Mentor FAQs

As a mentor, you are helping your mentee by:

• Advising them on their occupation or industry in Canada to help them prepare for employment;
• Providing information on employment and/or educational opportunities within their chosen profession;
• Sharing your networks and professional contacts;
• Supporting your mentee to maintain self-confidence in a new society, workplace and culture;
• Helping them realize their full potential and how they can contribute to society and the economy.

As a mentor in our program, you can support your mentee in the following ways:

• Sharing insights into Canadian industry trends, providing knowledge about current practices in the marketing sector.
• Offering guidance on effective job search and interview strategies, including resume crafting and interview preparation tailored to marketing roles.
• Assisting your mentee in building a local professional network within the marketing community.
• Providing advice on developing strong job and project onboarding strategies to ensure a seamless transition into new roles or projects.
• Coaching on effective communication styles, workplace etiquette, and cultural norms specific to Canadian business environments.

Your mentorship will equip your mentee with practical skills and valuable insights to advance in their marketing career within Canada.

Mentors are expected to:

• Share details about their professional background and any information necessary for program delivery and matching purposes.
• Collaborate with their mentee to set objectives and goals related to job searching, networking, professional development, and more.

The time commitment is 12 hours over six months. This works out as approximately 30 minutes every week or 2 hours per month. You and your mentee can decide on a schedule that suits your goals for the partnership and your availability.

Becoming a mentor with the CMA offers a unique opportunity to:

• Enhance your leadership and coaching capabilities by guiding mentees and sharing your professional insights.
• Develop cross-cultural communication skills through interactions with New-to-Canada marketers from diverse backgrounds.
• Expand your professional network within the marketing industry, fostering new connections and potential collaborations.

Mentoring is fundamentally about personal growth and building connections. As a mentor, you don’t need to have all the answers to a mentee’s questions from the beginning. You don’t need to be more educated, smarter, older, or more experienced than your mentee. Sharing your experiences in the Canadian job market can be incredibly valuable to them.

Mentor-mentee matches are based on the information provided by both parties. We take a holistic approach to reviewing this information to ensure the best possible match.

Throughout the mentoring process, you should be speaking to your mentee about your shared progress in fulfilling the goals you set at the beginning of the relationship. Understandably however, not all relationships are perfect. If you are in a situation where you would like guidance or are experiencing conflict, please email us at [email protected] and a member of our mentorship committee will be in touch.

To qualify for our program, mentees must:

• Possess more than 3 years of progressive marketing experience.
• Have lived in Canada for fewer than five years.
• Be unemployed or underemployed and looking to re-enter their career.
• Be available for both in-person and online meeting
• Commit to approximately 12 hours over 6 months (roughly 0.5 hours per week or 2 hours per month) for mentorship and monthly education sessions.

As a mentor, you provide customized support and guidance. You can share insights and information about the marketing industry and occupation in Canada, as well as assist in building professional networks. However, it is ultimately the mentee’s responsibility to secure employment. The goal of the mentor is to empower their mentee to continue to pursue a successful career in marketing.

We try our best to match you someone who has as similar professional experience to you as possible. However, we cannot guarantee a 100% match. We encourage you to be flexible when considering a recommended match with someone who is waiting for a mentor.

There are certain occupational fields and industries where demand for mentors may be lower. In such cases, we will keep your application on file and contact you when a suitable match becomes available. We appreciate your patience.

Open communication is essential in any successful relationship. During the mentoring process, we encourage you to regularly discuss with your mentee whether you are meeting the goals you set together initially. If you're assisting your mentee in making progress with their job search, then your mentoring relationship is proving effective.