MENTORING

Scotch Oakburn College Mentoring

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We recognise when students leave Scotch Oakburn College at the end of Year 12 their journey is only just beginning.  Their thirst for lifelong learning is evolving, they are growing as young adults who will further benefit from continued support as life’s challenges and opportunities present themselves.

When a family joins Scotch Oakburn College they become a part of a community. Our community is the heart and soul of the College and our most important asset. Community isn’t something we aspire to, it is who we are, what connects us and what sets us apart.

We want to continue this sense of community long after the ‘formal’ relationship ends at the conclusion of Year 12. Our past students (who are now Collegians) begin to experience a world outside the classroom and their relationship with the College becomes less formal. Globally we have a network of thousands of Collegians, a group of people who have a shared life experience, networks and skills ready to connect and give back.

It is an important goal of the College that our graduating students of 2021 understand they will remain connected to Scotch Oakburn and Scotch Oakburn will always be here for them.

What is Mentoring?

Don’t let the word ‘mentoring’ scare you. Mentoring is flexible and fun and looks different for every pairing.

Mentoring is a professional relationship between a mentee and a mentor who meet to discuss career goals. While some people prefer to meet up with their mentor/mentee in person, many people conduct very successful virtual mentorships entirely over Zoom, Skype, Hangouts or Facetime or email.

What mentoring can look like for you

– A structured, goal-driven journey with monthly catch-ups

– 1 or 2 casual coffee catchups

– A one-off call, Zoom catch-up or an exchange of emails

Why Mentoring?

At Scotch Oakburn College, we believe passionately in mentoring.

This is because mentoring is a proven way to grow new opportunities and develop confidence, build new networks and connectedness and improve people skills, all whilst growing empowerment and accountability.

People want real connections and support. Mentoring provides it.

Three reasons we love mentoring

Visibility

You can’t be what you can’t see. Mentoring gives young Collegians people to look up to, emulate, and inspire them.

Relationships and community

Mentoring allows people to form connections inside an accepting community.

Professional growth

Employment is the key aspect of most people’s well-being and livelihood. Helping Collegians better understand these opportunities helps them fulfil their goals.

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Virtual / Online Format

The Scotch Oakburn College mentoring program will be run digitally through an online portal called Mentorloop. Mentorloop is an online mentoring platform. Think of it like Facebook, but for mentoring! This means that when signing up and connecting with your match, you will do so through the Mentorloop website.

You can sign up for the program from anywhere and it only takes about 10 minutes!

In the Scotch Oakburn mentoring program, participants will be manually matched. Once you have created a profile in Mentorloop, you will be suitably matched.

 The Scotch Oakburn College mentoring program is 100% free. There are no costs at any stage of the mentoring program.

The Scotch Oakburn College mentoring program is open to the leaving Year 12 cohort from 2020 and 2022:

Our program is a Collegian mentoring program, however, non-collegians are welcome to act as mentors. There are also no restrictions to do with professional experience. We welcome anyone to the program who is ready to commit to a mentorship.

When you sign up to the program, you will need to choose whether you would like to act as a mentor or mentee (remembering that mentees are currently restricted to our 2020 and 2021 Collegians (Year 12 in either 2020 or 2021).

In our program, you can only have one mentoring relationship.

A mentor is..

A more established professional. Mentors are committed to our mentees to help them achieve short-term goals and help them to set long-term goals in the workplace.

By being a mentor you are giving back and have an opportunity to connect with younger people, sharing your insights and experience.

A mentee is..

Someone in need of career advice and/or information about entering further study or the workplace. Our mentees come with a wide range of interests. A mentee may be:

  • Looking to enter the workplace for the first time
  • Have just commenced the early stages of their careers
  • Looking for career and/or higher education advice

As a mentee you get assistance with career development and progression, advice on thriving in the workplace and study, networking and job opportunities.

The Scotch Oakburn College mentoring program is easy, fun and flexible, and is designed to allow mentors and mentees to have a relationship that suits their individual needs and time constraints.

This said, whether you’re a mentor or a mentee, opting into the program comes with a minimum level of commitment. We ask both mentees and mentors to:

Have time to commit

Both parties should have the time and mental space to commit to a new connection and discuss time commitment early.

Be openminded

We ask all our mentees to be open-minded about who they could learn from (in terms of age, experience level, and identity) and all our mentors to consider a broad range of people they could help.

Be willing to communicate openly

While the structure of your mentorship relationship should be flexible, mentors and mentees should speak explicitly about what you want to get out of this experience so that you can work towards a common goal.

What information do I need to give you?

During the sign-up process, you will be asked for personal details about yourself including:

  • Contact details such as your email address and phone number
  • Career information such as your industry and level of experience
  • Geographic information such as which state you come from
  • Other information such as your goals for the mentorship

What information will be visible in my profile?

Once you finish the sign-up process, this creates a profile in the Mentorloop platform. This is visible only to other mentors/mentees in the program who have Mentorloop profiles and the Scotch Oakburn College team running the program.

Your profile will not contain all the information from your sign-up form. It will only contain certain basic details about you, your career and what you’re looking for, such as:

  • Your name
  • Organisation and role
  • Gender (if you disclose it)
  • Mentor/mentee preferences
  • Your bio (which you write)

What information do you hide from my profile?

Whenever you see an eye icon with a line through it on the sign-up form, you have the option to make that information visible or not visible on your profile.

Why do you ask for information if it won’t be visible in my profile?

Understanding who is taking part in our program is important. It helps us report on our impact, and more importantly, it helps us find under-represented groups and design programs to specifically help those groups.

If you do not feel comfortable disclosing this kind of information, you can often select the option ‘Prefer not to disclose’ on the sign-up form.