Mentor Skills

We aim to work with mentors from our partner’s organisations, wherever possible. We are also open to anybody from the community approaching us to offer their time, from a range of different backgrounds. We welcome male and female role models alike! We especially welcome trained facilitators or those with experience in delivering workshops to groups, as we can pair you up with those from industry who have not delivered any workshops or sessions before.

The lead mentor is assisted by a support mentor in the classroom, to ensure that we maintain recommended staff to student ratios for safeguarding purposes. Our class sizes are capped at 20 girls per cohort. Both roles are on a voluntary basis.

We are also seeking a small number of trained and experienced facilitators to work with our industry mentors, this role will be offered on a paid basis. Talk to us if you’d like to offer your services! This is a unique opportunity to work with us on a freelance basis.

Over the course of the programme your role is to support your students and be a mentor to them. This involves guiding them and giving them insights into what it’s like to work in the industry. This is an opportunity to give something back and made a difference. It is highly rewarding and will enable you to develop a whole range of skills like leadership, planning, communications and mentoring. Did we mention it looks great on your CV too?

What we expect of our leads;

Our leads are there to make sure that everything runs smoothly and all of the sessions plans are articulated well and delivered within the time frames we’ve provided
Leads are there to make decisions and take control of the classroom with the support of their volunteer.
Leads will be the main point of contact between the school, the students and the InnovateHer team.
Using your expert industry knowledge you will deliver all of the sessions, inspiring the girls to engage with technology and consider a career in the sector.

What we expect of our supporting mentors;

In a nutshell, to help our classes run smoothly and to inspire the girls to engage with technology and consider a career in the sector, using your expert industry knowledge.

You will be helping girls aged 13-16 learn new digital and technical skills
Your role is to support the lead tutor throughout the sessions and circulate around the room, giving advice and support to those who need it
You may have a different skill set to the lead, and in this case you might want to lead a particular part of a session or programme.

Here’s a list of essential skills you’ll need to be a lead tutor or supporting mentor with us:

Interpersonal skills

Outgoing and enthusiastic persona, someone who is able to inspire & encourage others.
Confidence (or the ability to portray it – we all get imposter syndrome!)
Strong communication skills and the ability to explain concepts in a simple way, without use of industry jargon.
Can think on feet, able to improvise, problem solve and adapt when things don’t go to plan.
Team player – the volunteer and lead tutor must support one another and work together.
Experience speaking in public and/or working with groups through teaching/facilitation is ideal.
Organised and self-disciplined. You will need to read through and prepare each session prior to attending.

Skills and experience

Type of experience that we’ve found works well on our courses: Developers, UX, marketing, project management. (Although a wide range of skills can be relevant depending on the course theme).
Understanding of, and interest in, Digital Technology and / or STEM subjects.
Previous experience working with children isn’t essential, but advantageous.
Tutor leads normally would need to be mid to senior level (at least 2-3 years experience) to ensure confidence and industry knowledge.
Supporting mentors can be at any level within their career as long as they have enthusiasm for working with young women.
Proven ability to follow instructions and resources carefully and to keep to time in the classroom.

Other

Own transport is ideal, but not essential (especially not for online programmes!)
You must be on board with our values.
Flexibility in your job role so that you can leave early in the afternoons for 8 weeks in total and attend one training session (normally held in the evening) – this applies only to the face to face programmes.

Interested in becoming a programme mentor?

Get involved!

“I became a mentor because I wanted to help inspire young women to be confident – to make sure they believe in themselves enough to follow their dreams. I think we succeeded!”

Nareice Wint, Mentor, 2017