Mentor Handbook

How we expect mentors to operate on MentorReach. Signing the Mentor Agreement means you agree to these standards. Read it once. It's short on purpose.

Where this Handbook and the Mentor Agreement conflict, the Agreement controls.

1. What we are

MentorReach connects students with people who already have the job or seat they are aiming for. Students come here for honest, specific, useful conversations. Not motivation, not fluff, not a sales pitch. Your value is that you did the thing they are trying to do, and you will tell them the truth about it.

Everything below protects that.

2. How a session runs

Three moments, one standard: come prepared, be useful, follow through.

Before a session

• Read the student's survey and goals before you join. You have their year, field, and what they asked for help with, so don't make them repeat it.
• Be on time. Join at the scheduled minute, not five past.
• If you can't make it, cancel or reschedule at least 24 hours ahead so the student isn't left waiting.

During a session

• Lead with substance. The student paid for your specific experience, so give them the real version, including the parts that are uncomfortable to hear.
• Be direct and honest. If their resume isn't landing or their target is unrealistic, say so plainly and kindly.
• Keep it actionable. They should leave with clear next steps, not vague encouragement.

After a session

• Leave session notes while it is fresh. The student can read them, and they are what makes the session useful a week later.
• Follow through on anything you promised. If you said you would send a link or make an introduction, do it.

3. Code of conduct

These are not suggestions. Breaking them can get you removed.

Everything stays on-platform. All scheduling and all payment happen through MentorReach. Never arrange sessions or take payment off-platform, at any commission tier. Being asked to, or asking a student to, is a serious violation. See Section 7 of the Mentor Agreement.

Be who you say you are. Represent your role, employer, and experience accurately. No inflation, no borrowed credentials.

No guarantees. You don't promise a job, an admission, an offer, or any specific outcome. You share experience and honest assessment.

Confidentiality. What a student shares with you stays between you. Don't repeat, share, or post anything from a session.

Professional conduct always. No harassment, no discrimination, no romantic or sexual advances, no pressure. Treat every student with respect.

No outside solicitation. Don't use sessions to recruit students into other services, sell them something, or push them off the platform.

4. Sessions with a student under 18

A parent or guardian may book a session for a student under 18 and will indicate this when booking. When a minor is the participant, additional rules apply and they are not optional. They are set out in full in Section 4 of the Mentor Agreement. In summary:

• Keep the session on the Platform's video service. No alternative platform, no phone call, no in-person meeting.
• Keep your camera on for the duration.
• Never ask a minor for personal contact information or social media, and never give yours.
• Never ask a minor to keep any part of the session secret from their parent or guardian.
• Accept that the parent or guardian may attend or observe.
• Decline the session if you are not comfortable with these conditions.

5. Payments

• You set your own rates and the session lengths you offer.
• Payment runs through Stripe. After each completed session, your earnings are paid out to your connected account automatically, so you never chase an invoice.
• MentorReach takes a platform commission on each session. The rest is yours.
• You are an independent contractor, not an employee. You handle your own taxes on what you earn, and Stripe provides your tax documentation directly.

6. Cancellations and reschedules

• Students can cancel or reschedule free up to 24 hours before a session. Inside 24 hours, the session is non-refundable and you are paid for the held time.
• The same 24-hour standard applies to you. Cancel or reschedule with as much notice as possible.
• A no-show on your part is the fastest way off the platform. Students trusted you with their time and money.

Full detail is in the Cancellation and Refund Policy.

7. What gets you removed

We personally selected every mentor here, and we will remove anyone who breaks that trust. Grounds for removal include off-platform payment, misrepresenting your background, any form of harassment or discrimination, repeated late cancellations or no-shows, and sharing what students tell you in confidence.

8. The bar we hold

We tell students that a session here is a real conversation with someone who did the thing they are trying to do, and that we personally review every mentor before they join. Your job is to make that true every single time. If every student leaves thinking that was worth it, and that person was honest with me, we are doing this right.