FAQs – MENTORS
Here are some answers to questions you may have about the mentoring program.
Who can be a Mentor?
This program is open to Industry Professionals who typically have three or more years of professional workforce experience in a supervisory, management or leadership capacity and who have a willingness to share their expertise and experience.
What will my time commitment be?
The amount of mentoring time you devote to your partnership is flexible, but a minimum contact time of one hour per month is required. You may be able to meet more frequently or agree to email or phone contact between meetings. Mentoring partnerships will typically run for 12 weeks, but may be ended early if all their questions are answered or extended, if both parties agree.
What guidance will my student Mentee require?
Mentees are expected to drive the relationship as they may have different mentoring needs – general career advice, career planning, information on further studies, personal encouragement and confidence building, and/or specific guidance on sourcing jobs and internships.
Your first meeting will offer the perfect opportunity to discuss your Mentees specific needs and expectations. You may find the Mentoring Agreement which lists potential mentoring topics and offers a good starting point and structure for your discussions. This will be sent to you when your partnership commences.
My Mentee and I are not located in the same city - what are our options?
If you are located outside of Melbourne, you may want to connect with your Mentee through “remote mentoring” via email or video conference technology such as SKYPE or Google Hangouts for example.
Will I be inundated with requests from Mentees?
Only one partnership request can be active at any one time, unless you have set your partnership limit to greater than “1”. Students can send a partnership request to two Mentors at any one time. When a student requests a partnership, you have 5 days to accept or decline the request before it expires. When you receive a request, please review and “accept” or “reject” as soon as possible. If the second Mentor accepts the request from the student first, the partnership request to you will automatically close. If for any reason you are unable to mentor a student, we recommend that you decline the request and provide a reason.
Can I work with more than one Mentee at a time?
Yes absolutely. You can control how many students can approach you to be their Mentor. All Mentors have their maximum partnerships set at “1”, but by editing your profile you can increase this default setting.
What if I am concerned about an aspect of my partnership?
We encourage you to discuss this with your Mentee in the first instance. Identify your areas of concern regarding the partnership. If you are unable to resolve an issue between you and your Mentee, you can seek advice and guidance from the RMIT Mentoring team – contact details: mentoring@rmit.edu.au Ph: 03 9925 4006. We will provide our full support to resolve the situation in a positive manner for both parties.
Can international students work in Australia?
Working while studying in Australia is a great opportunity for international students to learn about the Australian workplace, improve their English, further develop skills and start developing a professional network. Work restrictions and conditions may apply, depending upon the student’s visa. More information is available.