A new mentoring guidance note developed by the Professional Standards Committee made up of CIHT and Transport Planning Society (TPS) Members has been launched. The guidance note is aimed at anyone mentoring candidates who are preparing for TPP Professional Review.

The Transport Planning Professional (TPP) was launched in 2008 to provide professional recognition of the skills, knowledge and competence of Transport Planners in the same way Chartered Engineer recognises the competence of Engineers in the sector. It was developed jointly by CIHT together with the Transport Planning Society and it continues to be managed jointly by the two organisations. By successfully passing TPP professional review transport planners can register as Chartered Transport Planning Professional, the top level of recognition as a transport planner.

Gaining professional recognition is an important milestone but achieving it can seem like a mammoth task. Having a good mentor can make a huge difference to the experience of preparing for professional review and the chances of success. The TPP mentoring guidance combines a general overview of mentoring with specific guidance on how to be an effective mentor for someone working towards Chartered Transport Planning Professional. It also includes some tools that you can use during your mentoring relationship.

Although ideally mentors would be Chartered Transport Planning Professionals themselves, you don’t have to be as long as you have a good understanding of the TPP assessment requirements and have the experience and skills to be a mentor. There may be potential mentees in your organisation or you can sign up as a CIHT mentor or, if you are a TPS member, contact skills@tps.org.uk

As well as the TPP mentoring guidance, CIHT also has guidance for mentors for the Engineering Qualifications and an online learning module on mentoring on CIHT Learn which is free for CIHT members.