As a mentee, there are four ways you can be paired: (1) Mentee Led, (2) Admin Led, (3) in an Evergreen program, or (4) in a Groups program. Your organization and program administrator will let you know which type your program is using.
(1) Mentee-Led:
In programs that are using the Mentee-Led approach, there are two different variations your organization could be using: (1) Mentees Choose their mentors, or (2) Mentor Approval, where mentees request potential mentors and the mentors must approve or deny the pairing request.
1. View Mentor Directory
Once you have completed your questionnaire, you will be brought directly to the mentor directory. This is a list of mentors that have been curated for you based on your skills, goals and other preferences you submitted in your questionnaire. If you need to get to the mentor directory, you can click Browse Mentors on the home page.
2. Review Mentor Profiles
The Mentorship Program will provide you with some mentors to choose from. Click on each of the recommended mentors to review their profiles. The primary goal is to find a mentor that can best support you and help you achieve your goals. Please spend time reviewing all the profiles. Once you have reviewed all the profiles, you can request the mentor you're interested in by clicking the Select as Mentor button under their profile.
Pro Tip: View the Complementary Areas! These are areas that you share with your mentor, or that your mentor can help you with. The more you match with, the better the fit!
Can’t Find Anyone? In some cases, a mentee cannot find a mentor from the list that they believe can support them with their goals. Remember, this list was created based on the goals, skills and preferences you submitted and we are matching you based on this information. Be open to the mentors who can best help you! Nonetheless, if you still feel this is not the right list for you, you can adjust your profile to get different matches. Go to Profile (top right) > Program > Edit to adjust your answers. Keep in mind, that you may also search for a mentor directly if you're looking for someone specifically by typing their name within the search bar in the Mentor Directory.
Check out this article on how to edit your questionnaire responses if you would like a step-by-step guide: https://help.togetherplatform.com/hc/en-us/articles/4402058338715-Changing-your-Questionnaire-Responses-Mentor-Capacity.
3. Submit your pairing request
Click on the blue Send Pairing Request button to finalize your pairing request.
Once you have submitted your request, you will be greeted with a confirmation on your home page letting you know that you have been paired with your mentor. To continue to your home page, click the Finish button:
1. Similar to the Mentees-Choose process, you begin by clicking on the Browse Mentors button next to the program on your home page:
2. Create a shortlist of mentors
Now you are able to create a list of mentors that you would potentially want to engage in a mentorship relationship with. The process is very similar to the Mentees-Choose approach, first, you begin by viewing each of the recommended mentors' profiles to determine who might be a fit for you. Once you have found a few mentors you might want to pair with, you must Add them to your Shortlist. You can do this by clicking on each of their profiles, and clicking the Add to Shortlist button under their name. Keep in mind that some programs have a limit to how many mentors you can add to your list, you can see the number of mentors you can shortlist at the bottom of the page. Once you have added some mentors to your shortlist, click the Next button to move on to ranking them.
3. Rank your mentor preferences
Here you must rank your mentors in order of preference. This will be the order we reach out to your mentors based on their availability. If you do not get your first choice, it is due to the availability of your mentor. After you rearrange your mentors, click Submit.
4. Be patient: mentors are given 3 business days from the time of your request to either approve or decline your request.
Congrats! You have successfully submitted your mentor preferences for the Mentorship Program. Please be patient as we reach out to mentors on your behalf to pair you.
(2) Admin-Led
If your organization chose to do Admin-Led, you will receive an email from mentorship@togetherplatform.com letting you know who your mentor is after you have registered for the program. In order to be paired, you must ensure you have registered for the mentorship program.
Want a more in-depth tutorial? Check out the rest of our Video Playlist!
(3) Pairing in Evergreen Programs
Pairing in an Evergreen program is similar to the Mentee-Led approach you've seen already, however, in an Evergreen program, your pairings do not have an implied end date and your users do not create a shortlist when selecting someone. These programs allow you to pair on an ongoing basis with no pre-defined start or end dates. Mentees and mentors can register and pair at any time and can rematch with others at any point if they have the availability. The two types of pairing processes available in these programs are the same as a Mentee-Led cohort program: Mentees Choose or Mentor Approval. Check out our video below detailing how this process works in an Evergreen program using the Mentor Approval pairing process:
Peer Mentorship in Evergreen Programs:
If your organization has chosen to run an Evergreen program and enabled the Peer Mentorship feature, you will also see the option to participate as a Peer within the program. Participating as a Peer allows you to connect with colleagues at a similar stage in their career at your organization to act as a coach and guide for one another. Connecting with a fellow peer can help facilitate knowledge exchange and support throughout your mentorship journey.
To register as a peer, you must also register as a Mentor and/or Mentee in the program:
Once you have registered as a Peer, you may begin searching for other peers to begin your relationship. To do so, click on the Browse Peers button from your home page for your program:
Here you will be taken to the Directory for your program. You will be able to see who has registered as a Peer under their profile. Alternatively, you can filter by Role to only include those who are registered as Peers for example.
Once you have found a Peer you would like to pair with, click the blue Request button beside their profile:
Note: Peer requests always require approval by the peer you're requesting, even if your program is a Mentee's Choose program.
You will be taken to a page that will ask you to confirm what type of connection you would like to request. For Peer pairings, select the Request as my Peer box then click Next.
This next page will look identical to other Evergreen programs you've participated in. Here you will select the type of commitment you would like to request, where you can choose between these three options:
- An introduction session/one-off networking session
- Help with a specific topic that may occur over a few sessions
- Long term mentorship
Select the most relevant option for your pairing and click Continue, in my case, I will select the second option: Help with a specific topic across a few sessions, and I will start off by requesting 3 sessions with Jai.
You may now add a note to introduce yourself to your peer. We recommend leaving a warm introduction and letting your peer know what topics you're interested in discussing. Once you've finished writing your note, click Continue.
Once you have submitted your note, you will see a summary of your request to your peer. If you're satisfied with your request, you can click the Submit Request button:
After you've submitted your request, you can click the Finish button to return to your home page.
Your peer will have three options after receiving your request:
- Approve all the requested sessions (i.e. in my case, 3)
- Approve an introductory session only to start
- Decline (with the option to provide a response)
Note: peers have 3 business days to accept or decline these requests before they expire, so it is important to review and approve/decline peer requests as soon as possible to ensure there are no delays.
Once the request is approved, you each will be notified and your pairing will begin. From here you will be able to begin by scheduling your first session! Check out our guide here on how to schedule a session to get started.
(4) Pairing in a Group Program
Groups programs support both the same Admin-led and Mentee-Led pairing processes. The main difference for pairing in a Group program is that instead of choosing/being paired with an individual mentor, mentees will choose/or be added to a group with a mentor(s) and other mentees.
Mentees first choose their group from our algorithm's list of recommendations. You can also filter and search for the group that is best for you. Administrators can also create and adjust groups at any time.
Browsing for these groups mirrors the same style of the Mentor Directory that you've read about already.
Once your administrator turns on Matching for the Group Program, you will be able to click on the Choose Group button from your home page:
You'll be able to see each group and the Leader running it within this directory. You may also filter this list of groups by various criteria on the left side. Once you decide on a Group, you may click the blue Select Group button in the upper right corner:
You will see a prompt informing you that you will receive an announcement when groups have been assigned. To finalize your Group preference, click the Submit Group Preferences button:
After submitting your preferences, you will be brought to a screen confirming your submission. You will receive an email letting you know when you have been assigned to your group! Please be patient while the Group Matching process moves forward.
For groups programs that are Admin-Led, administrators stage and create groups on behalf of both mentees and mentors. Similar to a 1-on-1 program in order to be paired, you must ensure you have registered for the mentorship program. Once you have been matched into a Group, you will receive an email announcing the other members in your Group and providing some first steps for the program.
Have more questions? Submit a request here and let us know how we can help!
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