HANDBOOK FOR MENTORS

FOREWORD

A new yet challenging future

Young people (students/mentees) will now face a very different future than what their parents and teachers and mentors have gone through.

With the development of technology, NEW job opportunities are created quickly. A lot of current jobs didn’t exist 10 years ago and students/mentees need to be equipped with either knowledge and skills to manage such change or even more complicated in the future. On average, a student will change their job a few times, and it is often relevant in a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT field. Young people should look forward to learning experiences and updating their knowledge skills continuously in their long lives.

Instead of preparing for a “Career for life,” we need to prepare young people for “A Lifetime of Career”. The proverb for “a profession for nine is more than 9 professions” is no longer suitable. Young people need to decide their choices based on their own desires and strengths, while also making sure NOT to close any doors too early for OTHER career possibilities in the future.

MENTORING SKILLS

Position yourself

Mentor should come with a mind as a FRIEND and seeks opportunities to learn more from mentees. DO NOT think of yourself as a GIVER, or a TEACHER.

Listen

Humble yourself and take away the knowledge you already had to view from a mentee perspective then provide mentee with the information through your stories or suggestions for mentee to IDENTIFY his/her problems and find solutions on his/her own.

Use open questions

Open-ended questions help mentees to understand more, open their choices and increase satisfaction.
Open

Build relationships

Building relationships and creating trust with mentees so that they can share about their real problems: Learn about the mentee's situation, the relationships around mentee,...

Open opportunities for mentees

Proactively ask mentees about cross-mentoring needs or other topics that interest them. Mentors can introduce or invite their friends, other mentors to participate in a mentoring session for mentee students to have a new perspective and the opportunity to expand the relationship. In case the mentor has not / cannot find a suitable person, please contact the organizers.

DISCUSSION TOPICS

a. Desired jobs after graduation:

– Communicate and ask Mentee to think and orient as soon as possible.

– In case the mentee has many options, mentors provide more information, require skills, expertise … related to each job so that the mentee continues to think and have the final choice.

– Encourage mentee to find internship opportunities as soon as possible related to the assigned job even if they are 1st-year students. In case of necessity, you can post information on group mentors for other mentors to support introduce suitable internships.

– Encourage mentee to plan to acquire professional knowledge and accompany him/her (exchange process, follow up to implement the plan in each meeting) with Mentee in this plan.

b. Physical training

– Mentor should encourage Mentee to choose a sport (jogging, yoga, badminton, soccer …) depending on their interests and conditions to practice every day, maintain health to succeed.

– Update training situation in each meeting

– Encourage them to maintain this habit in the long run

c. Positive Thinking

– Always think positively about the things and people around them

– Accept responsibility, accept your fault when encountering a problem

– Do not let emotions dominate at work, but focus on finding solutions to solve work/resolve conflicts

…

  • Communication skills
  • Writing email skills, preparing a CV,…
  • Building and maintaining positive relationships
  • Leadership and teamwork skills
  • English learning skills (foreign language)
  • Problem-solving and decision making skills

MENTOR'S SUPPORT FOR MENTEE

Mentee must TRUST and feel SAFE with the mentor who shares his or her problems and desires. Mentor can create such an environment based on the following criteria (Start with the abbreviation of the word PLEASE):
– Protect: Provides a safe environment.
– Listen: Take time to listen to the issues that you mentee share.
– Inquire: Show interest and ask questions to clarify issues.
– Acknowledge: Express that you are listening.
– Support: Give compliments and get specific feedback.
– Exchange: Sharing stories can be evidence for positive examples, role models for mentees.

Facilitate mentee to actively and actively participate in exercises related to the topics of interest.

Student’s experiences should be relevant to the knowledge and activities at the school. It is very important that the mentor should CREATE the opportunity (task assignment) for the mentee to confidently perform and expect a positive result. In addition, mentors also encourage or create conditions for mentees to have the opportunity to meet professionals in the field of careers they are interested in, or opportunities to practice or visit businesses. This will help the Mentee to be confident in him/herself and it will influence the actions for the greater goals in the mentee’s education and career in the future

Beyond knowledge and skills, Mentees need to be aware that all honest work is a contribution to society. This involves mentees with values ​​such as RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY. Ability to stand up after failure, and Integrity and mentors can be role models for Mentee

No one has a complete understanding of the outside environment and experiences similar to the circumstances of each mentee. Therefore, Mentor should note that mentors should NOT be counseled solely based on their mentors’ experience, perspective, or knowledge. Mentor is responsible for mentee ONLY to other sources of information, resources needed from outside, or from VAM (Cross-mentoring) program.

GOALS TO BE ACHIEVED

– Identify career interests, skills, job values, and life goals.
– Applying an understanding of personal interests, personal abilities, and values ​​included in planning and decision-making for learning and career choices.
– Understand the difference that exists between reality and future desires, and ACTION to close that gap.
– Develop goals for the desired education and career path.

– Understand the career planning process and use decision-making skills for academic and career planning.
– Identify short-term and long-term education and career plans
– Assess the impact and consequences of your decision on yourself and others.

– Appreciate the need for continuous improvement and lifelong learning in our efforts to achieve educational and career goals.
– Be flexible and leverage all available resources to bring yourself closer to educational and career goals.

Be confident in their abilities to pursue their goals.