Make a difference become a business mentor and take your career to the next level

Make a difference become a business mentor and take your career to the next level by Michael Cheary Are you looking to take a step up and further your career?Gaining qualifications and building experience are both valuable ways to progress your career. But another way to demonstrate your skills to potential employers that you might not have previously considered is participating in a management training course which is achieved through mentoring. Taking part in a mentorship scheme is your opportunity to give back to someone just starting out on their career, or in your industry. This not only helps the mentee by providing them with expert advice, but also directly benefits the mentor, through the development of new skills, which they can then use to help develop their own career. Inspire, Motivate Engage is a social enterprise which offers accredited management training via its online mentorship schemes. Theyre currently calling for professionals who have two or more years experience in their industry, to mentor young unemployed people online, who may be struggling to find work. The IME team match you the mentor with a young person who dreams of working within your industry, allowing you to share insights and provide advice to help them achieve their goal. online.Gemma Stevenson, Office Manager at G2Contracts, recently took part in an IME programme. We met her to find out what she thinks about this new type of learning experience:The Big InterviewQ: So Gemma, how did you hear about IME?A: Well, I actually heard about it from a friend. It really appealed to me, as I was looking for a management course, and Id always been interested in volunteering. I chose to take part in the Step into Success programme, which helps young unemployed people through online mentoring.Q: What did the course involve?A: I acted as a mentor to an 18 year old who had aspirations to become an office administrator. It was a fantastic experience. I really enjoyed being able to use my work experience to help a young person struggling in todays climate to get a s tep ahead.Q: Ok, so I understand the benefit to the young person, but explain how your accredited management training was achieved?A: Its a really great learning model. Each mentoring session has an objective outlined by IME which you use to structure your session.When you sign up to take part, you get access to the online mentoring platform.Throughout the course IME provide a variety of learning and development worksheets and exercises to improve your skills and provide better support for your mentee, while also aiding your professional development.Q: Can you give me some examples of the skills you learnt?A: Ive learnt how to coach, how to motivate others , how to manage expectations and much more. It has been extremely useful in my role as its really improved my line management skills and taught me how to present information differently to get the most out of my team.Q: What is the time commitment needed to take part?A: It only required one hour a week and it can all be done onlin e or over the phone, so it was really easy to take part and fit into my life. I chose to mentor for a period of around six months in total, which absolutely flew past.Q: What type of person would benefit from taking part?A: A new manager or someone who wants to move into a line management position, as it gives you the opportunity to show that you can lead an individual to achieve greater success. However, its also good for those who simply want to become a better manager. For example, you learn how to listen effectively and how to ask open questions.Its accredited training too so you receive a certificate on completion of the course to evidence your training and share with your employer.Q: And what did your mentee get from the experience?A: My mentee really put her all into the opportunity and did really well. The programme helped her in many ways. Firstly there is the mentor support. We explored many topics together, such as her work values and motivations, her strengths and weakne sses and matching them to see if they fit with her aspirations. Then I moved on to support her in more tangible ways, such as CV guidance, cover letter writing etc. She had aspirations to have a career in my field of expertise, so I was able to share what I look for when reading a CV, giving her a greater understanding of the person reading her applications.Q: Does the mentee gain an accreditation also?A: IME asked me to score her effort throughout the programme and this then enabled her to win the IME Award, highlighting her participation in the course which she now uses to show her dedication to her development in interviews. She also received learning credits which are recognised by formal qualification bodies such as NVQ.Q: Would you recommend the IME programme to someone looking for management training?A: Definitely. It was a fantastic experience: extremely rewarding and a brilliant way to learn. It can be hard work, but if you really want to develop your management skills, I h ighly recommend using IME.Find out more about the benefits of mentoringThe IME mentorship scheme is accredited by OCN Credit for Learning, so business mentors receive accredited management training as a result of their involvement.If you would like to sign up to take part in the Step into Success online mentoring visit inspiremotivateandengage.org/stepintosuccess