What Qualifications Do You Need To Be A Mentor?

So, you’re looking to become a Mentor, but you’re not sure if you’ve got what it takes. If you head on over to Google, then it won’t take you long to find a whole online industry built around mentoring and coaching qualifications, but are these qualifications really worthwhile? And do you need them to become a Mentor?

Read on to find out why you can become a Mentor today and where to find the best resources to master your mentoring skills.

What Qualifications are Required?

None.

No matter what anyone tells you, or what any online course tries to say, there is no official institution governing who can and can’t be a Mentor. In fact, legally speaking, the term Mentor could mean almost anything to anyone.

The reason for this is that mentoring is an umbrella term that extends across subjects and industries. Unlike, say, a plumber, a Mentor’s work does not need to be regulated. After all, Mentors are sharing their knowledge and experience, but they aren’t physically engaging in work with the potential to injure people or damage property.

With this in mind, it’s worth noting that there is still a bar to entry, but that bar is a practical one rather than a legal one. To take the example further, if you’re looking to mentor a would-be plumber then you’ll need to have experience in that job role yourself. Otherwise, you won’t be able to offer them much more than career advice/life coaching, both of which have their place but are not the same thing as mentoring.

On top of that, if you did attempt to mentor a role you have no experience in then you might still be legally culpable, especially if your Mentee was under a false impression about your knowledge/qualifications.

Is There A Value to Mentor Qualifications?

Not all mentoring and coaching qualifications are the same and while you absolutely do not need them, it may be worth considering them nonetheless if you feel that they could be of value to you.

That value could come in one of two ways. The first is legitimacy – having a mentoring qualification might be a good way to demonstrate to your future Mentees that you’re a trustworthy teacher. The second is experience. While you’ll have plenty of experience of your job role, working towards a mentoring qualification will give you a chance to practise teaching techniques and you may gain useful advice/insights into the best ways of communicating with students/Mentees.

That being said, neither of these are crucial and many online courses are likely to overstate their own value – especially if they have no connection to any official government body. Furthermore, when it comes to legitimacy, while a mentoring course might look good, any specific qualifications/experience you have in the job role you’re mentoring will be far more important to most serious Mentees.

The bottom line is that if you’ve worked in a job role then you know far more about how to mentor someone for that role than any online course can teach you.

How to Become a Successful Mentor

If you want to become a successful Mentor then all you need is experience of a job role and a place to find your Mentees. You have one and we have the other.

Here at Career Navig8r, your Mentees will be able to organically find you by searching for their dream job role. Through our site, you’ll be able to advertise your experience, speak with prospective Mentees, set up meetings, and handle the financial side through Stripe – an internationally recognised payment provider.

If you’d like to go further and really hone your mentoring skills, then there are plenty of excellent free resources out there to help you. Why not start by reaching out to online communities relating to your specific job role or field? Sites like Reddit and Facebook in particular are excellent places to find communities unique to your field who’ll be more than willing to answer questions about the most useful types of learning/mentoring.

Alternatively, if you’re not looking to put yourself out there so directly, why not explore more of our resources, right here on Career Navig8r. We post regular content, helping Mentors to improve their teaching skills, and set their Mentees on the track to success.

Do You Have What It Takes?

Mentor qualifications are all well and good but the real road to mentoring success is all about sharing the expertise you already have. If you’re enthusiastic about sharing your knowledge and you want to build a second career as a Mentor then now’s the time to make it happen.

Join our growing pool of Mentors at Career Navig8r and learn first hand just how fun and easy mentoring can be!