Modern Apprentice Mentor

The aim of the mentoring programme is to support Modern Apprentices in the museum sector to formulate goals and take opportunities to develop their skills and experience to prepare them for their future careers.

The role of the mentor is to:

• Listen
• Support your Modern Apprentice to set goals and arrive at their own decisions
• Question
• Challenge
• Provide constructive feedback

The skills a mentor needs are:

• The willingness to share skills, knowledge, and expertise
• Value ongoing learning and development
• Active questioning and listening skills
• The ability to motivate

Mentors on previous programmes found the following benefits:

“It helps you to re-focus. For me it has been beneficial to look back and shed light on my own ideas and approaches to things”.

“Mentoring made me think about my own CV and my own career goals”.

“The intern’s enthusiasm and generally being involved in the programme gave me a renewed enthusiasm for working in the sector – it reinvigorated me a bit”.

“Sharing my experiences and contacts with the intern reinforced to me how far I had progressed in my career – and that I had some useful experience to share”.

All Modern Apprentices will be offered the opportunity to fill out a mentee application form which will provide information about their interests and ambitions and what they are looking for from a mentor.  All those interested in mentoring will fill out a mentor application form detailing their experience and skills. These application forms will be used to match mentors to mentees.

Mentors will arrange an introductory meeting with their Mentees using their requested contact method. The first meeting will set ground rules which will include the type of contact your will have and how often and will identify shared goals going forward. Mentors must meet at least three times with their mentee during the year (this can be online or in-person).

Both mentors and mentees will have the support of the Skills Development Manager. The mentors will also be invited to a standardisation meeting halfway through the year to discuss how things are going and provide peer to peer support to one another. Mentors are expected to follow the Code of Conduct for Mentors (detailed below).

This code of conduct acts as a framework in which to work.

In general:

• The mentor and mentee will create an equal relationship which is used to the benefit of the mentee.
• Mentee’s are responsible for the choices they make and the actions they decide to take
• The mentor is responsible for creating an environment in which the mentees can explore the issues they bring, understand them more fully and clarify ways of working that improve their current situation and longer term performance

Mentor’s responsibilities:

• To observe this code of conduct
• To facilitate the self development of the mentee using the mentees network of relationships
• To be centred on and respond to the mentee’s needs and level of ability
• To set the boundaries of the relationship and to ensure a contract is in place
• To provide feedback on the process to MGS as requested
• To speak to the Skills Development Manager if they feel out of their area of competence
• To attend the Standardisation support meeting halfway through the year
• To prepare for each meeting by reflecting on outcomes reached and critically review their own contribution.
• To maintain the confidentiality of the relationship
• To work with the mentee to move on from the relationship after the agreed number of sessions have been completed