You must first fill out a subscription form on Réseau Mentorat’s national website. You will need to provide the following:

• Your local point of service, i.e., the Haute-Gaspésie, La Côte-de-Gaspé, Rocher-Percé, Bonaventure, Avignon or Îles-de-la-Madeleine cells
• Your last company’s creation date (month/year)
• Your company’s business sector
• Your complete contact details
• The reasons that have led you to become a mentor

A confirmation of receipt of your request will be sent to you by email. Please note that there is no membership fee to become a mentor. Certain Réseau Mentorat activities (such as the national Rendez-vous Réseau Mentorat) may require payment, but you will benefit from discounted rates for such events.

All membership applications are properly evaluated upon receipt. The assessment is usually done by a team of mentors at the point of service selected on the membership form, as part of a meeting with the future mentor. Main evaluation criteria include:

• Entrepreneurial experience (5+ years)
• Business management experience
• Volunteer and mentor experience
• Reputation (credibility, integrity, trustworthiness)
• Motivation for becoming a mentor
• Availability
• Ability to listen, put yourself in someone else’s shoes and be open to their ideas (non-directive)
• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and articulate way
• Personal values

After your application has been accepted by your local point of service, you will be invited to attend a mandatory Réseau Mentorat workshop (Introduction to Mentoring – Is Mentoring for Me?). Once you have passed this requirement, you will be officially recognized as a mentor. Other workshops and accreditation programs have also been set up to help you continue to tweak your skills as a mentor.

Your mentoring cell, which receives requests from entrepreneurs in your area, is responsible for assigning mentors based on each individual’s profile. Where possible, they will try to select a mentor who operates in a different line of business from the mentee. This is intended to eliminate potential conflicts of interest or to avoid the temptation of involving technical aspects of the trade.

Your mentee will call you and set up an initial meeting. If you have the right “chemistry,” the dyad will be formally activated.! Otherwise, you can discuss the issue with the person in charge of your mentoring cell to find a solution. As a rule, meetings last for one hour and take place once a month. Initially, however, meetings can be more frequent in order to build trust.

As a mentor, you will need to participate in development workshops, which usually last three hours.

You can also get involved in other ways with Réseau Mentorat. For example, becoming a chief mentor, training other mentors, giving lectures or testimonials at events, etc.