What are the benefits? Mentoring is a powerful personal development and empowerment tool. The Grant Thornton UK Alumni Mentoring Scheme enables you to either develop your leadership skills by becoming a mentor or benefit from your peers experience by becoming a mentee.
Who can get involved? All members of the Grant Thornton UK Alumni Community are eligible to participate in the scheme.
How are mentees and mentors paired? Our mentoring scheme allow alumni to either volunteer as a mentor or elect to be a mentee. Mentor applicants will be required to complete a short form detailing their experience and what they can offer a mentee. The mentee will then be able to search on these “mentor profiles” to find a potential mentor who would be suitable to their needs and select a mentor. Once selected, the mentor will have an option to agree or decline to be the person’s mentor.
How much time do I need to commit? If the first “meeting” is a success, it’s then up to you to define how the relationship is going to work. Together you decide what your aims will be, how often you will meet and for how long. We would recommend “meeting” for one to two hours every four to six weeks.
We recommend all mentoring to take place via Skype, email and telephone. Face-to-face contact is at the discretion of the mentor and mentee.
How long does the scheme last? This tends to vary depending on what you want to get out of the scheme and therefore best defined by you. We would suggest the mentoring relationship last 6 months. However, there are many successful mentoring relationships which last much longer.
Are mentors trained? We will periodically offer formal training to our alumni volunteers, but most will not be trained mentors or career advisors.
Please note, mentors are not vetted or interviewed. We take the view, that as a former Grant Thornton colleague they will have a wealth of experience and knowledge to draw upon. It will be up to you to assess if the mentor is suitable to your needs.
How is Grant Thornton involved? We are here to help provide advice or answer any problems that arise. We will check in with you from time to time to get feedback, which we will use to help improve the scheme.
NEED HELP OR ADVICE? Contact the Alumni Manager on alumni@uk.gt.com or 020 7728 2720.