Employment Mentoring - friendship, support and guidance towards employment.

The New Deal for the long term unemployed is part of the Government's Welfare to Work strategy. People joining New Deal are given help to gain the qualities, and skills they need to get and keep jobs.

New Deal aims to combat barriers which prevent people from getting and maintaining jobs. Employment Mentoring is a powerful tool which is available to all those on the New Deal.

What is mentoring and how does it fit in with the New Deal?

A mentor is someone who champions, supports and motivates another individual. A mentor is not a boss or superior, they are simply a friend, guide and equal. New Deal participants can ask to be paired with a mentor at any time on the New Deal. Mentors are volunteers, unpaid and completely independent of Job Centre Plus. People on New Deal can use their mentor as an objective supporter and sounding board. The mentor enhances any other support that the person is being given.

Why would someone want a mentor?

Mentoring is increasingly common in all areas of life, particularly in employment. Mentoring is not new, most of us have had a mentor at some point, we just called them friends, family or people whose opinion we trusted. By using an Employment Mentor someone who is unemployed can share experience and have someone who will listen and understand their concerns.

Why would someone become a volunteer mentor?

Many of us recognise the problems that the unemployed can face, perhaps because we have faced them ourselves. Perhaps you were lucky and had family or friends who were able to give you support and encouragement? Becoming a volunteer mentor allows you to support someone, acting as a sounding board and sharing ideas and experience. The skills that a good mentor uses are relevant and useful in all areas of our lives; listening, communication and motivation are all skills that can benefit us in our own jobs, they are all skills our employers are looking for.

Mentoring is an equal relationship, mutually beneficial and voluntary on both sides. For it to work, both parties must recognise that they are both getting something from the relationship.

If you are interested in mentoring, contact Steve at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh by calling +44 (0) 131 225 0630, or email him at steven.piercy@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk.