How do I become a mentor?

Q. Are you looking to turn your business into a mentoring organisation?
A. Contact Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative Ltd (SFEDI) http://www.sfedi.co.uk

Q. Are you a business who have employees interested in becomining mentors?
A. The Get Mentoring initiative could help you: http://www.getmentoring.org

Q. Are you an individual looking for free training so that you can mentor?
A. The Get Mentoring initiative could help you: http://www.getmentoring.org

Q. Are you already trained as a mentor and are looking for a mentoring organisation to join?
A. Follow these three steps:

  1. Read the job description and dos and don’ts checklist, which sets out the role of a mentor.
  2. Use the search function on the left to find a mentoring organisation near you that best matches your needs:
    • Note that mentoring organisations will have their own approach and concerns with regard to recruiting mentors
    • Not all mentoring organisations will be recruiting currently as they need to respond to demand for their services.
    • The costs of managing mentors may be an issue – not all mentoring organisations can readily fund an expansion of their mentoring capability.
    • Each organisation is likely to have its own induction programme that it will expect you to follow.
  3. You will need to prove to the mentoring association that you have the relevant skills, knowledge and professional experience. You can do this through recommendation, self-assessment, accreditation, qualifications or by completing a recognised programme. Alternatively or in addition to using a mentoring organisation, you could contact Association of Business Mentors who can provide procedures and support in all of these areas.

Get Mentoring is an initiative to unlock, train and support a community of business mentors across the UK. Its aim is to recruit and train thousands of mentors from the business community.

Read more about the Get Mentoring project here.

Share your expertise

Are you an experienced business professional who can offer support and guidance to a growing business? If so, use our search engine to access a list of quality-assured mentoring organisations in your area that you can join as a business mentor.