The University of Gloucestershire’s Employer Mentoring Scheme was designed to offer students access to an industry based mentor to allow them a valuable insight into the world of graduate employment.

In the current economic climate, it is not only graduates who face an uncertain future; employers are finding it more difficult to recruit the right people for the right jobs. Employer mentoring offers employers exposure to the graduate market, both in terms of recruitment and understanding the situation faced by new graduates.

So what else is do the mentor’s get in return? They get:
• Consolidation and further development of coaching skills
• CPD facilitation
• Establish an understanding of the current graduate employment market & potential recruitment opportunities
• Reflective understanding of their own career path and decisions

The mentors involved in the scheme are paired with students studying in their specialist fields; ensuring advice and guidance that are industry specific, a crucial factor for students about to take career decisions following their academic endeavours. The process of mentoring is an exchange that allows the mentors involved to reflect on their own journey into their chosen careers, as well as encouraging their mentees to benefit from that experience.

Each new Employer Mentor completes a half-day training course to ensure they are fully prepared to engage in the mentor/mentee relationship; which lasts for one academic year, usually from October to the summer of the following year. At a recent evaluation event, one of our mentors insisted that ‘all students should have access to non-academic mentors throughout their learning experience’. Whilst this may seem ambitious, especially in the current economic climate, the scheme is designed to encourage our students to improve their employability and their interpersonal skills whilst engaging in the valuable exchange that mentoring represents.

Essentially what most student mentees need is industry specific advice and guidance; this may involve discussions about the mentee’s CV, interview technique, work experience and ways in which they may be able to expand their employability to set them apart from other candidates in a highly competitive employment market.

For more information of how to apply to become a mentor please email ems@glos.ac.uk.