The team of Skills Mentors is a dedicated and qualified team, whose role is to individually support young people within schools or transitioning out of school, people undertaking an apprenticeship and people who are upskilling with a programme of CPD (continuous professional development) or undertaking an accredited training course.  

The area of work that the mentors undertake with school age children includes connecting the education system with industry and the world of work. Skills mentors support young people in the important school years 9, 10 and 11; these are crucial milestones in a young person’s life, where they are making choices about their futures and mentors work with them to engage in a range of different activities relating their learning to the world of work. Skills mentors can work with young people to provide work insights (visiting workplaces across a variety of industries), individual coaching and mentoring sessions to provide guidance on workplace expectations and behaviours.  

Who are they?
The team of Skills Mentors is a dedicated and qualified team passionate about supporting people. They have come from a wide range of backgrounds and offer an abundance of experience to those they support. 

What do they do….  
Individuals can access a qualified mentor who’s role is to work with them on goals, career progression, personal development and aspirations. This is tailored to the individual and is a partnership designed to enhance personal effectiveness,  well-being, sense of purpose and has been shown to increase productivity.  The service is voluntary and impartial and we can work with people towards a planned goal, advising on the most effective way to achieve this, or providing study planning advice, time management, communication skills – the ways in which a mentor can help are as varied as the range of people we work with.Our mentors will work with you to develop a clear plan towards achieving your goals.  

Key elements include; 

• Exploring your interests and aspirations 
• Support with balancing study and employment
• Identifying your strengths 
• Setting new goals 
• Arranging work insights to help find your interests for possible career paths. 
• Identifying, managing and overcoming challenges, to enable progress into the world of work 
• Exploring and discovering pathways and options for your future career
• Support with employer relationships – eg how best to broach the subject of gaining promotion

How do we do it….. 

• 1:1 coaching/mentoring appointments, planned around you and with your success as the goal
• Work insight visits to explore career interests and gain a fuller view of different work environments
• Cooperation with employers and other professionals to enable positive relationships
• Activities and workshops targeted to individual clients’ needs 
• Signposting to other services and opportunities 

How to get in touch…. 

Anybody can refer themselves or a young or eligible person to the service. The steps to making a referral can be found on the Skills Jersey webpage on Gov.je.