Shelley Mulville is one of our Career Mentors – experienced professionals who provide advice, support and guidance to mentors on our ReachOut Level Up programme, and our brilliant Project Leaders.
What motivated you to become a Career Mentor?
“I was a mentor to a young person in a ReachOut project in 2020 and loved it, but as my son was starting school the following year and I wanted to be there to pick him up, the school programme didn’t fit. When I saw the opportunity to be a career mentor , meeting once a month at a time that suited my mentee and me, it was an ideal way to stay connected with ReachOut and do one of the things I enjoy most – using my knowledge, skills and experiences to support others in developing.”
What sort of things did you and your mentee discuss?
“We talked about a lot, especially when we met in person, from how university is going, future career aspirations, how to explore options, what those options might be, making contact with organisations and people. As well as a little about our personal lives, home, what we’re doing at the weekend, what we think of different places, and our experiences of different things.”
What did you gain anything from the experience?
“I get to know and understand another person, their aspirations, what motivates them. That’s a real honour.”
What did you enjoy most about Career Mentoring?
“Spending time with a lovely person, learning about and learning from their experiences and making use of my knowledge, skills and experiences to help them.”
If you had to give advice to someone becoming a Career Mentor, what would it be?
“Be you, you don’t have to know it all, explore with your mentee and work through things together…remember the old saying about having two ears and only one mouth. Remember to listen; share experiences positive and otherwise, so others can increase their awareness and understanding through your lessons learnt, as well as where things have gone well; and where you have knowledge or contacts that your mentee doesn’t have, help to connect them.”
Is there anything else you’d like to mention about your Career Mentoring experience?
“ReachOut is a great organisation to work with, having seen how the children develop through the school programme and the effort the Project Leaders put into making it possible, alongside the ReachOut team, it’s a real joy to support. I’d recommend it.”