Preparing to mentor
Everything volunteers and employers need to know ahead of mentoring.
Overview
Thank you for applying to become a Career Ready mentor. As a volunteer mentor, you have the power to transform a young person’s life through monthly meetings, providing them with the confidence and guidance they need to kickstart their future.
Following on from the January icebreaker, each monthly mentoring meeting lasts 60-90 minutes and focuses on a different aspect of a student’s career and education journey. Together, you’ll speak about different career options & pathways, helping them to understand more about the world of work and the skills they’ll need to kickstart a rewarding future.
We aim to support each volunteer through their application process and their experience with us, including:
- Support through the application and DBS process
- Mentor training and briefing calls
- Monthly emails with guidance
- Ongoing support and development opportunities
If you require any support then please contact volunteersupport@careerready.org.uk and a member of our team will get back to you.
Register for a briefing session
Mentor Briefing – 7 January
Wed 07 January 2026, 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm
Mentor Briefing – 13 January
Tue 13 January 2026, 9.30 am - 10.30 am
Mentor Briefing – 15 January
Thu 15 January 2026, 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm
Mentor Briefing – 20 January
Tue 20 January 2026, 9.30 am - 10.30 am
Mentoring Timeline
August
Registration to become a mentor opens
October 31
Deadline for mentor and DBS application
December - January
January - February
Icebreaker and mentor briefing session in January followed by monthly meetings
FAQS
We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds. We believe in the power of your shared experiences, whether you are one year or ten years into your career. And we are keen to receive applications from volunteers who represent the diversity of our students.
We ask that our volunteers are currently in employment, as this allows the potential to offer students more opportunities.
In Scotland, you must work with one of our employer partners and be nominated by them to volunteer.
You don’t need any specific qualifications or experience to volunteer, but we do look for the following qualities and behaviours:
- Reliable
- Caring
- Inspiring
- Empathetic
- Patient
- Outgoing
- Open-minded
Please note, our aim is to provide a paid internship to all of our young people on the Career Ready Programme, as such, we do have to prioritise mentoring places to volunteers who are able to provide an internship and/or come through one of our funding partners. However, we do still welcome applications from all volunteers, as we may still have some places available for those who cannot provide an internship.
Our volunteer sign-up page will also advise if there are any regions no longer recruiting for due to volunteer numbers being met for our 2025-26 programme cohort.
We offer different volunteer opportunities you can mentoring a young person, deliver a masterclass and offer a summer paid internship Check the details of our roles.
Yes, you carry out more than one volunteering role. For example, you can host an internship, deliver a masterclass or provide a workplace, plus mentor a young person at the same time. What you wish to do will depend on the time you have available.
Our volunteer roles are perfect if you work while volunteering, as it can be accommodated to your timetable.
How much of your time you need to give will vary depending on your volunteer role.
A mentor is expected to meet their mentee once a month from January to December and meetings are approximately one hour, so it would be about 12 hours per year. You will also need to factor in time to complete our mentor training, which is approximately two hours for a new volunteer. You can complete this online and at a time to suit you.
If you choose to deliver a masterclass this might be a one-off session and our Masterclasses run for one hour and we suggest you allow an hour for preparation time. All Masterclass presentations are pre-written and provided in advance to our volunteers.
All our mentors must have an Enhanced DBS check, either through Career Ready, or with another organisation if you belong to the DBS update services so we can check it. An Enhanced DBS is required as mentors are meeting one-to-one with a young person.
We will invite you to complete a DBS check when applying to become a mentor. This process is free of charge for our volunteers.
If you are volunteering to host an internship, deliver a masterclass or workplace visit you do not need to have a DBS, as you will not be alone with a young person.
We operate in a variety of areas across the UK in England and Scotland. Please see our map of where we work for further information.
We work in a variety of locations within the UK, where possible we will try to match you to a centre close to your workplace or home depending on what your preference is.
You will need to meet your mentee in person for the majority of your meetings. We strongly encourage or mentors to hold their sessions in the workplace as this provides our young people with the experience of a professional environment, however if this is not possible you can meet in a public place such as a coffee shop or at your mentee’s school or college.
We offer a variety of training and support to our volunteers.
If you are mentoring with us, we will ask you to attend a live mentor briefing and complete two training modules online including Safeguarding.
You will also have the support of your own regional manager and the volunteering team. We also provide a host of resources to also ensure you feel confident and prepared for your mentoring role.
If you are delivering a masterclass for us, we provide the full presentation with presenter’s notes. We also offer the option of an online live training session with a member of the Career Ready team before your delivery or a recording of this to help you feel prepared. You will also have a Career Ready member of staff available to answer any questions about the event and location.
We kickstart our mentoring programme with our Regional Icebreaker events which usually happen in January or February. These sessions are mandatory for all mentors and students as it’s where you will meet each other for the first time. It is usually held in one of our employer partners office spaces, and you will be sent the details of the event between October-December. The session is usually around 3 hours long (on a week day) and consists of a few fun games, a presentation from Career Ready, and an opportunity for you to get to know your mentee one-to-one. This counts as your first 1-hour meeting. Here, we will encourage you to swap contact details to schedule in your second session.
We do our best to match you where you have specified but this is not always possible. We prioritise our matches based on the address you have provided to ensure you and your mentee are in reasonable reach of one another.
The mentor relationship doesn’t happen overnight so please try your best to be patient. The experience can be quite daunting for the student so allow them time to get comfortable. You are their sounding board, guide and critical friend and the relationship requires trust. If you still find that after a few meetings the student is disengaged please reach out to your Regional Manager who will be able to support you and the student.
At the start of your mentoring relationship we advise you to obtain exam dates from students as it’s likely they will be very busy over certain periods of the year.
If you or a young person are at risk to themselves or in immediate danger, phone 999.
If you are concerned about the safety or welfare of one of our young people and it is not an emergency requiring 999, your first contact should be made to the young person’s school or college, if you are unable to contact the school or college by phone, you should CC in your Career Ready Regional Manager to any emails sent to the school or college coordinator, they may also be able to help.
If you have a Safeguarding concern but there is no immediate danger or risk to the young person or yourself and if you are unable to contact the student’s school or college co-ordinator, you can contact Career Ready’s Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO): Sian Robertson, Director of Programme & Operations: 07525 754 829, sian.robertson@careerready.org.uk
You will need to have a UK address to be able to mentor, as you will be asked to complete an Enhanced DBS check with Career Ready before you will be able to mentor a young person one to one. All our volunteering opportunities are also in-person, so you will need to be able to volunteer in-person within one of our regions we support.
Volunteers from the EU
The UK is no longer a member of the European Union. But EU nationals can still volunteer in the UK if:
- They have settled or pre-settled status
- They have a visa that allows them to volunteer
- They’re volunteering with an EU-funded programme like Erasmus + or the European Solidarity Corps
You can also see this guidance from the NCVO.
Volunteers from outside of the EU
Please see government advice and personal visas for details or restrictions.
Depending on the role you undertake, we may ask you to commit to up to a year, this would be for our mentoring opportunities.
However, we do understand that personal circumstances can change which could affect your ability to volunteer. You can always contact us if you need to talk to us about your situation.
If you cannot commit to 12 months as a mentor, you can always volunteer for one of our other roles such as delivering a masterclass, which can be just one session or hosting a four-week paid internship during the summer.
Volunteers are covered by the Career Ready insurance policy while engaged in any volunteering on behalf of Career Ready. If you require further information, please contact info@careerready.org.uk
Please contact your Career Ready Regional Manager or you can contact info@careerready.org.uk if your circumstances have changed so we can support you with this.
Career Ready does not reimburse volunteers’ expenses.
Mentoring on the Career Ready programme is a wonderful and fulfilling experience because it gives you the opportunity to genuinely make a positive impact on a young person’s life.
