About the mentors
CILIP mentors are volunteer professionals with demanding day jobs but willing to give of their own time to help fellow lis workers working towards the CILIP qualifications. The CILIP Mentor Register has over 600 mentors already working with mentees but currently with capacity to take on 600+ additional mentees. New mentors are being added all the time. They all undertake mentor training and are in contact with other mentors to share ideas and issues. The majority of mentors are willing to mentor candidates from any organisation in any sector.
The Mentor List
Names and contact details of mentors can be found on the CILIP website. Log in as a CILIP member and from the home page select Qualifications and Chartership then select mentoring and scroll down to the links at the bottom of the page. The Mentor Lists are arranged by region. Your home and/or workplace may be located in one region but within easy reach of parts of another region - if so, use the Mentor Lists for both regions.
Because there isn't room in the Mentor List to give detail of the mentors' experiences and interests, all mentors are being encouraged to put their profiles on CILIP Communities - for those who have, the Mentor List entry will provide a link to the profile.
For each mentor the list indicates the maximum number of mentees they are willing to take on and the actual number of mentees with whom they are currently working, i.e. 1/3 indicates that the mentor has one mentee and is willing to work with a total of three so could be approached. The accuracy of the number of mentees with whom each mentor is working depends very much on the mentee - the reason being that it is the receipt by CILIP Qualifications & Professional Development Department (QPD) of the Mentoring Agreement which provides the information for an update of the Mentor List. The mentee is responsible for sending the completed Mentoring Agreement to QPD, if this isn't done the Mentor List will not be accurate and the time of other candidates will be wasted.
Even if the Mentor List indicates that a mentor has some spare capacity, remember that mentors are human and may be working under a particularly heavy workload or have other issues which make them unwilling to take on a new mentee at a particular time. Most mentors will notify us if this is likely to be a medium to long term situation but are less likely to do so with short-term situations.
Preparing to search for a mentor
· Look at the Mentor Scheme Guidelines and the related forms
· Fill out the Mentee Information form which is a way of introducing yourself to a prospective mentor and also a way of helping you to focus on where you are and what you feel you need from the mentoring relationship
· Draft your CV
· Think about, and start to draft, your Personal Professional Development Plan - this will form the basis of your first "meeting" with your mentor, whether face-to-face or virtual
· Look at the relevant Mentor List(s), checking availability, location etc and drawing up a shortlist of mentors who you might approach
Don't take a narrow approach
Be aware that:
· a mentor does not have to be in your workplace - ideally you will already have support from colleagues so it can be valuable to work with a mentor who can provide a perspective from a different workplace
· a mentor does not have to be in your sector - there can be advantages in working with a mentor from a different sector and with a different set of experiences, you will find that you have to articulate your experiences very clearly rather than using the "shorthand" of your sector/workplace
· a mentor does not have to be in your local area - while there are benefits to being able to meet face-to-face, a lot can be achieved through e-mail and through phone calls
Approaching a potential mentor
· using your shortlist of possible mentors, approach one mentor at a time
· compose an e-mail saying a bit about yourself, including telephone contact details, and the stage you are at with your Chartership application
· attach the Mentee Information Form and your draft CV
· all mentors are asked to reply as quickly as possible to approaches from potential mentees but remember that mentors are volunteers so allow at least a week (and take note of any "out of office" messages) before moving on to the next mentor on your shortlist
· don't become disheartened if the first couple of mentors you approach are unable to take you on, just move on to the next one on your shortlist (could be an idea to look again at the Mentor List and see whether any new mentors have been added)
If you experience difficulty in finding a mentor
... don't let time drift on - if you have followed the guidance, have really been trying and have still not found a mentor do what the Mentor Scheme Guidelines tell you to do and contact QPD by e-mailing quals@cilip.org.uk. We can make some direct approaches and/or put out a plea on the mentor e-discussion list.
Growing your own mentor
If you know someone through your workplace, your CILIP Branch or a special interest group, who you think would be a suitable mentor, why not ask them if they would be willing to mentor you? They can register, undertake training and go on the Mentor Register either as a "one-off", i.e. just mentoring you, or as a mentor willing to take on other mentees.
... and while you are waiting to meet up with your mentor ...
Make sure that you have read the Chartership Handbook, downloaded the templates and forms, looked at examples on the CILIP website and started to reflect on your development and how you can present it in your application - this will get you off to a good start and enable you to get the maximum benefit from the mentoring relationship.