Hello
Grateful to all contributors to this forum.
I have some questions regarding two pieces of evidence;
1.) For this criteria;
Evidence of mentorship (i.e. the sharing or teaching of skills and knowledge). Mentorship should have been done within an organised, structured and recognised mentoring scheme, which can be clearly demonstrated through evidence.
Can I use https://codementor.io amongst other evidence? I have a mentor account there where I have provided over 200 paid live mentorship sessions with an overall 5 star rating.
2.) For this criteria
Employment contract with salary information including any bonus and equity options (although you will have to demonstrate how you have gone beyond your day-to-day activities to demonstrate that you have made a significant impact in the sector);
I earn a salary that may be considered average for my industry in the Uk but is top 4% in my current country (both in my industry and in general). Is it advisable to submit this as a piece of evidence?
@Temidayo clearing the mentorship criteria is a bit tricky. The line between a paid mentorship program and a job is very narrow. I was rejected the first time i applied for endorsement because my mentorship was classified as a job. I only cleared the criteria because i emphasized that the pay was to fuel my car to the place i offered my services and not a sustainable amount of money. Be careful with the money part of your mentorship.
For question 1:
I would suggest you definitely include it as part of evidence of structured mentorship but if possible also share evidence of other voluntary mentoring activities / speaking engagements that you have done. This way the assesor(s) will see clearly that you are not just doing the mentorship for additional income.
For question 2:
You can submit it but don’t depend on it alone for reasons you have indicated. I am sure there are many other things you can use to show you are a leading talent per the guideline.
However, if the salary is just slightly over minimum wage in the UK, I would honestly suggest not to include it as evidence. This is assuming you have many years of experience. (Which means you will automatically be assessed as exceptional talent regardless of what you selected in your application).
If you don’t include it, you will then need a different evidence that shows you as a senior executive of the product-led company.
You didn’t ask this but I thought to mention it as your name tells me you are Nigerian.
Please also bear in mind, that the expectation is that you would be going to the UK to create more value (more jobs, build innovation, bring ideas, build ecosystems, etc ). Ensure you are not positioning yourself as someone simply going to take the jobs they are trying to create in the UK.
@badesemowo. For 1, I planned to use the structured mentorship evidence amongst much other evidence as you suggested.
I have about 4years of experience and planned to apply under the promise route, do you still think I will be assessed as exceptional talent instead of promise?
Thank you for the extra tip
