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A great mentoring relationship can boost your confidence and challenge your assumptions, and it has the potential to transform your life. Here are our tips for making a connection within the Johnian community. You can also read about the personal mentoring experiences of three alumni.

What is the purpose of mentoring?

Mentoring relationships can be as tactical or strategic as you want them to be. You may choose to tackle a distinct challenge over a limited period of time or return to the relationship continually over a longer period for guidance and support as your career transforms. Mentoring discussions might include:

· Insights on working in a specific industry or organisation

· Personal marketing to help the mentee get a desired job

· How to take the next step, including acquiring valuable experience, creating a CV and affecting organisational change

· Management and leadership support

· Guidance on changing careers, transferable skills, setting up a business or going freelance

Alternatively, the mentee may have an end goal in mind but not know exactly how to get there. The mentor might be able to talk through some possible routes.

Getting started

We facilitate mentoring relationships within the alumni community through Johnian Hub, our online digital networking platform. To get involved you will need to create a profile on Johnian Hub.

Finding a mentor

Consider what you need in a mentor. Navigate to the ‘mentoring’ section of Johnian Hub. You will automatically be shown suggested mentors based on your profile. Alternatively, you can search for mentors based on location, matriculation year, company, industry and job function. When you’ve found someone who looks like an interesting match, click the ‘request help’ or ‘request mentoring’ button to connect with them.  Do some thinking before you make your approach: what questions are you trying to answer and why do you think this person might be able to help you?

Becoming a mentor

As you fill out your Johnian Hub profile, you’ll be asked about how you’re willing to help or mentor. The more details you provide about your work experience, the more it helps those seeking mentoring to identify you as an ideal match. You don’t have to accept every mentoring request you receive; only take on as much as you can handle. If you decline a request, however, we encourage you to send the potential mentee a message out of courtesy.

I’ve linked up with a mentor/mentee. Now how do we establish an effective mentoring relationship?

It’s your choice what shape your mentoring relationship takes. Perhaps a one-off chat is all you need, or you may agree to set up a few chats. Here are some tips that could help:

Start with a video call

We suggest setting up a video call to establish what the mentee is looking for and explore whether it’s a good match for both of you. You’ll get a sense from speaking to each other whether there is potential to take it further. Talk through practical questions as well: What frequency of contact do you want? What are the best communication tools for you both? What is the mentee seeking from the mentor?

Treat the relationship as you would any other professional relationship

Communicating clearly and with courtesy, following up on your actions and sticking to a schedule will help build trust and a solid foundation. Respect the confidence that you place in one another and practice discretion. If either of you discover that the fit is not quite right or no longer suits your needs, then you have the right to end the mentorship. The relationship may run its course naturally or you may decide to actively end it. Give some thought to how you do this respectfully and sensitively. You may meet the person at a future alumni event!

Acknowledge that your time is precious

You are both doing this alongside your other various professional, academic and personal commitments. Be patient with your mentor/mentee and be flexible; you may need the same understanding from your mentor/mentee at some time in the future.

Celebrate successes

Record your achievements, take your disappointments lightly and celebrate your successes! The Alumni Relations Team would love to hear about your mentoring experiences, so don’t hesitate to update us on your progress.

Responsibilities of the mentee and the mentor

Regardless of how you structure your mentoring relationship, we suggest you adopt these respective responsibilities:

Responsibilities of the mentee

· Make the first move. It’s your responsibility to approach potential mentors.

· Think about what you want to get out of it. The more precise you can be, the better you’ll be able to focus on your needs. Do some research in advance so you can ask questions from a baseline of knowledge.

· Prepare to be flexible and recognise that you both have busy lives. If you don’t receive an answer straight away, be patient.

· Propose an agenda or talking points for your meetings to keep them on track.

· Express your thanks to your mentor for any time or support they give you.

Responsibilities of the mentor

· Acknowledge mentoring requests, letting the sender know whether you can accept or not.

· Be straightforward about how you think you can and cannot help your mentee. If there are specific things you can’t assist with, perhaps you can direct them to alternative resources?

· Establish the best way for your mentee to contact you and manage expectations about your availability.

· Listen. It starts with listening to your mentee. The challenges they face may be different to what you have experienced, even if you’re working in the same field or company. Gender, race and other factors affect our individual experiences in the working environment.

The Alumni Relations Team is always available to provide support for using Johnian Hub or for establishing and maintaining mentorships. Call us on 01223 338700 or email development@joh.cam.ac.uk.