Who can be a mentee?
If you are an RTPI member, you can sign up to become a mentee if there is a career goal or area you would like to develop with the guidance of another planning professional. Mentorship requires a commitment of time and effort. As part of the registration process, you will need to confirm that you have read and understood the mentoring agreement between mentor and mentee.
An outline of key skills for mentees can be found on the mentoring platform.
Benefits for mentees
- Clarity on career goals: Helping you to identify aspirations and develop a clear plan to achieve them.
- Learn from experience: Having a mentor with experience in key areas can significantly improve your chances of success and growth.
- Insight into industry trends: Gaining valuable insights and knowledge from an experienced planning professional.
- Expanded networking: Providing opportunities to connect with planners you might not have worked with before and fostering relationships with wider professional networks.
- Receive personalised guidance: Tailoring guidance based on mentor’s experience and the mentee’s unique circumstances.
- Recruitment opportunities: Expanding networks through mentoring can encourage potential recruitment opportunities.
- Diverse Perspectives: Mentoring creates a platform for like-minded planners to exchange ideas on projects and enables those with diverse backgrounds to appreciate and consider alternative viewpoints.
- Mental health benefits: Discussing issues with other professionals in a supportive environment can improve mental well-being. Mentoring also offers a space outside your workplace to discuss planning-related challenges and professional growth.
- Confidence building: Providing encouragement and feedback to boost your self-belief and decision-making abilities.
- Enhanced CV: Participating in mentoring broadens your experience, which can strengthen your CV.
- Support through challenges and problem solving: Facilitating skill-sharing and inspiring innovative solutions to workplace challenges in a safe space.
- Contribute to your CPD: Depending on your own learning and development goals, participation in mentoring can contribute to your CPD hours.
Number of mentoring relationships
A mentee can maintain one active mentoring relationship within a specific programme.
Finding a mentor to connect with
Simply log in to the RTPI mentoring platform and create your profile. Once your profile is complete, it will be used to identify suitable mentors for you. By clicking "Find a Mentor," you can view a list of recommended mentors and select the one that best suits your needs. Alternatively, you can perform a manual search to find a mentor of your choice.
Mentee’s role
- Take responsibility for your own learning and development.
- Prepare for the mentoring sessions, you will only get out what you put into the mentoring process.
- Be open to new ideas, perspectives, and ways of thinking.
- Be receptive to feedback, whether positive or constructive.
- Apply the advice and suggestions provided by the mentor to improve performance and skills.
- Work together with the mentor to achieve the goals of the mentorship.
- Take the opportunity to learn from the mentor's experiences and expertise.
- Collaborate with the mentor to set realistic and measurable objectives.
We hope that the mentoring experience at the RTPI is a positive one, however there may be occasions when you wish to raise a concern. Please see the information available to support mentors and mentees.
Ready to get started?
The programme will commence in February with the first phase being an invitation to members to registered as mentors. Following this we will welcome members to register as mentees on 2 April.
Once launched the platform will have features including:
- Introductory videos and guidance to help you make the most of your mentoring experience.
- Help to identify your goals: Consider the areas you’d like to focus on, whether you're seeking support as a mentee or offering guidance as a mentor.
- Creating your profile: When ready, create your mentor or mentee profile. This information will be used to match mentors and mentees based on shared interests and expertise.
- Editing anytime: You can update your profile as often as you like. Tools are available within the system to help mentees refine their goals along the way.
