The value of mentoring programmes after the military
Category: Tips and Advice
Publish date: 02/06/2021
The value of mentoring programmes after the military
As you leave the military, you might find yourself feeling the need for some extra support and guidance from someone who’s already gone through the same experience, and this is where a mentor is a great idea. A mentor is someone you can speak to openly about any concerns you have about your transition, and who will work with you to overcome those challenges.
Benefits of having a mentor include:
- Gaining an insight into a new career
- Building your network
- Potentially learning new skills
- Valuable feedback on how you present yourself
- A foot in the door of your new industry
The mentoring relationship has definite benefits for both parties; however, the best relationships thrive when there is common ground. And so you should keep this in mind when looking for a mentor. Good questions to ask to help you find what you’re looking for are:
- What is your end goal?
- What do you need to get there?
- What are you looking for from your mentor?
- Who do you aspire to be like?
To give an example of this, Joe was the Health and Safety rep in his military role and has decided to move into this field for his second career. Having used the CTP Industry Guide, Joe knows that there are a whole range of Health and Safety roles in the part of the country he’s resettling in, and understands what courses are required to land such roles.
However, before booking the course, Joe wants to get a better feel for what a role as Health and Safety Manager involves on a daily basis. He wants to find someone in the industry who can give him some insight. Consequently, Joe speaks to some friends and colleagues and hears that someone he served with a few years ago is now a Health and Safety Manager at a Construction company.
He looks up his old colleague on LinkedIn and can see that he started off as a Health and Safety Manager at a small company, then moved to a new role with a larger company. Looking at this, Joe reaches out and arranges to meet up with his ex-colleague to find out more about Health & Safety in the civilian world.
Don’t have someone in your network who you can look to for mentoring support? Don’t worry, there are a range of other tools you can use.
LinkedIn is a great way to identify and share your interests with individuals who may be willing to help you get your foot in the door. And there are loads of websites such as https://meetamentor.co.uk/ or http://www.mentorsme.co.uk/. There are specialist resources for those starting their own business, through services such as business gateway.
Remember, when leaving the military, you’ll often find that those who’ve previously served are open to offering mentoring support and connecting via LinkedIn. So don’t hesitate, grasp any and every opportunity with both hands!
Once you have a mentorship agreement, the next steps would be to agree on what you want to work together on.
Going back to Joe, the main things he wants are to get an understanding of whether the job is for him and if it is, to boost his chances of getting a job. While speaking to his mentor he asks about his experience of going from the military into the role, and what challenges he faced. He also asks what his mentor likes and dislikes about his current job. His mentor suggests he spends a day work shadowing him, so that can get a true experience of what the job is like. Of course, Joe agrees.
After shadowing his mentor for the day, Joe has decided that this is definitely an area to pursue and speaks to his mentor further about how to get into the industry. His mentor offers to look at his CV and introduce him to some fellow H&S Managers he knows who might be recruiting. This gives Joe the confidence to do the course and start looking for a job in the field.
Each mentoring journey should be tailored to the individual. Some mentorships will be more formal than others, especially when its offered as part of an employer outreach programme. Some mentorships may also include training or coaching sessions, for example, covering CV writing.
Therefore, it’s important to discuss what you expect from a mentor and what they expect from you at the start of the arrangement.
In summary, we know it can feel intimidating to reach out for support. But there are lots of people out there looking to give others a helping hand. And by utilising their proffered advice and guidance, you can enjoy a much smoother transition.