Can you share a little about yourself (who you are, your family, the local community you come from and the challenges you face) and what was going on in your life when you first started mentoring?

My name is Kyle. I was born and raised in Bradford. Growing up, I would have described our family as relatively working class, just about making ends meet; my dad always worked as a caretaker in school and my mum works in an admin for a care home company. At one point, my dad even had to leave his job so that I could attend school. That sacrifice has always stayed with me quite a bit and motivated me to make use of every opportunity. I would say throughout school I did reasonably well. I ended up going to university and I really applied myself then, graduating with a top grade. I was also offered the opportunity to take part in this mentoring scheme as a reward. The programme was facilitated by my university in partnership with NatWest through the One Million Mentors initiative.

Was there something you were worried about or wanted help with when you started mentoring? How has that changed since then?

Before I actually started mentoring, I thought I had probably some potential but didn’t really have any clarity or confidence in the next steps. Professional networks and corporate knowledge weren’t really accessible to me. I think mentoring came at the right time as it gave me more guidance and exposure that I needed to confidently step into the next stage of my journey. I wanted experience in how a corporate world would be. I specifically wanted to work on my interview techniques and skills because I previously had an interview, which I don’t think particularly went well, because I think I crumbled a bit under pressure. I also wanted to learn how to write my CV better and become more confident in that respect.

What is the one or two things about your mentor, and the advice or support they have given you, that’s had the biggest impact on you? I won’t say there’s any individual moment, but I would just say more just a gradual, reinforcing certain things. The continuous nature of the mentorship really helped in making me more confident in regard to it.

For people your age, why is having a mentor important right now?

I would say because specifically around my age, over 18, you finally get into that aspect where you have to now bridge that gap between education and work and obviously work–life balance. At this stage in your life, you need probably some more guidance, someone who’s going to help you and push you to that world where you can get out and get a job and basically live your life.

When you think about your future or the next steps in your life, how has mentoring helped you feel more inspired or excited about what’s ahead?

Before I went into it, I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I wanted help with these specific things. Post-mentoring, I would say it absolutely helped me in quite a lot of ways. For example, with my interview techniques. Mentorship did take a massive part in that because I since then secured a job at NatWest, thanks to the network that I created through my mentor and techniques he taught me and helped me with my CV. “When you have someone who’s been there and done it and they’re giving you that encouragement and perspective, it gives you a lot more belief in your own self. It’s helped me progress myself, not just from being a university graduate student. I feel like I’m believed in it because of my mentor.