The mission of VarsityMentor is to tackle the pandemic of youth unemployment and unemployability in Africa by empowering African youths to be themselves and their very best and to pursue their life aspirations and careers without limits. To achieve this, we connect African university students with verified fellow Africans in diaspora and Africans at heart who provide the students mentoring and career pathway guidance throughout the period of their university study.

Mentor Role

By becoming a mentor, you commit to:

• Take the lead in supporting a student through a one-to-one mentor-mentee relationship with the goal of helping them build a purposeful career in life
• Serve as a positive role model to a student
• Motivate and work with a student to build self-esteem, identify their unique talents and how to leverage them to become their very best
• Provide an average of 1-2 hours monthly mentoring on VarsityMentor platform
• Help set goals and work toward accomplishing them
• Build the relationship by planning and participating in activities together
• Provide a student with academic, entrepreneurial, social and emotional support, and career guidance
• Guide and advise a student to identify and work on their VarsityMentor sponsored Authentic, Impactful and Meaningful (AIM) project with clear contribution to community and to Africa
• Submit a quarterly update on a student’s performance and growth to VarsityMentor
• Attend VarsityMentor New Mentor Orientation at the start of your mentoring program and other mentor training program as prescribed
• Attend VarsityMentor yearly Awards Ceremony
• Participate in VarsityMentor year Refresher Training Program for mentors
• Strive for mutual respect and adhere to a strict confidentiality agreement

Requirements

To be eligible to mentor with VarsityMentor you must have:

• Be interested in advancing Africa and growing the next-generation of manpower in Africa
• Graduated from a four-year college or university
• Minimum of 2 years professional experience.

When To Apply

Our mentor recruitment happens on a rolling basis. As a result, mentors are free to apply at any time of the year. However, mentors and students are matched between April and June. Orientation and new mentor training programs happen in June and August. New mentoring cohorts start in September.

Recruitment Process

Step 1: Awareness Learn more about mentoring, the problem of youth unemployment and unemployability in Africa, and the process of mentoring at VarsityMentor. Interested candidates are encouraged to review our Mentor webinar and blogs, attend our Mentor Recruitment Event, read about our success stories, and review the FAQs on our website. Step 2: Application Complete the VarsityMentor application form. This will help us learn more about you and your interests, and may also be used in the interview and matching stages. You may be asked to provide 2 professional references, who will be automatically contacted via email, as part of the application process. All information as well as all reasons for VarsityMentor recruitment decisions is kept confidential. Step 3: Interview Candidates shortlisted to advance to the stage will be invited to a virtual, one hour interview. Questions range from mentoring experience to familiarity with the state of undergraduate studies in Africa as well as the problem of youth unemployment and unemployability in Africa. Please note that reasons about all interview decisions are confidential. Step 4: Application Review and Background Check VarsityMentor reviews all application and interview materials. Candidates selected to advance to the next stage will be contacted to do a background check. Background screening involves checking and verifying a candidate’s history and interests and how well they align with the mission and interests of VarsityMentor Step 5: Matching At this stage, shortlisted candidates are matched with students. Matching happens in May-June, the mentoring program begins in September just as the school year commences. Step 6: Mentor and Mentee Onboarding VarsityMentor informs candidates of their final mentor status, and introduces them to the students they have been matched with. This includes a number of training, orientation and onboarding programs