In recent years it has become very fashionable and we hear almost daily about the existence of “mentoring programmes” that promise to help you in various ways: to grow in your business, to change your life, to grow as a person. But do you really know what mentoring is and what it is for? Today I am going to try to shed some light on this, especially focusing more on mentoring that is related to career development.

We understand mentoring as a professional relationship in which one experienced person (the mentor) assists another (the mentee) in the development of specific skills and knowledge that will enhance the professional and personal growth of the less experienced person. It is a two-way relationship in which both parties are committed to listening to each other and learning along the way.

Mentoring can also be understood as a methodology aimed at developing people’s potential, based on the transfer of knowledge and learning through experience, all within a structured process in which a personal and trusting relationship is established between a mentor who guides, stimulates, challenges and encourages another according to his/her needs in order to maximize talent.

The main characteristics of this process are the following:

• 3 basic pillars: active listening, asking questions and finally, talking and conveying your ideas.
• In this process, the mentee cannot simply be a listener. He or she is not a mentee but professional seeking assistance on specific issues.
• The mentor is in charge of guiding the process.
• Confidentiality in a mentoring process must be guaranteed.

This type of process has a number of advantages, some of which are mentioned below.

As I mentioned at the beginning, there are many types of mentoring: for companies and organisations, for individuals, for communities, mentoring in education. I have been involved in national and international mentoring programmes related to research career development and innovation for more than 7 years. Due precisely to my experience, from here on I am going to focus on these types of programmes, and I am going to try to give you an overview of the mentoring process that is followed in these types of areas that are closer to R&D&I.

GENERAL MENTORING PROCESS FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION CAREERS

En los últimos 5 años se han multiplicado exponencialmente los programas de mentoring en desarrollo de carrera y en apoyo a emprendedores. Muchos de ellos no son de acceso abierto, ya que se ofrecen directamente a los alumnos de una universidad o a las empresas incubadas en una determinada aceleradora, por ejemplo. Por ejemplo, yo soy mentora del programa GPS de la Universidad CEU San Pablo, o de la Universidad Ca’ Foscari de Venecia. En estos programas solo pueden participar alumnos de esas universidades que estén en los últimos años de carrera o haciendo algún máster. Los ejemplos que os voy a dar ahora son programas de mentoring mucho más abiertos en los que podéis participar si os interesa ( y en los que también participo yo como mentora!)

In the last 5 years, mentoring programmes in career development and support for entrepreneurs have multiplied exponentially. Many of them are not open access, as they are offered directly to the students of a university or to the companies incubated in a specific accelerator, for example. For example, I am a mentor in the GPS programme at CEU San Pablo University, or at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. These programmes are only open to students from these universities who are in the final years of their degree or doing a master’s degree. The examples I am going to give you now are much more open mentoring programmes in which you can participate if you are interested (and in which I also participate as a mentor!).

AND IF I WANT TO BE A MENTOR, WHAT DO I DO?

What counts here is proactivity and your contact network. These programs I have mentioned above and others like them usually publish “calls” to build their database of mentors they can count on when mentees start requesting the service. Normally you have to submit an application where you explain your professional experience, the sector in which you work, where you think you can contribute the most value as a mentor…they are usually online applications where you send the documentation requested by the institution…and wait for them to contact you saying that they have found you a mentee!

Although you have already seen that there are other mentoring networks, such as madri+d, that require you to take their own certification in order to become part of the team of accredited mentors within that program.

What I can guarantee you is that, although it is a completely voluntary and non-profit job, it is well worth it. It is a process that involves putting a lot of energy into your mentee, but from which you learn constantly, no matter how many times you repeat a session, it will always be different. And for those of us who need to transmit and who have a vocation to help, it is a very powerful instrument for personal and professional growth.

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