What is a mentor? A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser in simple terms. They share information about their own experiences and journeys as well as provide support, guidance, motivation and inspiration. They help you to explore your path, set goals and identify resources. ​ Why connect with a mentor? Having a mentor helps to build employability skills, encourages positive change and provides council along your journey. As your mentor will be someone who has more experience, they’ll be able to provide guidance and share the lessons they learned along their way. This means that you’ll be able to use their experience as a stepping stone giving you a great head start. A mentor can help to shorten your learning curve, open your mind to new ideas and possibilities, identify opportunities and advise on how to promote yourself. ​ How does Steer Up connect me with a mentor? Check out the "How It Works" section on our Homepage for further details on the process. ​ How do I sign up? It’s completely free to sign up and join our network. If you simply want to learn more about mentoring, feel free to schedule in a free consultation with us. Visit our Find A Mentor page for further information. How much does it cost? A consultation with one of our mentors is completely free. Ongoing session cost amounts will be listed on each mentors profile on our website. Some of our mentors are volunteers and do not charge for ongoing sessions however, this is completely at their discretion. You'll only ever pay what you can afford. You set your budget when you sign up, we'll match you with a mentor within your budget.  ​ How do I make a payment? All payments are made via the Steer Up website. Your payment will be due once you’ve agreed your session/s with your mentor and must be paid prior to commencement. Once your session/s are over, you can proceed to book further sessions or search for another mentor. ​ How does the service fee work? Steer Up includes a 12.5% service fee for both mentor and mentee on any payments processed. This fee goes towards running our platform and ensuring we're able to provide the best quality customer service. ​ How are the sessions conducted? This will be decided between you and your mentor, as you'll both state your preferable meeting methods when signing up. Most sessions are conducted via online video call however, you can also choose a phone call or an in-person meeting. Details of how your session will be conducted along with instructions will be included in your booking confirmation email. What if my chosen mentor doesn't want to proceed with me? Whilst we aim to connect mentors with mentees, a mentor will always have a final say on whether they can commit to your required session/s. If their schedule is full or they’re unable to take you on, please don’t be discouraged - we have plenty of mentors that can facilitate you and we will always provide alternative suggestions. ​ How do I leave feedback? After you've completed your session/s, you’ll be requested to leave a review. This helps to provide us with a true reflection of how your session was and proves to be informative to other potential mentees. How will I know if my mentor is a good fit?  We'd recommend asking yourself these questions: ​ Would this person have a good influence on me? Can I learn some valuable skills and lessons from them? Can I relate to this person in some way or another? If the answer to the above 3 questions is yes, you’ve found a great potential mentor! In addition to this, we also validate all of our mentors to ensure that they're able to provide the most effective sessions to our mentees. We provide them with a toolkit to ensure they're fully equipped to accommodate you.