GCS Mentoring Opportunities
If you are looking to develop your career, taking part in mentoring could be a great option. Mentoring has been found to have many benefits for both mentors and mentees, growing confidence, supporting career progression and improving delivery.
As a mentee, you will:
- gain access to insights, knowledge, tools and best practices shared by experienced mentors
- benefit from guidance and support for personal and professional development, to improve your skills and capabilities
- be supported in identifying and achieving career goals, with mentors providing invaluable advice on career progression
- expand your professional network
As a mentor, you will:
- be able to share your knowledge and expertise, contributing to your mentee’s professional development and growth while learning from their fresh perspectives
- strengthen your leadership and coaching skills – valuable skills for line managers at every level – by supporting and guiding your mentee
- support GCS to develop skilled people from a diverse, UK-wide range of backgrounds
- help mentees navigate their career paths and achieve their goals.
Opportunities in GCS
There are a range of mentoring opportunities which you can get involved with as a GCS member:
GCS Apprentices (AO): Apprentices are matched with a mentor to receive career advice on how to navigate GCS careers. If you are interested in mentoring a GCS apprentice, please contact the GCS Apprenticeship mailbox.
Connecting Diverse Voices:A mutual mentoring programme whereby junior mentors from underrepresented groups are matched with a senior leader to share their experiences, the senior leader in turn offering career guidance and advice.
GCS Locations: A cross-regional mentoring programme to support career development while facilitating x-government networking (sign-up to your local GCS community to receive information about signing up for the next cohort in Spring).
GCS Advance Leader: Participants on this programme are matched with a mentor to receive career advice on preparing for the most senior leadership roles and honing their leadership skills.
GCS Connect (the GCS community platform) also has a dashboard which you can use to find a coach or a mentor for an informal, mentoring conversation. These can be incredibly useful in exploring career opportunities and receiving advice without taking part in a formal programme.
Several of the GCS discipline networks have established mentoring programmes. Find out more by getting involved in your GCS discipline network.
Guidance for mentors and mentees
We have updated and improved our guidance for mentors and mentees. In the guide you can find helpful information on:
- the role of the mentee and mentor
- useful questions to support mentoring conversations
- establishing ground rules and setting boundaries
The updated GCS Career Framework is also a useful tool to support you to explore your career opportunities and options. You can also use it to identify which skills you would like to develop in taking your next steps.
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