Being a mentee

Having someone who is totally dedicated to supporting your development during the duration of your sessions is a really unique opportunity.

There's no specific point in your career when you should have a mentor or look for guidance, it varies for everyone and our mentoring schemes are open to you whatever stage you're at. There's also no single reason why you might apply to be mentored, everyone has different goals. Some are progression-led, such as:

• branching out into a new area of law
• securing a traineeship
• getting a promotion

Others might relate to skills you need in the workplace that you need to work towards, such as:

• taking on management responsibilities
• working successfully through periods of change
• enhancing specific skills such as presenting or networking

Like any relationship, commitment is essential to mentoring's success. As such, you need to ensure you're proactive and motivated and in pursuit of professional growth. Remember that your mentor is giving up their time to support you, so be flexible and respectful when organising meetings. It might not be possible for them to meet during working hours, or lunchtimes might be best for them.

Make sure you turn up to your meeting prepared, having reflected on the previous meeting and having completed any relevant tasks, or made progress working towards an agreed target. Your mentor isn't a teacher so they won't be there to chase you up if you don't put the work in. A mentoring relationship should always be mentee-led.

A mandatory requirement for a mentee is having a goal in mind that you want to work towards. It's your responsibility to know ultimately what you want to achieve, although your mentor can certainly help you get there. Even if you don't have a perfectly clear aim in mind, your mentor can help tease it out and create a workable action plan.

The only other requirement to be eligible for our mentoring scheme is that you must be either:

• a current trainee, accredited paralegal or solicitor
• a former Scottish solicitor keen to return to a career in the legal profession
• or, an LLB or Diploma student/graduate and also a registered student associate

Once you create a profile on our online mentoring platform, you will be able to access tools and resources that will help you manage your career development alongside your mentor. It's important that you plan your sessions in advance and work on your progress in between sessions, as this is how you'll make real progress.

Your mentor must attend a full days' training session before they can access the mentoring platform and match with you. They will be able to guide you through the mentoring process, but you can always contact a member of our team if you need extra help at mentoring@lawscot.org.uk.

Please note that once you sign up to the platform, you might see potential mentor matches immediately. For others, it might be a case of checking back over the course of several months as we get new mentors trained. Particularly if you have niche interests or are located in an outlying area, it can take a little longer to get a successful match.