How to be a great Mentor on ProZ.com

Samuel Sebastian Holden Bramah, one of ProZ.com's top mentors, presents a short overview of the ProZ.com Mentoring Program and proposes a series of pointers for experienced translators wanting to jump in to the exciting world of mentoring less experienced translators.

From registering as a Mentor to how to answer mentorship requests, what to cover during your mentorship sessions, ideas for topics to discuss and things to avoid when mentoring, this short course is a kind of "crash course" on the ProZ.com Mentoring Program... Giving you the basics to set up and set out as a great mentor for all the budding translators that join ProZ.com every day, hopefully inspiring you to jump into the program and get creative!

Points that will be covered:

• The ProZ.com Mentoring Program
  
• Mentoring requests
  
• Establishing a great Mentor - Apprentice relationship.
  
• Communicating with your apprentice
  
• Things to avoid
  
• Content to cover (some ideas)
  
• When to draw a pairing to a close
  
• Interesting links and further reading.
  

Get a good overview of the programme, what to expect and what to offer.

For experienced translators wanting to become Mentors within the ProZ.com Mentoring Program.

The ProZ.com Mentoring Program

• What does it mean to be a Mentor?
  
• Questions to ask yourself before becoming a mentor.

Mentoring requests

• How to deal with incoming requests.
  
• What questions to ask.
  
• How to reject a request politely.

Establishing a great Mentor - Apprentice relationship.

• Establishing rapport.
  
• Giving a clear picture of what exactly you will be covering.
  
• Be clear on how fast you will reply.
  
• Being honest and transparent during the relationship.
  
• Be clear as to how long the pairing will last.
  
• Be clear about when and how you will communicate.

Communicating with your apprentice

• Things to avoid
  
• Ego.
  
• Inflexibility.
  
• Power trips.
  
• Humiliation.
  
• Etiquette, Netiquette and Cultural differences to bear in mind.

Content to cover (some ideas)

• Linguistics.
  
• Business skills.
  
• Time management.
  
• Marketing.
  
• Finance.
  
• Training, associations and conferences.

When to draw a pairing to a close

• The natural close.
  
• If interest from the apprentice dwindles.
  
• If you believe you have nothing more to say.
  
• If your apprentice is taking up so much of your time that you can't get any work done.

Interesting links and further reading.

Samuel Sebastian Holden Bramah    View feedback | View all courses

Bio: Samuel Holden-Bramah, a multi-talented translator and trainer with over 15 years' experience in the Language Service sector. Samuel comes from a background in teaching languages and communication skills, as well as IT skills for the hearing impaired, Job-finding skills for unemployed adults, STD awareness for Healthcare professionals (Sam is also a Registered Nurse!) and all kinds of wellness courses (Aromatherapy, Meditation, Reiki, Ergonomics, Mindfulness, Time Management...). On ProZ.com Samuel has been an active member of the Certified PRO Network community, setting up several powwows in Spain and the UK and also leading the ranking of Top Mentors in the ProZ.com Mentoring Program. He currently resides in Mallorca, where he enjoys juggling with his work-life balance so he can get enough work done to pay the bills, but also have time to hit the beach and get in some watersports in summer and cook and bake for friends and family in winter. Check out his website at www.holdenbramah.com for more information, contact details and info about upcoming events and/or book releases.