CILIP have started holding mentor surgeries to supplement the initial training that all mentors complete. In December 2023, the surgery took the form of a panel of three CILIP Mentors of the Year (Sarah Elsegood, Jess Pawley and Sophia Richards) and Melanie Wood, Professional Registration Support Officer (PRSO) for the North-East, who had been invited to speak in her capacity as both a mentor and PRSO. Suzie Williams, Secretary of the CILIP North-East Member Network Committee and a CILIP mentor, also attended. This blog post is a short account of the event from both perspectives.
Melanie’s reflections
I initially regretted having agreed to
being part of the panel: what could I speak about for eight minutes when I was
following three Mentors of the Year? Topics such as how to ‘get it
[Professional Registration] done’, organisation buy-in and turning failure into
success were addressed by my fellow panel members. As a mentor, I like to have
an initial informal chat with prospective mentees as building rapport helps me
become genuinely invested in the mentee’s journey and makes for a more
authentic mentoring relationship. I think it’s important to be flexible and
responsive to mentees’ needs: it is their Professional Registration experience
so not my place to dictate. Being willing to share my personal experiences and
failures is something I do in the classroom when introducing students to rare
books in my day job but it works well in mentoring situations too and, on the
subject of failure, it’s important to help mentees understand that not
everything they discuss in their portfolios needs to have been successful, it’s
the learning and reflection that come from failure that counts. Indeed, helping
mentees reframe failure and success can be useful; I advise mentors to
celebrate success – big and small - throughout the mentoring relationship and
not just the pass at the end of the process.
Wearing two hats
This is all well and good, but I haven’t
been nominated for Mentor of the Year! What I do have is the added insights
I’ve gained from becoming a PRSO. Through delivering webinars on ‘Getting
Started with Professional Registration’ and ‘Reflective Writing’, as well as
taking turns responding to enquiries about the process of Professional
Registration, it is clear candidates don’t engage fully with the information
and resources available to them and mentors are perfectly placed to signpost
the handbooks and the many videos that are hosted in CILIP’s eLearning Hub.
Want to know how to approach the PKSB
self-assessment? There’s a video for that. Thinking about the audience for the
PRSO webinars, I realised that all my attendees have been candidates but there
is no reason why mentors shouldn’t participate too. It would be a good way of
keeping up to date with the Professional Registration process and ensuring that
the support we provide is appropriate. Similarly, candidates can post questions
about the process in the ‘Ask a PRSO’ forum but do mentors know that they can post
queries here too?
CILIP mentors are expected to Revalidate
their Professional Registration and some will take it a step further and aim
for Fellowship. I’ve done that and, despite being a mentor, I benefitted hugely
from being mentored myself. On becoming a PRSO and now, starting out as a CILIP
assessor, I’ve continued to find benefit in being mentored. I also encourage
other mentors to consider volunteering as PRSOs. The time commitment requires
attendance at quarterly online meetings, filling a week-long slot in the enquiries
rota two or three times a year and delivering two online training sessions,
using pre-prepared content and with a PRSO buddy to share the load.
My PRSO role has made me more aware of
things that candidates struggle with and the mistakes that are commonly made.
I’ve learned new tips and ways of explaining things like what counts as
evidence in a portfolio. Occasionally, a CILIP assessor will come to the PRSO
meeting, or webinar, and that has given me greater insight for examples, into
the things assessors look for; the most problematic assessment criterion; and the
presentational pitfalls that cause some candidates to fail. All good learning
that I can apply in my role as mentor. Being a PRSO also gives me a sense of
belonging to a Professional Registration community that I didn’t have when I
had the single role of mentor, bolstering my own enthusiasm for, and commitment
to, supporting candidates.
It turned out that being invited to be part
of the panel was an opportunity. It forced me to reflect on my effectiveness as
a mentor; allowed me to learn from some of the best; gave me a forum to
advocate for the PRSOs; challenged me to think about whether/how my role as
PRSO differentiates me from non-PRSO mentors; and made me feel positive about
the contribution I’m making to the wider profession.
Suzie’s reflections
Melanie has outlined the content of the
webinar and in her reflections has detailed her valuable contribution to the
session. Highlighting to mentees that your evidence doesn’t only have to be
about things that have gone well, but also about failures too, is so important.
For example, the pandemic meant many things happened which we didn’t anticipate,
and this afforded valuable learning experiences to reflect on for Professional
Registration.
I agree with Melanie that mentors should
consider attending the webinars arranged for those doing Professional
Registration as it is a really good way to keep up to date with the
requirements of Professional Registration as well as to hear what kind of
questions mentees are asking? As a mentor myself, I know the questions my
mentees ask, but it is super helpful to hear what other people are asking as
well. Having occasional mentor-only sessions is very useful as it gives you a
helpful sounding board for any tricky situations you may encounter.
Useful tips for mentors highlighted in the
webinar included:
-
Scaffolding the process,
building in stages so the process isn’t open-ended.
-
Encourage the mentee to set
their own deadlines – what are their motivations, and can that help with
setting deadlines?
-
Encourage mentees to link up
with others doing Professional Registration – buddy up with others to get peer
support.
-
Use coaching techniques to
encourage your mentees to reflect on their professional practice.
Show that you are human too! Start your
meetings with ‘how are you’. Be appreciative and understanding of what else is
going on in your mentees lives, it’s not just all about Professional
Registration. Melanie emphasised the importance of developing an authentic
relationship – it’s not a tick-box exercise – it is about developing personal
self-awareness.
We strongly encourage both mentees and
mentors to engage in webinars offered on Professional Registration. They are a
welcome forum for learning hints and tips, and to engage with others involved
in different aspects of Professional Registration.
About the writers of this blog:
Suzie Williams – Academic Liaison
Librarian, University of Sunderland. CILIP Mentor
Melanie Wood – Special Collections Librarian, Newcastle University. CILIP
Mentor and PRSO
