This National Mentoring Month, our Volunteer Coordinator, Barbara, reflects on how mentoring empowers refugees with confidence and professional insight to support their employment journey.
At Breaking Barriers, we support people of refugee background into employment that is meaningful for them. Mentoring can be an integral part of this. As a Volunteer Coordinator, my role is to find professionals from different work backgrounds and prepare them for working with our clients independently. This involves providing comprehensive training and ongoing support.
At present I run two volunteer-based mentoring programmes – one for young people and one for employed clients. The Young Persons Mentoring Programme is designed for Mentees between 18 and 25 years old who are at the beginning of their career, and need advice and guidance to decide what they would like to do in the future. This programme is specifically supported by our corporate partners, who encourage and assist their employees to volunteer with us.
The second one, called Employed Clients Mentoring, provides additional support to clients, regardless of their age, who are employed but not yet working in a role that matches their skills and aspirations. They may be underemployed, overqualified or struggling with career progression. This programme is open to all professionals that have the right work background and skills to support our clients.
Matching Mentors and Mentees
Chris (Mentor Volunteer) helped me enormously to become more confident in my abilities and knowledge, supported me during every session, and consistently inspired me. It was particularly helpful that he comes from the same professional background as mine, which made our collaboration more engaging and based on a strong mutual understanding. He was always willing to answer my questions on legal nuances and to guide me in the right direction whenever I found things challenging. I am very grateful to Chris for all his support and to Breaking Barriers for help and for selecting such a well-matched mentor.
Krystyna
When pairing volunteers with our clients we consider a number of things – the Mentor’s professional education and work experience, the Mentee’s desired job sector as well as their availability. We also consider our clients’ and Mentors’ personal interests, and their confidence engaging with different types of people – in particular, taking a trauma-informed perspective. All this information is important to create the most suitable pairings.
One of our Mentees, Krystyna, who is aiming to qualify as solicitor in the UK, was paired with a Mentor who recently passed the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). She shared with us that:“this mentoring programme was fully focused on SQE preparation, and I am delighted with it. Chris (Mentor Volunteer) helped me enormously to become more confident in my abilities and knowledge, supported me during every session, and consistently inspired me.
“It was particularly helpful that he comes from the same professional background as mine, which made our collaboration more engaging and based on a strong mutual understanding. He was always willing to answer my questions on legal nuances and to guide me in the right direction whenever I found things challenging. I am very grateful to Chris for all his support and to Breaking Barriers for help and for selecting such a well-matched mentor.”
Depending on how the Mentors see themselves and the skills they feel equipped to provide support with, they may assume the responsibilities of a mentor, tutor or a coach. On one side the sessions can be very practical, and may involve goal setting, working on interview and writing skills, and researching training opportunities. On the other hand, they may focus on building up ‘soft skills’ like networking or confidence building.
Once paired, each of our Mentors will support a Mentee with six one-hour sessions that are arranged within a three-month period. Each session is scheduled independently between the mentoring pair, which offers lots of flexibility to work with different schedules.
Our onboarding for Mentors includes an induction about the organisation and our programmes, who our clients are and what barriers to employment they may experience. We also go through what they can expect from the mentoring programme, guidance for their first session and case studies. The Mentors also complete e-learning on Safeguarding and GDPR and have an opportunity to shadow a session that is being led by another Mentor Volunteer. We like to give our Mentors ongoing support; this involves a staff member being present at the first mentoring session, along with check-ins and ad hoc support from myself or the Adviser who is supporting their Mentee.
Opening doors
Her mentoring has encouraged me to plan my future career more realistically and positively. Even now, Isabelle continues to strengthen my motivation to develop further as an educator and researcher. I feel incredibly lucky to have been mentored by such an inspiring professional and amazing person.
Anna
Sometimes our Mentee clients will ultimately be employed by their Mentor’s company. But it’s equally common for mentoring to open other new doors. Our Mentors offer a unique insight to the sector they work in, such as information about where to look for jobs, changes in recruitment processes, and the most valued skills and trends. This, alongside practical support such as reviewing CVs, improving covering letters or doing mock interviews, is crucial know-how for our clients who may be lacking confidence or experience in the UK job market. This can lead to improving confidence, learning new skills, building a supportive network and getting the career advancement they really want.
One of our current Mentees who wishes to go back to the engineering field shared that before joining the programme he used other employment services that offered him basic information about how to find a job. But what he really wanted was industry insight: “With the mentoring programme at Breaking Barriers, it was different. I contacted my Mentor, who is an engineer in the field. He tried to give me important tips about building a network on LinkedIn and other websites. He shared my amended CV with his network as well and offered a reference if needed. That was very helpful and inspirational for me. Although I haven’t secured a job yet, I’m still in contact with the Mentor doing many small steps in order to bring more interviews and hopefully, I can get the suitable role soon”.
For Mentee Anna, being matched with a Mentor from the same professional background helped her to feel supported and understood. She explained: “All our mentoring sessions were supportive, open, honest, and highly relevant to my personal and professional situation. Through Isabelle’s (Mentor Volunteer) guidance, I developed much clearer career goals, increased my confidence, and gained a more positive vision for my future, as well as a better understanding of expectations within the UK education sector.
“Isabelle also introduced me to her colleagues, which helped to expand my professional network and supported my studies. Her mentoring has encouraged me to plan my future career more realistically and positively. Even now, Isabelle continues to strengthen my motivation to develop further as an educator and researcher. I feel incredibly lucky to have been mentored by such an inspiring professional and amazing person.”
I have worked with Breaking Barriers to provide employment mentorship to a Mentee from a refugee background. As a foreign qualified lawyer who cross-qualified through the SQE, it was very rewarding to be able to share my experience and support someone with this challenging process.
Avani
Many of our Mentors join the programme to be able to give back to the community and to see their impact on somebody’s life. However, this is not all they get out of participating. Being a Mentor helps to develop leadership and coaching skills. By meeting different Mentees, our Mentors can gain fresh perspectives and new ideas that can lead to enhancement in their own career progression.
Avani, one of our Mentors, told us: “I have worked with Breaking Barriers to provide employment mentorship to a Mentee from a refugee background. As a foreign qualified lawyer who cross-qualified through the SQE, it was very rewarding to be able to share my experience and support someone with this challenging process.
“It was enriching to hear about my Mentee’s experience as a lawyer in another jurisdiction and to discuss some of the differences she is noticing as part of her preparations. The Breaking Barriers team were very supportive, and they constantly checked in, answered questions and helped me navigate difficult conversations. I am grateful for this opportunity, and keen to remain involved in the programme.”
National Mentoring Month, reminds us that mentoring is not just about employment outcomes. It is about opportunity, inclusion and unlocking potential. We are so grateful to each of our volunteer Mentors who, by investing time, expertise and encouragement, play a vital role in strengthening futures for refugees. And, in doing so, they also augment their own professional experience, create access to a talented pool of workers and build stronger workforces.
