Become a mentor
Register as a Steps Ahead mentor using your CIPD membership number
Find out more about how you can help young people to find and secure a job
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Steps Ahead mentor. By signing up, you could make a real difference to a young person’s life.
New mentees can access the programme through referral partner organisations who refer them to Steps Ahead, such as JobCentre Plus. Jobseekers can now also refer themselves, without needing to go through a third party, by signing up directly on our website.
As a mentor, you will provide one-to-one mentoring support, volunteering your time and expertise on how to find and secure a job, as well as equipping mentees with essential skills needed to thrive in employment, helping to develop their confidence and skills leaving them in better position to find work.
The volunteering opportunity is open to CIPD members at all levels.
Sessions are currently taking place remotely (telephone, email or video conferencing). Our key focus is supporting young people (18-24 years old), who are most impacted by unemployment as a result of coronavirus, but we are still supporting parents and carers who want to return to work after a career break.
We are currently offering the programme in an extended format, Steps Ahead Plus. We are working on developing a bite-sized format focusing on specific employment issues, which will be ready soon.
Steps Ahead Plus allows mentors to work with mentees over a period of several weeks, having a lasting impact by helping someone on their journey to start their career of choice. It includes:
You would provide one-to-one remote support to help jobseekers be in a better position to find work.
Agree with the mentee their objectives and guide them to achieve these. This could include:We also have volunteer Steps Ahead Ambassadors, experienced mentors who volunteer to promote the programme to partners to increase the number of jobseeker referrals. Ambassadors also volunteer to promote the programme to local CIPD Branches.
For further information about these opportunities, read the role profile and mentor agreement below.
By becoming a Steps Ahead mentor you commit to the following:
*Dependent on whether there are available job seekers
As a Steps Ahead mentor, we expect you to:
Yes, we have free training webinars which include:
The webinars last an hour and are interactive. Mentors are expected to attend at least one within three months of registering for the programme.
We also provide support resources on our Steps Ahead Mentoring portal.
Register as a Steps Ahead mentor using your CIPD membership number
Already a mentor? Log in to our secure Steps Ahead Mentoring portal