Candidates seeking mentors

Finding a mentor that's right for me
- a guide for prospective Registration Scheme candidates

All candidates on the Society of Archivist Registration Scheme must have a mentor to support them on the Scheme.  Successful mentoring relationships require trust, respect and effort - but finding a mentor can seem a daunting task for newly qualified professionals who may think that they don’t know any potential mentors.

Any Registered member of the Society of Archivists who is interested in continuing professional development (CPD) can be a mentor to a Registration Scheme candidate. The most common routes to finding your mentor are through work contacts, SoA meetings and professional events. 

Meeting a mentor through work
Ask your colleagues and manager if any of their contacts are Registered Members of the Society who might be interested in becoming a mentor.  If you are the only archive professional in your workplace do not assume that your colleagues do not know archivists, conservators or records managers outside of your organisation. Personal introduction is the most common method for candidates to find mentors.  It is also a great way to raise the profile of your professional development activities with your manager.

It is not recommended that your line manager becomes your mentor – the two roles are very different with separate aims.  Read the article ‘Perfect Partners?’ (originally published in ARC, May 2003) which expands on the issues.

Meeting a mentor through SoA meetings
Regional and special interest group meetings are attended by archive professionals at different stages of their careers and are therefore a great way to meet potential mentors.  Don’t be alarmed that you may not know anybody – asking someone whether they are involved with the Registration Scheme (there are around 200 people enrolled and 150 mentors) can be a useful icebreaker.

Professional events
Attending professional events such as training workshops, exhibition launches and conferences provides opportunities introduce yourself to a whole new network of people. Let people know that you are keen to be involved in the SoA Registration Scheme – you never know who you might meet.

If you have tried the suggestions above and are still having difficulty finding a mentor contact the SoA mentor co-ordinator (for contact details click here),  who will do their best to help you. There is no central list of potential mentors but the mentor co-ordinator is happy to approach people on a candidate's behalf where the candidate’s own efforts have been unsuccessful.

Last modified 31/05/2005