Employability and Progression Mentor Volunteer 18+ (North)

Work directly with children / young people: Yes

Age range of children / young people: 18

Disclosure Check: Basic

Term of opportunity: We would expect you to be committed to support The Trust in this role for a minimum of 1-2 years.

Commitment: Mentors will be matched with young people for periods of 3-6 months, with typically 1-2 mentoring sessions per month for each mentee. Mentors are usually matched with 2 mentees at a time.

Location: North of England – Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool.

Volunteers are at the heart of everything we do. The King’s Trust couldn’t function as well without the support of thousands of volunteers across the UK, who are able to offer a vital network to young people facing significant barriers to jobs, education or training.

Our Employability and Progression Mentors provide one-to-one support, guidance, encouragement, and inspiration to a young person who has completed a King’s Trust Programme. As an Employability and Progression Mentor, you will offer knowledge, experience, and support to young people as they develop the skills, confidence and motivation to succeed - either in education or further training, through work experience, volunteering or by securing a job of their choice.

Mentors will meet on a regular basis with a young person and help them identify and achieve goals. You will offer guidance, support and encouragement and a safe space for a young person to discuss the skills they need to develop and how to do this. You will provide guidance on employability and job search issues, including supporting with CV writing and interview practice. You will provide active support between sessions as agreed, such as reviewing documentation, email responses, signposting where to find useful resources, networking connections; etc… And you will share relevant learning and useful resources with other volunteers and Trust colleagues that may benefit young people and our work.

Ideally an Employability and Progression Mentor will commit to around four to six hours per month for a minimum of 3-6 months for each mentee with whom they are matched. Relevant experience can be developed during the role but ideally a volunteer will have experience with building trust with young people from a range of backgrounds, mentoring skills, be a good communicator, be able to give and receive constructive corrective feedback and have experience of job searches, application processes and interview experiences.

We are specifically recruiting new mentors to meet a demand for in-work support and job-searching for roles in the Health and Social Care sector. Experience in this sector is desirable but not essential, with a focus on general coaching and employment support being the main priority for volunteers in this position. The majority of these mentoring connections will be fostered online, via digital meetings and email, with limited opportunities for face-to-face connections available depending on location and preference of mentees.

In return for your valuable time, The King’s Trust will provide comprehensive training and support to you in your role. You will enjoy the benefits of being part of a dedicated community of colleagues and volunteers who directly support young people to transform their lives. Now in our 50th year, The King’s Trust mission is to end youth unemployment – and we want you on board to help us.

The King’s Trust want to be an organisation that's representative of the communities we serve. As such, we would be particularly interested to hear from women and individuals from an ethnic minority background.

Here at The King's Trust, we're committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to be an organisation that's representative of the communities we serve, which is why we strive for diversity of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective. Our goal is to create an environment where everyone, from any background, can be themselves and do the best work of their lives.

We’re a Stonewall Top 100 Employer and we are an employer that is Disability Confident. Our staff, volunteers and young people are supported by KT CAN (our Cultural Awareness Network), KT GEN (Gender Equality Network), KT DAWN (Disability & Wellbeing Network) and PULSE (LGBTQIA+ Network).

The King's Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of this commitment, we undertake basic disclosure checks in accordance with the Codes of Practice for all roles within the Trust, and for our roles working directly with young people, at an enhanced level. Having a criminal record will not automatically exclude applicants.

We are committed to equality and believe in building a diverse organisation that is representative of and responsive to the needs of our young people and stakeholders.