Contact & FAQ
FAQ
No. Graduate Mentor is a registered CIC or Social Enterprise. Our registered number is 16103759. We have two members of staff working part-time on the project, recruiting Mentors, driving students and graduates to the platform, building and managing the website plus all the administration in-between. We don’t wish to charge Mentors or Mentees to use the site as we’d like this to remain available to all and grow organically with external funding. We aim to cover our costs by attracting organisations to our Partner Programme.
No. The platform is entirely free to use for mentees and mentors. Mentors can financially support the platform as part of our Employer Partner Programme.
The GRB Group had been incubating a mentoring programme since 2016. The recent pandemic and recession made the founders bring the project to reality to reach more and more graduates who are struggling to find work in these extremely challenging times. Graduate Mentor is one part of a wider campaign to mitigate the pandemic entitled #helpthecovidgeneration which was launched on 11th August 2020.
Once you have chosen your Mentor, they will receive an email alert. Mentors are not obliged to agree to every request if they feel they are not able to help you and they may politely decline. All sessions should be done using the Graduate Mentor platform.
We have personally invited mentors from a range of backgrounds, sectors and experience to give you the best choice possible. With a growing portfolio of mentors kindly volunteering from leading employers such as Google, Facebook, Reckitt Benckiser, The Ordnance Survey, Nottingham University and the British Army, we are becoming the go-to platform for many business professionals looking to reach a diverse student and graduate community. All our mentors have agreed to our Code of Conduct so they are 100% committed to helping you and they share our mission to help the next generation of students and graduates reach their career potential with expert support from inspiring mentors.
If you have had any issues that you feel require escalation please refer to our complaints policy.
If an organisation can add value to our mentees we do promote their services. The main way we generate revenue is through external funding and investment through our official employer partner programme designed for organisations who wish to take a more strategic alignment with our mission, recruit graduates and financially support us in the process. Our past and current partners are GRB, Oakwood, Sureserve and Softwire.
Only if your mentor has agreed to this. Mentors volunteer their time and may only know you through a small number of mentoring sessions. Because of this, they may not feel able to provide a professional reference. Always ask your mentor first before listing them as a reference.
If you feel your mentor knows you well enough, you can politely ask whether they would be comfortable acting as a reference. Be prepared that they may decline if they feel they do not know you well enough yet.
This is completely normal. Many mentors prefer not to act as references unless they have worked with someone over a longer period of time. It does not reflect negatively on you. Instead, consider using a lecturer, previous employer, or supervisor who knows your work more closely.
To help Mentees to the best of your ability using your professional skill and experience. In terms of time commitment, you can flex your availability and are in complete control. We appreciate most Mentors have full time jobs so if the minimum you can manage is one hour a month then that’s fine. If you can do more, then we are eternally grateful. For further information please view our Code of Conduct.
No. Graduate Mentor is a registered CIC or Social Enterprise. Our registered number is 16103759. We have two members of staff working part-time on the project, recruiting Mentors, driving students and graduates to the platform, building and managing the website plus all the administration in-between. We don’t wish to charge Mentors or Mentees to use the site as we’d like this to remain available to all and grow organically with external funding. We aim to cover our costs by attracting organisations to our Employer Partner Programme.
No. The platform is entirely free to use for mentees and mentors. Mentors can financially support the platform as part of our Employer Partner Programme.
The GRB Group had been incubating this idea since 2016. The pandemic and recession made us bring the project to reality to reach more and more graduates who are struggling to find work in these extremely challenging times. Graduate Mentor is one part of a wider campaign to mitigate the pandemic entitled #helpthecovidgeneration which was launched on 11th August 2020.
Yes of course if you are happy to spend more time with a Mentee then by all means that’s wonderful!
We understand not every Mentor may be selected. It’s nothing personal! Mentees will make a booking by searching by industry and then viewing your profile. There are a few reasons why this may not be happening. Firstly, we have over 100 Mentors with such brilliant offerings that Mentees may be spoilt for choice. Secondly, there is a seasonal aspect to graduate recruitment so some months many be more active than others. Thirdly, some industries have more Mentors than others so we are trying to balance this out so the odds increase for your selection with a more even spread. Finally, some industries may be more popular than others which may change with your involvement!
Yes, this is an unfortunate and frustrating part of the process that is very hard to control unfortunately. This applies to both sides. If you can keep communication flowing that will minimise no-shows. That last thing we want is anyone feeling disappointed. There will be instances where both Mentees and Mentors let each other down but we do ask Mentees and Mentors to read and agree to our Code of Conduct. We also monitor no-shows and if there are serial offenders then we will intervene.
We drive students and graduates to the platform in five ways. Firstly, the platform is optimised so when students and graduates use certain search terms Google ranks us highly. Secondly, we target students and graduates by University and degree course from the GRB talent pool and send emails to them on a regular basis. Thirdly, we also approach our clients offering their new graduate hires access to the platform to accelerate their performance so this should bring more industry-focussed people to your profile. Fourthly, we have the support of several Universities who are kindly promoting the platform through various channels. Finally, we also encourage Mentors to bring awareness to their profile on the platform through their own social media channels.
We don’t think it’s fair to raise hopes for young people and not sustain the platform for future generations. We therefore plan to continue investing our own resources in the platform and hopefully attract financial support through our Employer Partner Programme. Graduate Mentor certainly has the capability of being used by a wider audience such as school leavers and it is certainly something we could provide in the future. With further investment this will contribute to our ongoing costs and help us invest in our future growth plans.
As a regular mentor you are able to have your profile listed on the platform and enjoy unlimited mentoring sessions with mentees for no charge. As a partner mentor, we take a much more involved and strategic approach to meet your specific objectives. Once we have identified your needs we can actively promote your profile among our mentee community driving mentees to your profile to book sessions with you. You can also use the platform for recruitment or research purposes with a bespoke email campaign and much more. There are three options to become a partner outlined on our Partner Programme page here.
No we can’t guarantee that. With any publicly available website there are limits to how we can control who visits the platform. It is highly unlikely a non-student or non-graduate would visit the platform and book a session. Our marketing team carefully targets ONLY University students and graduates in our campaigns; we make it clear who the platform is for; we get them to agree to our Code of Conduct and they must enter a University and degree course when making a booking. We closely monitor activity and to date we have had no issues.
We can provide feedback given by each Mentee including details of the session such as date, time and the Mentees University and course. No personal data is shared in accordance with GDPR.
If you have had any issues that you feel require escalation please refer to our complaints policy.
If an organisation can add value to our mentees we do promote their services. The main way we generate revenue is through external funding and investment through our official employer partner programme designed for organisations who wish to take a more strategic alignment with our mission and financially support us in the process. Our past and current partners are GRB, Oakwood, Sureserve and Softwire.
That’s a great idea but we don’t want to add to the many emails you already receive so for better impact and engagement we will post regular updates on the Graduate Mentor LinkedIn Group. This will also enable members to comment and share anything they choose plus give you an opportunity to connect with other mentors and mentees!
Each Mentee should complete a short form explaining what they want from the session. You can accept or reject a session request on this basis. To give you an idea, sessions have ranged from simply brainstorming career choices, industry advice, a CV or cover letter review, preparation for an interview or upcoming AC or something more career-related.
Yes, this sometimes happens, particularly if a mentee has found your guidance helpful during their job search. However, mentors are under no obligation to provide references.
Only if you feel comfortable doing so. A reference should reflect genuine knowledge of someone’s skills, work ethic, and character. If you have only had a small number of mentoring sessions, it is perfectly acceptable to politely decline.
You can simply explain that you may not know them well enough to provide a meaningful reference. For example:
“I’m really pleased to have supported you through mentoring, but as we’ve only had a few sessions, I may not be the best person to provide a professional reference. It may be better to ask someone who has worked with you more closely.”
Do you have a question about the Graduate Mentor platform? We would love to hear from you…
Email
[email protected]
Address
Graduate Mentor, 4 Clifton Mews, Clifton Hill, Brighton BN1 3HR
Hours
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 09:00 – 19:00
Friday: 09:00 – 16:00
