IV module. What should Mentor know about employment related issues?
If you are participating in the blended mentoring on employment related issues we would like to provide you with more information about the blended mentoring as wells as strong points and challenges of e-mentoring which is part of the blended mentoring process.
Blended mentoring on employment-related issues (ERI) is a development process which has a start and an end. It is based on confidential meetings in pair meetings (pair mentoring) or group (group mentoring) combined with e-mentoring meetings in the special platform. Blended mentoring on ERI connects the fresh ideas of the mentee to the mentor´s experience, wisdom and networks and enhances learning opportunities of mentees to get new skills and competences for increasing their employability. In this mentoring process the age is not crucial, the experience is.
Strong points of e-Mentoring
E-Mentoring can be done at any place and anywhere where there are ICT tools available. It has many strong points: there is no need for the meeting place (advantage especially for group mentoring); it is time saving method and has flexible time scheduling; distance becomes not a problem (time for travelling will be saved) and it is cheaper; it is different and easy way for communicating also different learning methods are used: when using writing it´s better for persons who prefer to write; when using net camera it´s better for persons who want to communicate directly; the use of ICT tools enhance one´s skills in them; social networking of mentors can facilitate their work in e-Mentoring; technical statistics can be used for monitoring and evaluating the e-Mentoring process; in case a co-ordinator of an e-Mentoring process has enough statistical data of the ongoing mentoring process she/he will have a clear idea what is going on (quality control); it is safe: mentoring can be made in places where you are not threatened (in case someone is e.g. living in a dangerous area) and you can distinguish what things can be delivered in platform and what should be delivered face-to-face.
Challenges of e-Mentoring
There are, however, some issues that have to be taken into consideration in e-Mentoring. Many people are isolated already and in some cases e-Mentoring may increase that. E-Mentoring creates a lack of personal contacts (local and international contacts). It may be difficult to be confident at the beginning. Body language, vocal tunes and state of mood might be missing. All people are not so familiar with ICT and they may think it´s dangerous to write on the internet for security reasons. Some people may be afraid of the fact that other persons see his/her writings in the mentoring process. People have different learning methods, different personalities. People have different communications skills also in writing. Clear rules for e-mentoring between a mentor and mentee are extremely important.