Mentor Training Series
Are you considering mentoring apprentices or interns on your ranch or farm? Want to improve apprentice recruitment, selection, training, education/work balance work and feedback? Join us on our free mentor training call series, designed to help you and your apprentice have a more successful season!
Calls are led by NAP’s founding mentor and mentor training specialist, Julie Sullivan. Call topics are based on over 15 years of experience mentoring young agrarians (and all of the trials and tribulation, joys and missteps encountered along the way).
Each call topic is offered twice via Zoom, on Tuesdays at 12pm MT or Thursdays at 7am MT. See below for individual call descriptions and registration links. Last year’s call recordings are posted in YouTube and will be updated with this year’s as we go along. If you would like to read the content, check out our Mentor Handbook.
Send any questions to Julie Sullivan at julie@quiviracoalition.org.
#1 – You and Your Operation as Mentor
Sept19, 2023, 12:00 – 1:00pm & Sept 21, 7:00 – 8:00am
Mentoring differs from being an employer in key ways: how do you know if it’s right for you? What are you excited to teach? The answers to these and other questions will help you write an apprenticeship description that is both appealing and realistic about the ups and downs of regenerative agriculture on your site. We’ll discuss ways to describe work schedules, location, isolation, and other factors, to be sure your description will appeal to the applicants you most want to attract. To watch last year’s recording of this call, go here.
#2 – Evaluating Written Applications
Nov 7, 2023, 12:00 – 1:00pm MT & Nov 9, 7:00 – 9:00am MT
Reading applications for obvious strengths as well as for someone with potential is supported by a strong evaluation process that starts before you read a single application. We will share strategies for tackling the pile of applications, evaluation templates, and sample email responses to applicants who you would like to interview and those you will decline. To watch last year’s recording of this call, go here.
#3 – Interviewing for Your Best Candidate
Dec 5, 2023, 12:00 – 1:00pm MT & Dec 7, 7:00 – 8:00am MT
How can you best Interview to reveal the skill level, motivation and aptitude of an applicant and determine if they are right for your operation? We’ll share great questions that lead to thorough responses regarding experience and motivation. What questions can’t be asked, for legal reasons? How do you find out what you most need to know? And how do you select your finalists? We’ll discuss all this as well as conducting both phone/video and on-site interviews. To watch last year’s recording of this call, go here.
#4 – Expectations Explained: Yours and Theirs
Jan 16, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00pm MT & Jan 18, 7:00 – 8:00am MT
You’ve chosen your apprentice and are preparing for their arrival. How do you set clear expectations of job responsibilities, days off, work schedules, team meetings, and your workplace culture? Writing an apprenticeship agreement, creating a skills list, and setting clear boundaries at the beginning can support a successful apprenticeship. To watch last year’s recording of this call, go here.
#5 – Connecting Work and Education
Feb 6, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00pm MT & Feb 8, 7:00 – 8:00am MT
How do you structure the workday, week, and month so that priorities are established, and both work and education happen? Strategies shared include weekly planning meetings, how to find those ‘teachable moments’ during a workday, and ways to do up-front training to get your apprentice going and maintain focus, communication and motivation in the busy season. To watch last year’s recording of this call, go here.
#6 – Sustaining Apprentice Motivation
March 5, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00pm MT & March 7, 7:00 – 8:00am MT
Apprentice motivation can falters a few months in. We’ll discuss ways to co-create apprentice goals that take advantage of the built-in learning at your operation, and ways to keep that momentum going through the season, including identifying apprentice solo study, local resource people to learn from, and visiting other operations. Skill sheets are great prompts for this so we’ll discuss ways to make them truly effective and useful to you and your apprentice. To watch last year’s recording of this call, go here.
#7 – Feedback to Feed Forward
April 23, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00pm MT & April 25, 7:00 – 8:00am MT
Actionable feedback catalyzes learning and motivation by correcting errors while looking ahead to further development. We’ll share a variety of tried and true methods for productive feedback conversations both scheduled and impromptu, as well as how to get feedback to help you grow as a mentor. To watch last year’s recording of this call, go here.
With thanks to:
