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Become a Mentee

Top reasons to join the program

  • Gain valuable startup advice from an experienced entrepreneur or subject matter expert matched with you based on your business goals
  • Develop entrepreneurial skills and knowledge in strategic and operational processes, business planning, funding, and other areas in line with your specific business goals
  • Access additional resources and support to get closer to launching or growing a successful business
  • Learn to set and prioritize strategic business goals
  • Improve your interpersonal skills and learn about business networking

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You must be willing to...

  • Create business goals to work towards with your mentor’s support during the program (training on goal-setting will be provided)
  • Meet with your assigned mentor for at least one hour per month for five months of the program
  • Complete mandatory mentee training before the start of the mentoring relationship
  • Complete monthly progress check-ins with program staff

Selection criteria

  • Be at a stage where you are positioned to benefit from mentorship. We will help you determine if mentorship is right for you at your current stage of business development, or if there is another service that may be a better fit to help prepare you for mentorship at a later stage.
  • Be able to meet mandatory program commitments: Complete mentee training and meet monthly communication requirements with your mentor and program staff. More details will be provided during training.
  • Understand that selection is subject to mentor availability.

APPLY

Rolling Intake Throughout The Academic Year.

Mentee FAQ

How do you decide who will be my mentor?

After you complete the application form and once applications close, you will be invited for an intake interview. During the intake interview, we will get to know more about you, your business goals (both short- and long-term), and what your biggest needs are.

Based on the information you share with us, we will go through our database of available mentors to match you with someone who can help you with your specific business goals and needs.

Who are the mentors in the program?

Mentors in our program are volunteers and are usually experienced entrepreneurs themselves. They are from diverse industries and backgrounds. We also recruit industry experts from a variety of fields, as mentees often need expert support for tasks like prototyping, business communication, networking, or marketing.

Can I Work with My Mentor After The Program Ends?

You can continue to work with your mentor informally after the mentoring period ends IF both you and your mentor agree to keep working together. This is a conversation you can have with your mentor in the last month of the program. You will be provided with training on how you can approach such a conversation. Please be aware that mentors are generously volunteering their time for this program, and do not always have capacity to continue working with mentees after the program ends.

Who can apply to take part in this program?

This program is open to all BCIT students and alumni. If you are a BCIT graduate, it doesn’t matter if you graduated this year or ten years ago. As long as you are new to entrepreneurship and need support to launch or grow your startup, we’ll match you if we have a mentor that can support you with your business goals.

Can I be part of the program more than once?

Yes, you can apply for mentorship as many times as you wish.

Please note that we will only match you if you will benefit from mentorship in your current stage of business development. Also, you will need to do an intake interview each time you apply so that we can assess what your needs are for successful matching purposes.

What happens if you don’t have a mentor match for me?

We will do our best to match you with a mentor closest to your business goals and needs if you are ready for mentorship.

If we don’t have a mentor that meets your needs available for the intake you’re applying for, we will refer you to other resources to support you, and we will keep you top of mind for matching in the next intake.