By John Challen

Following its launch in June 2025, CIHT Mentoring has quickly become a key member benefit, offering transport professionals the chance to connect and support each other to progress their careers. Originally designed to support members working towards professional qualifications, the service has been expanded to include general mentoring, opening opportunities for members across all career stages to network, knowledge share and support each other to develop their careers.

“With nearly 300 active participants across professional qualification and general mentoring, engagement has exceeded expectations,” says John Hall, professional development officer at CIHT. “CIHT Mentoring clearly meets a growing demand for accessible, structured peer-to-peer help.”

The simple way to support your career

Emma Towle, senior associate engineer at Stantec, became a CIHT mentor to support others through their professional qualification journey. Her motivation to become a mentor came from not having access to mentors during her own progression. “I didn’t know anyone who had been through the process and could provide guidance, so I wanted to support others going through a similar journey,” she says.

Towle explains that CIHT Mentoring is easy to use and that mentoring can be fitted around members’ professional lives. To get started, members simply create a profile detailing their experience and specialisms, allowing effective matching across all disciplines and career stages.

“The whole process has been very flexible and easy to arrange around work and other commitments,” she explains. “The matching process works very well, and it’s possible to effectively support people with varied technical backgrounds, experience levels and skill sets.”

Not only does the CIHT mentoring platform connect experienced mentors with people seeking to progress their careers or achieve professional qualifications, early career professionals can offer reverse mentoring to support more experienced members to maintain their knowledge. CIHT Mentoring offers all members the opportunity to give something back to the industry.

Shared knowledge and experience

One of the people that mentors such as Towle are helping in their career is April Morrison, technical officer at Aberdeen City Council. Morrison sought mentoring after attending a CIHT professional review webinar but was unsure how to complete her application. “I had started my application but was struggling to bring everything together,” she says. “Using CIHT Mentoring helped me find the right support at the right time.”

Morrison found the platform straightforward and intuitive, with clear guidance that helped her to identify and connect with a suitable mentor. Her experience of being matched based on shared professional experience proved particularly helpful within the local authority environment and the impact was immediate.

“After the initial meeting, I realised how much simpler the process would be with a mentor,” she says. “I felt more focused and confident in what I needed to do.”

Working with her mentor helped Morrison to refine her application to clearly demonstrate competency evidence and structure her responses more effectively. This targeted support played a key role in her successful IEng review. “It made the process more manageable and gave me reassurance that I was on the right track,” she states.

The future of CIHT Mentoring reflects the Institution’s commitment to building a more connected, inclusive and capable profession. “CIHT’s ambition is to make mentoring a standard part of professional development in highways and transportation,” says Hall. “Members helping other members to learn, progress and succeed, together.”

To find out more about CIHT Mentoring, click here:

Become a CIHT mentor or mentee here: