Eligibility

Mentees must be:

• Student or Associate Members or Full Members of the EIANZ
• Available to commit to participate in a minimum of three contacts* over six months

Mentors must be:

• Full or Fellow Members of the EIANZ
• Have an established work record within the industry
• Available to commit to participate in a minimum of three contacts* over six months

*Contact refers to a phone call, a face to face meeting or the exchange of emails.

Additionally, Mentors and Mentees should aim to take an active role in ACT divisional events and attend whenever possible. Attendance at events raises the profile of Students and Early Practitioners and provides additional mentoring opportunities through networking.

If you don’t meet the criteria above, but want to be involved, you can still apply. However, priority will be given to mentors and mentees who meet the eligibility criteria.

What is a mentor?

The role of a Mentor is a combination of role model, coach, confidant, sounding board and counsellor. As a Mentor, you need to be an experienced practitioner who is prepared to make a commitment for a period of time to the professional development of one or more junior practitioners. The primary role of mentoring is to support the development of a Mentee by promoting a caring and genuine interest in developing their abilities and talents.

Mentoring transfers professional knowledge, builds a personal relationship and sharpens the learning curve of the Mentee. Mentors can offer Mentees experience, distance, balance, perspective and wisdom as well as developing career opportunities.

Attributes of a successful mentor

• Extensive and broad expertise
• Willing to share professional experiences, including those lessons learnt from mistakes
• Genuinely confidential
• Appreciates that mentoring can be a two-way relationship, where the Mentor learns from the Mentee as well
• Sufficiently self-disciplined to ensure mentoring meetings are held as scheduled and on time
• Recognises when the Mentee has developed to the stage of needing another/different Mentor
• Is committed to maintaining a genuine interest and involvement in the Mentee’s development, which includes periodic follow up between mentoring sessions
• Intuitive enough to realise when a mentoring relationship has reached completion.

Benefits of Participating in a Mentoring Program

For the Mentee

• A powerful vehicle for extended learning and to acquire additional competencies and professional experience
• Improved understanding of their role professionally
• Increased potential for career mobility and promotion
• Encouragement and support to achieve goals
• A supportive environment in which performance can be fairly evaluated
• Access to and development of new contacts, thereby increasing networks
• Airing of ideas and aspirations to reach potential
• Challenged to use talents and share expertise
• Recognition and satisfaction
• Empowerment
• Access to greater network in the industry.

For the Mentor

• Enhancement of skills in coaching, counselling, listening and role-modelling
• Opportunity to reaffirm and to share professional knowledge, experience and skills
• Challenging discussions with people who have fresh perspectives
• Opportunity to refine personal leadership style
• Renewed enthusiasm for their role as an experienced practitioner
• Satisfaction from contributing to another practitioner’s development
• Gain additional industry recognition and respect
• Extend professional networks
• Continuing professional development points (for Certified Environmental Practitioners)

Contact details

Mentors and Mentees are welcome to contact the ACT Division Mentoring Coordinator or EIANZ Central Office at anytime. It is requested that if any problems arise during the course of your mentoring, the ACT Division Mentoring Coordinator is contacted as soon as possible.

Central Office contact details can be found here.

ACT Division Mentoring Coordinator

Kelly Lee – kelly@sesl.com.au