The Mentor - Teaching, Working, and Guiding

Occupational Mentoring is a wonderful opportunity to help another person develop skills on the job through the guidance of a technician who agrees to share their skills, experience, and methods.

Mentors in the occupational trades are special people. They are not necessarily the best or the fastest technician, but they are skilled technicians who are willing to show and communicate the trade to willing students.

A Mentor can have a huge impact on a young person's career.

A great Mentor can help mold a person who lacks clear direction into a contributing member of society.

Mentors @ Work Profiles Mentor Candidates

Being good at working on a vehicle is not the first criteria for choosing the right Mentor.  With the Mentors @ Work Program, you can use web-based profiling to analyze the attitude, aptitude and odds that a person can be a successful Mentor.

People are different. Some like to work for personal satisfaction, and others work out of monetary need. The right candidates for Mentoring enjoy sharing their knowledge and understand that they can become even more valuable to themselves and the shop by being able to Mentor effectively. Mentors must have not only an acceptable level of skill to train, but the desire and the methods to do so.

What If a Mentor is Not Perfect?

No Mentor will be perfect, but the Mentors @ Work 
Program will give them the tools to Mentor successfully.

No one is perfect. We are all candidates for improvement, and that is what Mentoring is about. A Mentor's job is to improve the Apprentice and also improve themselves.

Part of the process of the Mentors @ Work Program is very direct training of the Mentor before and during the Mentoring/Apprenticing process.  The Mentor will learn additional information concerning training techniques, interpersonal techniques, as well as an understanding of what the Apprentice expects from this working relationship.

What Do Mentors Worry About?

Mentors may worry about a new responsibility.
You will need to understand these concerns 
before beginning the Mentoring Program.

Mentors worry about:

• Their pay
• Their tools
• Their ability to mentor effectively

Let us say this again and a little differently to emphasize the point: 

New Mentors feel like the new teacher going into their first day of school. They worry about their ability to teach what they know.

New Mentors have not been trained to teach, and when facing the prospect of looking at a new Apprentice, they quickly understand that what they will be doing is different than anything they have done before. In addition, expectations of continuing their regular work while also training may seem like a daunting task. That's why many good potential Mentors simply turn the opportunity down.

Why Mentoring Systems Fail

When Mentoring systems fail, it is often because the owner does not understand that Mentoring takes time and that Mentors need training first, then both a good Apprentice candidate and a system to use.  Patience and a quality system are vital to the success of a Mentoring/Apprenticing program!

Making Your Program Successful

Create a successful Mentoring Program in
your shop with Mentors @ Work.

To run a successful Mentoring/Apprenticeship program in your shop, you have to understand the needs and concerns of your shop's Mentor.  Mentors @ Work will explain to you in depth what these needs and concerns are, as well as how to overcome challenges associated with them.  Stick to the program, and you will have the tools to improve your shop from the inside.