Find a mentor

Mentoring can be a hugely rewarding experience for all those involved. It's main purpose is to help people explore their ideas, problems and opportunities and can be particularly useful in situation where people feel there is a block to progress, a problem that keeps recurring or an opportunity they cannot work out how to exploit.

The process should be a confidential, learning partnership between two people aimed at building the capacity of the mentee. Mentors, as well as acting as a sounding board and offering impartial feedback, are experienced professionals who are willing and able to help others and who use their own professional experiences to help steer and support the learner (or “mentee”).

Mentoring is of particular value for staff who are developing in new roles or who wish to develop themselves beyond their current role. It can also be beneficial for those in need of some expert insight and help during times of change or challenge.

The University has its own Coaching and Mentoring schemes for staff, and we run our own Professional Registration mentoring scheme too. Read the bios of our mentors below and reach out to someone who can help you with your registration:

Hong Chang (CSci)

I hold the position of Experimental Officer and Imaging Suite Manager in the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences (CEMPS) at the University of Exeter. I am responsible for the day-to-day smooth running of the characterisation facilities including SEM EDS, FIB SEM, TEM/STEM, XRD, AFM, CT, light microscope and a range of sample preparation equipment. I provide training, demonstrations and hands-on service for student projects, research, and commercial clients, as well as designing and delivering teaching for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Through these I have developed comprehensive knowledge and experience in managing the users, lab space, facilities, maintenance, budget, and service contracts. I have29 publications(of which 9 as first author, 4 as corresponding author) and I have delivered 25 presentations/posters.

I am also keen in improving myself personally and professionally. I am a Chartered Scientist (CSci) of Institute of Science and Technology (IST) since 2017. To me, the professional registration has been one of the most rewardable achievements. It provided me with guidance of competence standards, it inspired me to regularly reflect on what I do, it directed me to tremendous learning opportunities and it tremendously boosted my confidence. So I believe professional registration awards will also help you find a challenge that you need, help you stand out and be recognized!

Steve Goff (RSci)

Background

I started my career working in industry as a cell biologist and developed a health and safety advisor role alongside my research. I moved to Exeter in 2017 and I’m currently the Technical Services Manager for the Living Systems Institute, a multidisciplinary research building which houses over 25 research groups across three floors of modern laboratories and two basement floors, with facilities for CryoEM, laser labs, an insectary and microscopy suites. Working with my team of lab managers and technicians, I support about 200 researchers by ensuring the labs are well maintained, coordinating infrastructure projects, and promoting a safe working environment.

Why I applied to be a Registered Scientist

When I started at Exeter, I wanted to be able to demonstrate my skills and experience to other technical services colleagues, academic staff and those in Estate Services. Professional registration demonstrates a commitment to learning and development and provides independent recognition of your achievements. I attended a professional registration event to understand the application process and realised I would be eligible to apply for Chartered Scientist (CSci) level, despite not having the academic qualifications, because a greater emphasis is placed on your experience.

Benefits of Professional Registration

I found the application process challenged me to really look at the competencies I had built up during the past 20 years of work, and this has enabled me to carry out my current role with more confidence.

Throughout the year I work towards my continued professional development (CPD) portfolio, which encourages me to identify and undertake new training opportunities. A focus of the last two years has been to increase my professional activity (e.g. involvement in a professional body). I recently took on the role as a registrant champion for the Science Council, with the aim to engage more technical staff in professional registration, through running workshops and mentoring registrants more technical staff to become professionally registered.

Conclusions and recommendations

Professional registration is increasingly valued by employers, demonstrates a commitment to learning and development and provides independent recognition of your achievements. I would highly recommend the professional registration to technical staff of all levels, and I feel it can enhance your current role and increase your chances of promotion. I look forward to supporting you in your application!

Read a short piece from one of our previous mentees below on their experience achieving Professional Registration

The success of any mentoring scheme will depend upon two factors: the motivation of the mentee and the wisdom of the mentor. Whilst the first one is not for me to judge, I was extremely fortunate with the second factor.

Thanks to the help I have received from my mentor, I managed to go through a rather complicated process of professional registration without major problems. Gavyn, my mentor, worked as a great facilitator – he allowed me to introspect on what my strengths and weaknesses are, and helped me to use that knowledge in order to compose a successful application form.

We had four one-hour sessions where we talked through every point of the process and made sure that all of them were addressed, matching best cases to required examples. Some of the points within the registration process are impossible to be completed impartially based on my own judgement (indeed it is suggested in the form itself to use external help) so a mentor is key to address them.

Going through my recent career with Gavyn was a fantastic experience and it allowed me to look at my job from a completely different angle. This angle has helped me greatly in the application process for my current job, so using a mentor in the registration for professional qualification is also useful as a stepping stone in your career – that is an important feature of both the mentoring scheme and the registration itself.

Furthermore, mentoring does not have to stop when the registration is completed. Gavyn and I have met multiple times since then and I used his advice to help and steer my career in best way possible. For example, I had some meetings with him before my interview. He also helped me with managing my workload - something I know I have problems with – because we have a good mentor-mentee relation, I managed to solve some serious work related issues that might have impacted negatively to the quality of my work otherwise.

Daniela Farina (Mentee)