SCI Mentoring Programme - A New Benefit for SCI Members

‘The SCI Mentoring Scheme will be a fine asset for SCI to offer to members.’ - Dr Peter Hambleton, SCI Mentor and Trustee

SCI is developing an exciting new benefit for SCI Members - the SCI Mentoring Programme - which is designed to match early career members with a mentor who will help them to address specific goals or issues in their career.

This new initiative will be of real benefit to SCI Members - mentors and mentees alike - and will contribute to SCI’s strategic mission of supporting members’ careers through training, development and employment opportunities.

A pilot scheme is currently underway with a small group of members* who will feedback to SCI and the Early Careers Committee about their experience so we can ensure that we are offering the most efficient, accessible and informative service to members when the full scheme is launched.

The first of our training sessions was run for pilot scheme mentors on Friday 24 June at SCI, with our mentoring consultant, Karen Parker. Karen set out the overview of a mentoring relationship and gave tips on listening skills, motivating mentees, and how to avoid problems. Advice was given on how to structure meetings, particularly early on, and how to overcome the challenges of distance mentoring.

The training session received lots of positive feedback and those who attended went away with a renewed sense of purpose of what they could deliver to their prospective mentees. Even the more seasoned mentors remarked that the session reminded them of things that they had forgotten or hadn’t thought about before and gave them the confidence to embark on their mentoring relationships. Claire Rees, SCI Mentor and Ambassador commented, ‘I found the training on Friday really useful and informative. Karen explained it all really well so I came away from it feeling like it’s something I can do. The training answered many of my questions about mentoring and it was useful to hear from the others on the course about their own experiences.’

Further training sessions will be held for our pilot scheme mentors and mentees over the coming weeks, after which mentors and mentees will be ‘matched’ together - we look forward to working with them to bring the SCI Mentoring Programme to fruition. Please keep an eye out on the SCI website over the coming months for news on how we are progressing.

*The SCI Mentoring Programme is currently operating under a pilot scheme and is by invitation only. If you are interested in taking part once the full programme is in operation, please email mentoring@soci.org.

Related Links:

• SCI Membership
• SCI Early Career Support