What are the unspoken rules between a mentor and a mentee?

A mentor is a person with specialized knowledge whom you may enlist to educate and motivate you, either in your personal life, your career or both. Similar to coaches and teachers, mentors guide less-experienced people through the learning process by establishing trust and modelling positive behaviours. Many mentors choose to help educate others because they understand the value of their wisdom and knowledge and wish to pass it on. Others enjoy the challenge of helping people achieve their goals. SkillPal provides expert and genuine mentorship from top mentors to the mentees.

As I am in a technical field for so many days, I have seen novice people search for someone who can teach them or help them to grow professionally and personally. People need to figure out how to balance both in personal and professional life. They need a mentor. SkillPal is the only way where suitable mentors and coaches can be found.

If you want a mentor you must have sure that the person had overcome hard struggle and rough situations in his or her life. This kind of mentors is found only in SkillPal and nowhere else. A person who mentors you must qualify many tough conditions which gave solid experiences. Not everyone like that. A mentor is one within thousands. A SkillPal mentor has robust knowledge and experience to share with the mentee. That is why mentors are not plentiful.

A SkillPal mentor is someone you can look up to. It is a person who guides you and helps you in making well-informed decisions. Mentorship means that someone takes you under their wing to teach you how to fly, so to speak. “One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.” — John C. Maxwell

What are the benefits for mentees?

· Improving self-confidence and self-esteem

· Broadening horizons and accessing new experience

· Recognising achievements and raising aspirations

· Motivation

· Improved performance

· Job satisfaction

· Networking opportunities

· Self-directed learning

· Career opportunities and career mobility

· Opportunities to give and receive feedback

· Opportunities to demonstrate strengths and explore potential

· Develop visibility within or outside an organisation

· Being challenged to use talents and share expertise

· Gain practical advice, encouragement and support

· Learn from the experiences of others

· Increase your social and academic confidence

· Become more empowered to make decisions

· Develop your communication, study and personal skills

· Develop strategies for dealing with both personal and academic issues

· Identify goals and establish a sense of direction

· Gain valuable insight into the next stage of your university career

· Make new friends across year groups

What are the benefits for mentors?

· Enhanced coaching and listening skills

· Opportunities to develop and practice your personal style of leadership

· Learn new perspectives and approaches

· Opportunities to put something back into the industry

· Gain additional recognition and respect

· Personal satisfaction

· Opportunity to exercise your creativity

· Extended professional/community networks

· Experience of dealing with challenging situations

· Demonstrate expertise and share knowledge and skills

· Be aware of new opportunities

· Improve communication and personal skills

· Develop leadership and management qualities

· Reinforce your own study skills and knowledge of your subject(s)

· Increase your confidence and motivation

· Engage in a volunteering opportunity, valued by employers

· Enhance your CV

· Increase your circle of friends

· Gain recognition for your skills and experience

· Benefit from a sense of fulfilment and personal growth

Mentoring is a well-established technique that helps talented individuals achieve their potential. SkillPal Mentors provide their mentees with support, encouragement, friendship reinforcement and a constructive example. But mentoring isn’t one-size-fits-all. Mentees have individual needs so mentoring relationships should offer enough flexibility to suit each circumstance while allowing the relationships to flourish within a defined structure.

· Mentors should not be in the mentee’s immediate discipline or have any line management responsibility

· Mentorship should be mentee-driven and mentees will choose their potential mentor

· Individuals involved should sign a contract committing to an ongoing relationship for about 2 years (or at least as long as both are within the University)

· The relationship is not expected to last indefinitely

· A ‘no-fault’ divorce clause will be in effect

· Each mentor should have no more than 2 mentees within the School’s programme

· All mentors should have received training

· All mentees should understand/be trained about the mentoring relationship

· The relationship between the mentee and the mentor is two-way and each party bears equal responsibility for making it work effectively. Both parties will gain and learn from their relationship and will decide together how it will work and what the relationship will encompass.

Each mentee should be able to make progress toward meeting unique goals, and each mentor should be able to use his/her strengths. No two people will get the same benefits. Every mentoring relationship, structured or informal, senior, peer, or team should abide by a few simple rules. If you want to build a trusting relationship, it is critical that you maintain confidentiality. If he/she gives you permission to share information, this is not an issue. However, you must remember that anything you are told in confidence cannot be shared. The guidance you can potentially receive from a mentor is invaluable, and their ability to help you navigate the unknown paths of your position and reach your goals more quickly is what makes them so important. For getting the best mentor you should come to SkillPal.

It is rare that people want to end a relationship. Try to resolve concerns and conflicts early on, so problems that can derail your progress don’t have a chance to fester. If you do have to end the relationship, be professional and discuss the termination. It may be slightly uncomfortable, but it is important to honour and respect each other. Create benchmarks for evaluating the success of your mentoring relationship. Check-in with each other, and don’t assume that if things are working for you, everything is fine with your mentor/mentee. A great mentor builds mentees confidence in a way that less instruction or assurance is needed from others. A goal for me is when the mentor/mentee relationship transitions into a partnership. I end up learning a lot from them equally which keeps me relevant. For a personalized mentorship, SkillPal is the best option.