ACS NSW Mentoring Program - Expressions of Interest for 2022 Intake (Session 2)

28 Jun 2022

Highlights

The ACS NSW Mentoring Program is an opportunity exclusively available to members who are interested in the benefits of being a Mentor or Mentee. 

The NSW Mentoring Program is an opportunity for ACS mentors to provide the benefits of their professional and real-world experience to mentees. It also assists members to improve their professional skills and seek guidance on a range of career choices. Members can:

• Connect and position themselves as experienced information technology professionals
• Improve their professional skills and address the challenges they experience in their work through one-on-one feedback
• Share the wealth of their experience and knowledge with one another
• Contribute to the individual growth of members (both mentors and mentees) and the maturity of the progression
• Access opportunities to further build and improve their networking and communication skills

How it works

Mentors and mentees submit an application to participate in the program.

ACS NSW offers two mentoring program intakes each year. The first intake starts in January and ends in June. The second intake runs from July to December. Intakes begin with a kick-off session, where you meet your mentor/mentee, and end with a close-out session. A mid-program huddle focuses on topics that augment the learning experience.

The ACS NSW Mentoring team matches mentees and mentors according to their experience, career objectives and, where possible, work or home location provided in the participant's application.

All successful applicants are required to attend the briefing session that kicks off each intake (Janaury). Once the matching has been completed, participants will receive an email with the details of the kick-off meeting.

The Mentoring Program includes a mid-session (March) face-to-face huddle that focuses on topics of special interest to the participants and provides opportunities to reflect on the mentoring relationship to take them to the next level. Health check surveys are carried out by the mentoring program team during each intake to ensure that mentor/mentee expectations are being fulfilled, and to seek opportunities for improvement and feedback.

The mentoring intake ends with the close-out session (June), an opportunity to take stock of what was accomplished, learn from the experience and provide input so the next intake can be further enhanced.

Benefits to Mentees

The Mentoring Program is designed to support the mentee’s development path. Some of the benefits for mentees include:

• Being able to have an open and confidential career discussion in a neutral environment
• Learning from the expertise, experience, and wisdom of a seasoned information technology practitioner
• Having access to an impartial and objective third party to work through current information technology and career challenges
• Gaining new insights and different perspectives on issues
• Broadening your professional network
• Earning CPD points

Benefits to Mentors

Mentors recognise the importance of developing the next generation of information technology professionals but also benefit from the mentoring role by:

• Giving back to the profession by helping less experienced professionals improve their skills
• Reflecting on missteps and accomplishments to assist mentees in their development.
• Gaining new perspectives from your interactions with your mentee
• Recognition as a seasoned practitioner
• Development of mentoring skills
• Earning CPD points

Eligibility & Fees

The mentoring program team and mentors are ACS volunteers, who offer their time and energy free of charge for the benefit of the mentees.

There is a $50 fee to mentees to cover administrative costs including printing, licensing, emails and functions.

The program is exclusive to current financial ACS NSW members. Professional Year members are not eligible at this time.

Submit Your Expression of Interest

There are three ways in which you may choose to apply to work with the ACS NSW Mentoring Program:

1. Click on the Mentee Application and submit it by 13 July 2022.

2. Click on the Mentor Application and submit it by 13 July 2022. We are looking for suitable ACS members with experience and a desire to help develop other members of the profession. Some training will be given to assist with the mentoring interactions; however, a focus on developing people is a strong requirement.

3. We are also looking for a small team of volunteer administrators to manage the process. In the initial instance the team will consist of three volunteers plus the Mentoring Coordinator. If you have an interest, please call Richard Hemsworth (0409 223 766) to have a confidential conversation. Click here to read the role description.