Mentoring questions

Brookes Connections FAQs

Mentors are all alumni of Brookes University, who have volunteered to provide one-to-one careers support, advice and guidance to a Brookes Student for the duration of the programme. There are many benefits to alumni including a way to give back to our institution, as well as mentoring training and a qualification.

Once on the platform, you will be able to search and view mentor profiles and either ask them a question, or search for those signed up on the 10 week scheme and match with them.

Each mentor has a profile which lists details such as their current and past career history, and ways they can help a student (possibly offering shadowing opportunities, placements or jobs), as well as any other comments they have added (e.g. what kind of student they are looking to mentor).

Of course you can! Brookes Connections is an online platform which can be accessed anywhere in the world. International mentors are welcomed, as we would love to grow an international and diverse alumni community on our mentoring platform. International students are also welcome, and when you graduate it would be great if you could stay on the programme as an international mentor.

Students are not permitted to search for a mentor’s contact information or directly contact a mentor outside of the platform, unless information and permission is given from the mentor.

When signing up as a mentor, alumni will choose which methods of communication are best for them e.g email, telephone, skype. When using our ‘Ask a Question’, you must ask your question through the mentor’s profile page first, then with permission you may use other methods of communication. This is the same for the 10 week scheme.

We would recommend using the Brookes Connections portal messaging system, but you may also use other methods of communications if both parties are agreed.

Brookes Connections Alumni E-mentoring is part of our Alumni Engagement programme, so we want our alumni to be able to connect and network, as well as our students connecting with alumni. You can search for other alumni mentors through the search bar, and then choose to ‘Ask a Question’, or go to their profile page and ‘message’ directly. There will also be a LinkedIn alumni mentoring group, for networking purpose and discussing good mentoring practice, or any queries you may have.

Of course you are! However, there are a few differences. As you graduated you are now an alumnus of Brookes, therefore you will have a mentor account. Don’t worry, as an alumnus you can contact other alumni mentors through the ‘Ask a Question’, and ask any career-related questions you may have. Conversations may then be taken off the platform, if agreed between the two of you. The only difference is that you are not eligible for the 10 week scheme. If you really want to participate in the 10 week scheme (but have completed a previous degree at Brookes), please contact brookesconnections@brookes.ac.uk

Both alumni and students will receive a training and user guide for the Brookes Connections Alumni E-mentoring programme. This can be found on the right hand side toolbar on the Brookes Connections alumni and student information pages. Please read these guides before using the platform. These documents will also be stored on the ‘Digital Library’ section on the portal site.

There is also an optional mentoring training resource on moodle. If you have never mentored before or want to develop some initial mentoring skills, you might like to make use of this basic mentoring training. It has been designed to take approximately two hours to complete and covers:

  • Developing an understanding of the role and nature of mentoring
  • Utilising mentoring skills of active listening and questioning techniques.

You will complete several activities and can download a certificate upon completion. The quiz was designed to align with Institute of Leadership Management (ILM) level 2 qualification introduction to mentoring skills.

 

If you are interested in this opportunity please register your interest on the Google Form promote in the training and user guides. 

If you go to your training and user guide for mentees, or download the guide from the ‘Digital Library’, there is a list of ‘possible questions to ask your Mentor’. This may help!

By signing up to this scheme, mentors and mentees agreed to maintain contact with their mentee throughout the duration of the scheme. The level of contact expected is a minimum of at least once per week via agreed communication channels (e.g .platform messaging, email, telephone, Skype). Please be patient with your mentor/mentee as there will be periods when they are very busy or could be on holiday. However, mentors and mentees should inform you when these busy periods are coming up, or when you will be unavailable (e.g. holiday or exam periods) to avoid any confusion.

If you have not heard from your mentor in a long time, please contact a member of the team at brookesconnections@brookes.ac.uk OR call 01865 484922.

For mentors: This depends on whether you decide to only mentor on the ‘Ask a Question’ or take part in the 10 week scheme. For ‘Ask a Question’, when setting up your profile you can determine how many questions you wish to be asked at any one time (ranging from 1 to 3). In this case, answering the question as soon as possible is encouraged.

For both mentors/mentees: For the 10 week programme, as a guide we expect one email per week exchanged.

Information on how to deal with problems in the relationship will be covered in the Training guide. If it is a behavioural/communication issue, you can report the question/messages on the portal site, and this will be dealt with appropriately. You may also contact the Brookes Connections Coordinator with any issues you may have. If the problem is that your mentee/mentor is not committing (in the case of 10 week scheme), we will end the relationship for you, and try and match you up with someone else.

Unfortunately, there may be cases where you are not matched on the 6 week scheme. This is a relatively new scheme in which numbers are steadily growing so please be patient. You may still be asked questions from students or alumni on the platform at any point. You will receive an email when any questions are asked.

Unfortunately, there may be cases when mentees cannot find a suitable mentor to match with on the 6 week scheme. This is a relatively new scheme, in which numbers of mentors in various industries are steadily growing, so please be patient with us. If you are unable to find anyone suitable, please take advantage of the ‘Ask a Question’ part of the portal. Also, please let us know what kind of mentor you are looking for, and we will try our best to recruit some volunteer mentors in this area for the next 6 week scheme.

If your time constraints or personal circumstances are such that you cannot continue with the scheme, the we ask for adequate notice to inform your mentor/mentee, and try and find them a new mentor/mentee. However, in most circumstances both parties will have to wait until the next 6 week scheme begins.