We collected the most common questions that arise from our mentees and potential mentors. If you haven’t found the answer to your question here, don’t hesitate to write to us: hello@pplan.me.

As of today we do not conduct the search on behalf of the candidate, but our mentors and curators share information about the best resources and practices to find a desired job in a particular country.

Our mentors are professionals with experience in job search and life in a foreign country, primarily in Europe. Our experts come from numerous areas — from HR and marketing to design and architecture.

When picking the best mentor for a candidate we thoroughly consider the candidate's needs and either offer them an HR-expert, or a specialist from the same domain. If we have several mentors to choose from, we try to also pick one who's living in the candidate's country of interest.

If you already have a CV in English and are OK with us sharing it with the mentor — please send it over to your coordinator. If you don't have a CV yet, we will help you compose one.

The session is typically held via Zoom or Google meet and its duration is approximately 1 hour. It is better if you can find a quiet place for the meeting and turn your camera on :)

We usually conduct meetings on CV enhancement and interview practice in English, but that is subject to the candidate's wants and abilities.

Candidates who need help with learning a foreign language will be referred to our friends. People from Ukraine can take English classes free of charge, as well as free classes on Polish, Spanish, French and other languages. Also we have our short course on the interview in English.
The course is one month long with the sessions held twice a week in a small groups. We will be covering common interview questions and do a lot of speaking practice. If you are from Ukraine, and are going or already in the process of interview and want to participate in this course, please contact us on Telegram: @thepplanproject

We are looking for mentors who could help Ukrainians to land a job abroad. Someone who is able to help and guide mentees during the exhausting job searching process, to be a buddy and to build long-lasting relationships.

We are looking for people from various backgrounds and different expertise who are willing to commit to mentees’ success.

Anyone with professional experience and desire to help can become a mentor. However, there are certain qualities that make a person a good mentor. Here are a few of them:
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Experience and Knowledge: A mentor should have experience in the industry, as well as knowledge of the job market in the country. It's challenging to provide advice on job searching in a specific country if you haven't walked that path yourself. Understanding how recruitment processes and the job market work is more important than seniority in your own profession.

Willingness to Help: A mentor should be ready to assist their mentee in learning and growing, being patient with their mistakes, understanding, and prepared to offer support. Achieving good results often requires much more than just one meeting, so it's important to be prepared for a long-term commitment.

Communication Skills: A mentor should be a good communicator. You need to express your thoughts clearly and succinctly, as well as listen to and understand your mentee.

Empathy and Openness: A mentor should be responsive to the needs of their mentee. They should be willing to provide feedback and help their mentee grow and develop.

Creative Thinking: Sometime mentor's assistance might involve helping the mentee figure out how to apply their professional skills in a new country or devising a creative way to apply their experience in a new work situation.

You don't necessarily need to have many years of experience in your field. The most important thing for a mentor is the willingness to share your unique experience in job searching.

The key aspect for a mentor is being ready to accompany the mentee through the challenging journey of job searching in a new unfamiliar country.

If you have knowledge about the country and experience in job searching within it, along with experience in your industry, then your experience can be valuable to a mentee.

After a mentee fills out an application on our website, project coordinators reach out to them to clarify the details of their inquiry. It's important for us to understand the mentee's expectations and determine the kind of support we can provide.

After that, the coordinator begins to search for a mentor who best aligns with the given request. We select mentors from our database or, if necessary, invite mentors from the professional community to join us.

Most often, we ensure that the mentor and mentee share the same country and industry. However, a perfect match might not always be possible. In such cases, we make sure to share this information with both the mentor and mentee. Depending on the mentee's request, we may also consider other factors when selecting a mentor.

Yes, absolutely. Before connecting a mentor and a mentee, the coordinator shares the mentee's request and expectations with the mentor. If you feel that it might be challenging for you to provide support to the mentee in a specific situation or if you lack expertise in that area, you can always communicate this to the coordinator.

Mentorship is a two-way street where the comfort of all participants matters. Therefore, if you ever feel that working with a particular mentee isn't comfortable for you due to any reasons, you can reach out to us, and we'll find another mentor who might be a better fit for them.

As soon as we find a good match and have a confirmation from both the mentor and the mentee, we will connect you with each other. This could be through an email, messanger or a scheduled call.

While we encourage our mentees to be proactive and initiate communication with their mentors, the mentor's initiative and invitation for a meeting can be incredibly helpful as well. Not everyone feels completely confident to ask for a follow-up meeting or pose questions.

During the first meeting, it's most beneficial to discuss the working format and mutual expectations. The mentee's requests can range from very specific, like providing feedback on a resume, to more abstract, such as exploring potential career paths. The format, timing, and frequency of meetings are determined through mutual agreement between the mentor and mentee.

The majority of requests can be divided into two main categories:
1. Mentees often have questions related to their experience in a specific country (such as which local websites are used for job searching, how to tailor a resume, what the typical hiring process is like, and more).
2. Mentees seek feedback from more experienced colleagues in their industry (for instance, reviewing their resume or LinkedIn profile, suggesting essential hard skills to develop, assisting in preparing for technical interviews, or conducting mock interviews).

The format, timing, and frequency of meetings are determined through mutual agreement between the mentor and mentee.

However, it's important to keep in mind that the job search process often takes a considerable amount of time. Therefore, the most effective format often involves regular meetings (1-3 times per month) over the course of several months. Sometimes, a mentee's request might be resolved more quickly, while other times it might take more time.

We recommend mentors to engage with no more than 1-2 mentees simultaneously.

Additionally, you'll need time to prepare for meetings or simply to be available if the mentee has questions.

On average, mentorship usually requires around 1-2 hours per week.

The choice of language depends on an agreement between the mentor and mentee.

We recommend communicating in English or the language of the country. This helps the mentee practice the language in a safe environment.

If you wish to switch to Russian or Ukrainian, we always suggest asking the mentee if they're comfortable with that.

The most important thing we expect from each mentor is a respectful attitude towards the mentee, their experience, skills, and emotions.

Mentors are prohibited from asking mentees pay for mentorship services or any other assistance (such as offering job referrals), as well as from proposing any illegal activities.

The most crucial aspect is to assess how much energy, time, and resources you have available to provide support to the mentee.

The job search process usually takes a substantial amount of time; it's a marathon, not a sprint. Thus, please, be prepared that despite your efforts and those of the mentee, results might only emerge in around 3-6 months. Connecting emotionally and supporting mentees in such a way is equally valuable during this period.

If you feel that mentoring may not be right for you at this stage, you can always contact us. Let's discuss how you can support the project. You can write to us at hello@pplan.me.

The pplan project is non-profit. We do not charge mentees for the services provided, and unfortunately, we don't have an opportunity to compensate for the work of mentors or our team members who are all volunteers.

You can be part of the project for as long as you find it fitting your interests.
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Even if you can only help only one mentee, it's already incredibly valuable.

Please let us know via hello@pplan.me, if you need to take time off, pause or stop your commitment.

We gather feedback from mentees and share it with mentors.

However, it's important to mention that mentees might not always share their feedback with us. They might feel uncomfortable expressing negative comments or may simply not have the time to provide a detailed feedback. The most effective way to gauge a mentee's impression of the collaboration is to ask them directly.

We will not share you personal information with your mentee's or other mentors' without your direct consent.

Occasionally, we ask mentors about their experience to share information on the website or social media platforms. However, we always obtain prior consent from the mentor before doing so.

If you want us to delete your personal information, please email us hello@pplan.me and we will delete your data from the database.

When selecting mentors, we focus solely on their professional experience, proficiency in English or the language of the country of residence, and their willingness to help.

Our mentees typically are not seeking jobs in Russia, so if your experience is limited to job searching or hiring within the Russian territory, your experience might not be relevant to international contexts.