People in Scotland can monetise their expertise through a new online mentoring platform
As the cost-of-living bites, more people than ever before in Scotland are considering ways of increasing their income, but have you thought of selling your knowledge, specifically that experience you gained doing the job roles that made up your career?
That’s the concept behind Career Navig8r, the brainchild of Kenneth D. Glynn, who has launched an online product that’s purely focused on facilitating job-specific mentoring through an all-in-one platform for mentors and mentees.
Ken realised that so many people do not recognise how valuable their experience can be to others.
He explains: “Ask yourself the following: how much would your younger self gain from a chat with your present self on how you should approach one of your job roles? This unique level of experience and knowledge is what you have to offer to others. This laser specific guidance that we would all value receiving rather than the general advice offered by other types of mentors. To be of such value you only need to be one step ahead of a mentee in their career. So, in essence, anyone can be a mentor.”
The fully live platform allows mentees to browse mentor profiles, find someone who has already excelled in their present or future job role that they can learn from, send them a message and book mentoring sessions. And for mentors, create a mentor profile, set their own schedule and hourly rate, and manage mentoring sessions.
Founder Ken gives his top four tips on how to get a lucrative side hustle that offers flexible working around your commitments, selling your best asset – yourself.
- Sell your expertise
“My inspiration behind Career Navig8r is simple- to match people who have experience in a specific job role with those who want to learn from them. We then created the technology that allows us to do this, giving both parties flexibility in terms of how much time they want to give and when they want to mentor or be mentored,” said Ken.
His first tip is to complete an analysis of a past or present job role. Consider what is achieved when this role is done with excellence and define the skills and network of relationships required to achieve these outcomes. From there on in, you can identify the typical pitfalls that a person should be careful of, and how these can be mitigated and addressed. Finally, prepare your stories that bring truth to the analysis.
Mentoring sessions can be one-off or ongoing. For example, someone might need help preparing for an interview in a job role you know intimately, or they may need longer-term support to help them plan out a route to securing that specific job, or to settle into that role once they have gotten it. And once there, they may need aid in navigating those first few weeks or even months.
- Sectors crying out for mentors
IT is one of the biggest sectors crying out for mentors due to the rapid integration of new approaches and technology.
Banking is another as mentors can provide valuable insights and guidance on entering the investment banking or private equity space, including interview preparation, networking strategies, and building a solid foundation in financial analysis and valuation.
There are many more skills gaps that people need help with. “One popular example where there is scope for mentoring is online marketing, particularly social media. A social media assistant mentored by a social media manager can better understand how to implement a strategy or analyse why certain campaigns fail to garner attention from audiences,” added Ken.
- Go global
One of the key advantages of Career Navig8r is that it‘s global. “If you’re based in the UK, you have a unique perspective of your industry landscape and that’s marketable,” said Ken.
It gives you the opportunity to mentor individuals who need advice if they’re looking to break into the UK market.
“For example, you can mentor someone relocating to the UK on how they can ensure they have the right skills, qualifications and knowledge for their role. You might even help them to write their CV or prepare for interviews,” he added.
- Career changes
Another lucrative mentoring area is advising those who are dreaming of a career change.
“People are crying out to hear from those who have ‘lived experience’ of careers that they want to break into,” said Ken.
A key example is people working in the IT sector who want to advance their careers by getting certified, since there are many IT certifications to choose from depending on your focus within the field. A mentor who has the specific job role in question can be vital in giving practical advice on which certification is best suited to your particular job and career goals.
“The ever-increasing emphasis on mental health, coupled with the Covid crisis, has left a lot of people re-assessing what they want to do and craving a change to take on work that provides more satisfaction and happiness,” added Ken.
“There are plenty of places where you can find a mentor. But Career Navig8r is THE place to find a mentor or be a mentor for a particular job role. We offer specific, defined development,” said Ken.
