RedR UK Mentoring: The next step

14 August 2018 RedR

RedR UK’s Mentoring Programme is designed to support junior professionals as they look to gain experience in the humanitarian sector. 

We pair Mentees with an experienced humanitarian in the same field who can assist them in taking their 'next step' in the sector.

Mentors provide technical guidance, information on the humanitarian sector and support with potential career paths and opportunities. All of our Mentors are experiences humanitarians, which allows them to offer practical advice which is grounded in real-life experience.

To support their journey, all Mentors receive free, high-quality online training, and consistent support from RedR UK throughout the process.

 Mentor Michael Mozina and Mentee Rafael Coca, share how their relationship has grown through the RedR UK Mentoring programme .

The Mentor and Mentee

RedR UK Mentor

Michael Mozina is a civil engineer with 25 years’ national and international experience in water, natural resource management and post-conflict development and reconstruction environments. He has worked for UNHCR in Africa implementing humanitarian reintegration and transitional assistance programs for refugees and UN-OCHA in Vanuatu following Cyclone Pam. He is also a member of the RedR Australia Roster.

RedR UK Mentee

Rafael Coca is a Water and Sanitation Engineer with 17 years of international experience in different regions of the world: Latin America, North Africa, East Europe. Language skills (Spanish, English, French). Further to this, he possesses 3 years of fieldwork as a Commissioning Engineer in water treatment plants in different countries, including Spain, Morocco and Romania. He is also a member of the RedR Affiliate scheme.

What inspired you to join the RedR UK Mentoring programme?

Michael: I wanted to be a sounding board for mentees considering joining the humanitarian sector or those in current roles needing technical advice or someone to appreciate their challenges being faced and offer relevant guidance for pathways ahead. Sharing personal experiences in the Humanitarian sector, transitioning to/from “normal work” and deployments, has helped me to work in the industry in different functions, roles and geopolitical settings.

Rafael: I am in the process of reorientating my professional career towards a role in relief schemes or international development projects. The RedR UK mentoring program came out as a useful step forward.

What have been the most positive aspects of the mentoring relationship?

Michael: Sharing our different pathways and journeys towards transitioning to a humanitarian role up front was a great way to build rapport, helping me frame discussions for identifying and pursuing approaches for Rafael towards securing that first opportunity. Rafael’s feedback throughout the mentoring program also inspired me to look more broadly into my experiences and observations to reflect on and share when touching base. Investing time in building our relationship and getting to know one another was most rewarding.

Rafael: The communication between Michael and me has been very friendly. We have been able to share our experiences and our interests without any restrictions. Michael has always kept an open, positive attitude, giving his personal opinion and advice on any questions I asked him, no matter how silly I felt they were!

This scheme gives a support structure and offers coping mechanisms to aid workers, which helps to make them more insightful, prepared and confident, and this benefits the whole sector.

Michael Mozina

Mentor

Could you briefly explain what you have done in your meetings, were there any topics you found particularly useful?

Michael: The mentoring action plan prepared by Rafael was excellent, providing a focus for immediate aspects to discuss, unpack and work up suggested approaches. Laying out a program and timeline helped to make expectations clear. We held monthly meetings via Skype, as well as regular email exchanges over our 6-month mentoring period. Our meetings generally started with updates on our current lives and then a recap of what we had assigned ourselves to work through. Many of our meetings revolved around discussing various pathways to secure a humanitarian role, what would be involved, and what areas would be best to focus on to pursue these opportunities. We also explored what courses may best to complement Rafael’s skills and experience.

Rafael: We had some time to talk about ourselves in the first meeting, and then I explained to Michael why I wanted to work in the humanitarian sector. I talked about the aspects of my professional profile that I thought could be improved, then we set an action plan. We spent the rest of the meetings talking about the main subjects we included in the action plan, for example, different resources where I could get an in-depth view about how the sector works (funding, international organisations like UN, etc.), and which technical knowledge/skills are the most useful and how to get a first field experience in the sector.

How can mentoring programmes benefit the humanitarian sector?

Michael: The mentoring program allows new entrants to the sector gain first-hand insights that will inform their decisions and pathway to the sector and enable them to know how best to contribute their knowledge. Mentees in humanitarian roles, especially those with limited access to support networks, have someone to confide with. This scheme gives a support structure and offers coping mechanisms to aid workers, which helps to make them more insightful, prepared and confident, and this benefits the whole sector.

Rafael: Programs like this perfectly equip participants with knowledge of the humanitarian sector. There is nothing better than having a chat with someone that has been working in relief or development for a number of years, it was a valuable opportunity to be able to share these experiences across a 6-month program.

Programs like this perfectly equip participants with knowledge of the humanitarian sector. There is nothing better than having a chat with someone that has been working in relief or development for a number of years, it was a valuable opportunity to be able share these experiences across a 6-month program.

Rafael Coca

Mentee