoring relationship is diverse. Mentors bring with then varied experience and knowledge and provide valuable individual support. Possible topics include:

Definition of goals and development of individual strategies; joint development of objectives (short, medium and long-term) including the necessary steps and implementation or solution strategies; development of personal competencies; reflection on and development of personal competencies, e.g. by means of a location analysis, potential analysis and strengths/weaknesses analysis, and, if necessary, a diversity dimension analysis; transfer of informal knowledge bases; transfer of informal knowledge by "showing mentees the ropes" in the desired field of activity.
Networking - Practical tips to help establish and maintain networks that can be professionally or personally benefitial.
Choice of profession - What aspirations does the mentee have? Develop realistic scenarios with alternative options. What paths are open to help the mentee work towards their goal? Work together to develop strategies to realize their objectives.
Career entry - When starting their careers, mentees find themselves at an important crossroads in their lives, facing important questions about career orientation and possible career paths as well as application strategies. In order to make well-balanced, confident decisions on future careers, it is important to develop a sound knowledge base. This can be done with the help of the mentor's experience and discussed together. An important prerequisite for this process is having a mentor who is sensitive towards the topics of equal opportunities and social integration.
Application - What does a proper application look like? How todo you successfully pass an application interview? What do you need to know about an entrance test? What types of application process exist? Mentors can share tips on practical procedures, practise interview situations and share personal or network information.
Integration - Support in developing language skills. Access to "other" social groups and thus to other life worlds. Analysis of possible offers of help that can be taken advantage of. Assistance with authorities.
School leaving certificate - Analysis of the possibilities: which degree > which profession. What support is needed to achieve the desired degree.
Mentoring offers access to role models for young people. In addition to professional exposure and professional experiences, it fosters personal development, trust, self-esteem, and leadership skills. The content of the sessions, as well as the duration, are defined between partners on the ground according to the needs of the young people.

Group Mentoring

In general, mentoring experiences beteween mentors and mentees can also take place in a group setting. Particularly when it comes to virtual mentoring formats, these group activities, with their broader scope, can be especially effective.

Good Practices

The Good Practice Examples chapter of this Wiki provides insights into different real-life examples all around the globe.

Chapter lead	Susanne Novotny