MENTORING

Terms & Conditions of the Assignment

If you have been invited for screening or have been assigned a Mentor, please read the terms and conditions set out below.

Screening

• The Screening process is designed to assess your preparedness to enter the Mentor programme. If you have little or no business experience or education, it is likely that you will be advised to complete one of several training programmes, such as a Start Your Own Business course, before being admitted to the Mentor programme. This is to ensure that you gain as much as possible from mentoring.
• If it is decided that you are sufficiently experienced and educated in business matters, the Screening Mentor will recommend the appointment of a Mentor most suited to you and your project.
• Please bring as much information about yourself and your project to the screening meeting. Business plans where they exist, are ideal. However, a good description of your project, why you think it will succeed and your qualifications to make it work, will also be very useful. If you are admitted to the mentor programme, your Mentor will receive this material in  advance, thereby ensuring that your first meeting will be a true working session.

Working with your Mentor

• Mentors are not employees of the Board. They are independent business people or professionals who are paid by the Board to provide the mentoring service. Their time is valuable. Wasting it is foolish and bad manners. If, for whatever reason, you have to cancel or postpone a meeting with your Mentor, advise him or her at least 24 hours in advance. When doing so, please make voice contact as emails and text messages provide no guarantee of receipt or comprehension. This rule also applies to you if you have been invited for screening or to a meeting with a member of staff.
• Where and when you meet with your Mentor is a matter for both of you to agree. That said, most assignments must be completed within a three month period.
• While great care is taken in matching you and your project with the right Mentor, in a small number of cases the client and Mentor appointed may not be the right mix. If this is your experience, you have the right to ask for a different Mentor, and may do so in the knowledge that your action is respected by the Board. Similarly, the Mentor has the same right.
• Most Mentor Meetings involve discussing work that you were assigned at the previous meetings. It is a good idea to email this work to your Mentor at least 48 hours before the meeting so that he or she will have time to read and evalute it before the meeting. This will ensure that every meeting is as productive as possible.
• If you don't understand something or need clarification, phone your Mentor in advance, during normal office hours. Don't wait for the next meeting.

Confidentiality

• With the exception of providing the Board with progress reports, your Mentor may not discuss you or your project without your expressed permission.