Its easy - a mentor is invited to sign up via their company. They complete a profile, and once approved, wait to be selected by a mentee. The mentee signs up and is presented with a number of potential mentors selected by our algorithm. The mentee can read about the mentors, and uses the built in messaging engine to contact a mentor. Once the mentor accepts the mentee's invite, both parties make arrangements to meet online via phone, VC etc. All sessions are online.

Please contact the sales team to sign up. You can arrange a via the "Contact Us" link. For every new company who signs up to inspo, we pledge to present one financial wellbeing session to a UK based school. Our vision is to present these sessions to all 4,000 secondary schools across the UK by 2030.

inspo caters to students from all different backgrounds including students from socio-economic disadvantaged backgrounds, immigrant students with no network of support, LGBTQ+ students with no career role model they can personally identify with and so on. inspo helps to afford students with little or no professional network with the same opportunities as a student from a more fortunate background. It helps to level the playing field for all. For more info click on the social impact link below.

A mentee is typically a student who is looking for practical advice and inspiration on careers as they consider their next steps. A mentor is someone who is a working professional and is willing and able to share their career advice and insight with the mentee.

Yes every new company that signs up to inspo will avail of mentor induction training as part of their package. Please contact inspo directly on support@inspo.uk or your HR department to find out more.

Mentors should default to whichever video conferencing software is currently in use within their company (Microsoft Teams, for example). If, for whatever reason, a mentee is unable to access this software, any VC software that is freely accessible to both mentor and mentee is suitable.

It's free for students / mentees and mentors. Organisations pay a fee to enable their staff to become mentors and use this platform.

Mentees, or students, will typically have up to four sessions of 30 minutes per engagement with their chosen mentor. The first is an introduction session, finding out about each other, and what advice the mentee is looking for. There are then three further sessions which could be focused on topics such as: industry knowledge, salary negotiation, cover letter, descriptions of different departments and roles, advice on how to get a job, feedback on the mentee’s CV, and other tips and tricks.

It's not a one-way street! Mentoring can be an extremely rewarding process helping those who are looking for advice and inspiration. Mentors will also meet mentees from different backgrounds, and so understand others' worries and concerns. Mentors will develop their active listening skills and will become more inclusive leaders. There is also the potential for reverse mentoring, described below.

Reverse mentoring is exactly as it sounds, with the knowledge passing from a student to a professional. This may include understanding how to use the latest social media platform or software; discussing ideas common to younger age groups; and ultimately better understanding people with different perspectives.

Here is a list of sample questions you may wish to discuss:
How do you feel about the current state of the environment?
Have you felt discriminated against in any workplaces / at university, How have you overcome this?
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What are your passions and motivations? (eg, hobbies / career goals etc)
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What are your motivations when looking for in a job? (money, career progression, work life balance etc)
How important is 'social purpose', do you think that is the same for your peers. What does social justice mean to you?
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How important is social justice to you and why?
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D&I is becoming more prominent in the workplace - what are your views?
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What is your ideal work life balance?
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What is your perception of working in an office - what do you imagine it to be?
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What should companies be doing more of to attract Gen-Z?

We suggest that once a mentor and a mentee have been matched, there will typically be up to four sessions of 30 minutes each. It is expected that this mentoring will take place over a period of 6 weeks (a session every 2 weeks or so) at times convenient to both parties.

If you have the time, you can enter into multiple engagements. Initially, we suggest completing your first mentoring engagement so you can gauge how much time it takes. Also, bear in mind we ask every participant to provide a score on the engagement, as a way of encouraging respect and prompt timekeeping etc.

After your engagement, we suggest that you connect with each other on LinkedIn and stay in touch. We do not consider this to be the end of the professional relationship, as it could lead to opportunities for both sides. For the mentee this could be work experience, an internship, their CV forwarded on to the talent acquisition team and so on. For the mentor this could be honing leadership and coaching skills, gaining a new work colleague they’ve helped develop and so on.

Absolutely! Mentees will be better prepared for interviews, they can start to grow their LinkedIn network, and as a result, they may hear first about internships, work experience, or even job opportunities. Being a mentor also develops new skills and adds to your CV. Meeting students from different backgrounds will help you to become a more inclusive leader. inspo helps both mentees and mentors!

Congrats on your new role! Mentors, please flag this move with our inspo team as soon as you accept your new company role and we can plan how best to bring the mentoring engagement to an end. Please mention inspo to your new company’s HR team as they might not have heard of us yet!

Life can happen and we operate a two-strike rule here at inspo. Once can be a mistake, forgetfulness, a genuine emergency, ill health and so on. Twice is an opportunity to end the mentoring relationship and start an engagement with a new mentor or mentee. Please email support@inspo.uk if you need to pause your account for reasons outside of your control and you can reengage with the mentoring process again another time.

Mentoring on inspo should be a positive, empowering and informative experience overall. If a mentor or mentee makes you feel uncomfortable in anyway, please end your mentoring session immediately and flag your concern to support@inspo.uk. Our team will work with you on next steps.

Please use the "Contact Us" tab above to send us a message. We aim to respond to your query within 24 hours. Corporate clients please feel free to reach out to your relationship manager as an alternative.