How does it work?
- The mentor is also an employee who works at a similar, or slightly higher, level to the mentee
- The mentor should never be a direct supervisor of the mentee
- The mentor doesn’t need to be professionally registered to mentor, unless the mentee has specified that they want to gain a particular registration category i.e. CEng, IEng, EngTech, ICTTech
- If your company already has an established mentoring scheme, ensure that they are aware of the new relationship
- It’s not a requirement, but the scheme works better when supported by top management
- The mentors should be carefully chosen and well matched to the mentees
- The scheme must be monitored from a distance by human resources or a manager who’ll make sure it always meets high standards.
Make it happen
If your company has an IET accredited professional development scheme, then it’ll also have a mentoring scheme. Contact your company's dedicated scheme coordinator for more information and to let them know that you’re interested.
If your company doesn’t have a formal mentoring scheme, you can still approach a colleague you admire and ask them to mentor you. Make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve before you have a chat about it.
We might even be able to provide some guidance on how to set up a mentoring scheme within your workplace.
If you can’t find a mentor within your company to help with professional registration, and you’re a member of the IET, you can apply for one through our mentoring service.