What is mentoring?

Mentoring is the process of influencing, guiding, and advising another person in something that you are more knowledgeable about. While some coaching may be used, it is different to coaching as there is an expectation that a mentor can teach a mentee about a particular topic – any topic!

 

Who can apply for a mentor?

Anyone who belongs to an underrepresented demographic and is looking to grow their career within the Tech industry.

 

Who can apply to be a mentor?

Anyone who supports people from underrepresented demographics in the Tech industry and has skills that would be beneficial to anyone within those groups. Ideally working within the Tech industry, however not necessarily a limitation with the right experience and skill set.

 

How does the SheSharp mentorship program work?

We believe that mentorship is not about formal processes and structures! It’s about you and what you need. Therefore we aim to provide a light framework of support and allow our participants to shape it how it suits them best. 

Based on information that you provide in your application, our team will try to find you a mentor/mentee match based on what you want out of the program, your interests, and your availability. We will then tell you if we find you a match and introduce the two of you (via email), along with some resources and suggestions for how to start. 

We will use our Slack group to provide interactive support along the way and a mix of Slack and email to contact you. You will be added to a mentor or mentee channels so that you can meet other mentors or mentees and support one another. 

Additionally, SheSharp hopes to provide extra learning opportunities and resources exclusively for our mentorship program participants. In the past we have been able to offer scholarships to training courses such as Senzo (HomeSchool) Serverless workshops. 

This program will finish at the end of 2021, after which you can decide along with your mentor/mentee if you want to continue independently. 

 

What are the benefits of having a mentor?

The benefits of having a mentor have been well researched and can lead to accelerated career advancement. Some of the benefits a mentor can provide include:

• Expert knowledge and wisdom
• An alternative point of view
• Encouragement and support
• A sounding board for ideas
• Build your network

 

What are the benefits of being a mentor?

Being a mentor can be great for personal development – not only does helping others increase happiness, you will also get a lot out of the experience. For example:

• Developing leadership skills
• Building interpersonal skills
• Learning new perspectives and building empathy
• Broadening your network

 

What is the commitment I need to make?

We ask that you commit to a minimum of 3 months so that you and your mentee are able to get value out of this program, as we believe it will take that amount of time to build a good working relationship and make progress. We understand that circumstances may change however — should that happen, please let us and your mentor/mentee know as soon as possible so that we can try to arrange a new match.

The amount of time required depends on the working agreement between you both, and will vary between the mentee and mentor. 

In general, we expect that you will:

• Take advantage of the resources provided
• Spend time with your match to establish clear objectives and ways of working together
• Make time to meet 
• Communicate clearly and openly along the way about what is working and what needs to change with each other
• Ask for help along the way, if you need it
• Share your feedback so that we can expand and improve the program in the future

 

When does it run?

Applications for the program opened Sunday 2nd May and will close Monday 31st May. We aim to complete the matching process the following week and inform you if we have found you a match Monday 14th June. 

We will run the program for the remainder of 2021, after which it will be entirely up to you and your mentor/mentee to continue!

 

Will I definitely get a mentor or a mentee?

While we will do our best to find you a match, we cannot guarantee that we will find someone for you. It will be dependent on how many people sign up and whether there is a skills match. There is a possibility that we may find someone who is only a partial match for you — in that case we will provide you with their anonymous profile and you can opt in or out based on that.

 

What if I don’t work well with my mentor or mentee?

We don’t expect that every match will be perfect – either based on schedule, goals, or personalities. If you find that your match is not compatible, please let us know and we will try to find you an alternative.

 

Can I be a mentor and a mentee?

Absolutely! We recognise that we all have growth areas that we can benefit from having a mentor, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a valuable skill set and could help someone else. 

 

I know someone else who I think would love to have or be a mentor!

Send them here! We would love to have more people involved.

 

The deadline has passed – can I still participate?

While we can’t guarantee anything, we can add you to a waiting list and notify you if we find you an available match.