Quick answer: Mentor and mentee recruitment works best as a deliberate strategy, not an open call for volunteers. Build your mentor pool before opening mentee applications, write role descriptions that state the real time commitment, and design an application process that captures goals and availability, not just interest. Finding enough mentors is one of the most commonly reported challenges in workplace programs, and a structured approach is how you get ahead of it.
Mentor and mentee recruitment works best as a deliberate strategy, not an open call for volunteers. The strongest programs recruit mentors and mentees together with a clear picture of how many of each they need, write role descriptions that state the real time commitment, and design an application process that captures goals and availability rather than just interest.
Finding enough mentors is one of the two most commonly reported challenges in workplace mentoring programs. A recruitment plan agreed before launch, with targets that keep mentor numbers in step with mentee numbers, is how programs get ahead of that gap instead of discovering it mid-rollout.
Matching can only be as good as the pool it draws from. In the Association for Talent Development’s 2023 report Mentoring for Success, difficulty finding potential mentors was one of the two primary challenges organisations reported, cited by 47%, alongside a lack of metrics to track success (56%).
A recruitment strategy agreed before launch, rather than a single call for volunteers, gives you real choice at the matching stage instead of pairing whoever happens to sign up.
Recruitment and selection are two different jobs. Recruitment generates a strong enough pool of mentors and mentees to choose from. Selecting and matching them well is a separate step that only works if recruitment did its job first.
A recruitment strategy, written down before you send a single email, should define:
Having this agreed before launch means recruitment messaging goes out once, consistently, rather than being improvised mid-campaign when the first round of applications comes back thin.
Recruit both at the same time. Running mentor and mentee recruitment together keeps momentum high and gets the program launched quickly, ideally within six weeks. If you recruit mentors first and open to mentees later, there’s a real risk that mentors’ availability or motivation will have changed by the time the program launches.
A short, focused recruitment window works in your favor on both sides: mentors sign up knowing they’ll be matched soon, and mentees aren’t left waiting in a long queue with no clear start date.
Vague calls for mentors (“Interested in mentoring? Sign up!”) ask people to commit to an undefined amount of time. State the actual ask: expected meeting frequency, total program duration, and what’s expected outside of sessions (prep, following up on a mentee’s goals). People are far more likely to say yes to a specific, bounded commitment than an open-ended one.
The people best suited to mentoring don’t always put their hand up first. A tap on the shoulder from a manager or senior leader, inviting someone specific rather than broadcasting an open call, consistently brings in capable mentors who wouldn’t have volunteered unprompted. Combining both channels (open sign-up plus direct nomination) widens the pool more than either alone.
Almost every hesitant mentor is working through one of two concerns:
Public acknowledgement from leadership, a reference or recommendation at the end of the program, or simply closing the loop with a thank-you and a summary of the impact mentors had, tends to do more for future recruitment cycles than a token gift. Participants who feel genuinely recognised are also the ones most likely to volunteer again, and to speak well of the program when the next recruitment round opens.
“Develop your career” is too abstract to act on. Mentee recruitment messaging works better when it states what the program actually offers: structured time with someone outside the mentee’s direct reporting line, support working through a specific goal, and a defined program length so the commitment is clear.
Many potential mentees, particularly earlier in their careers, hesitate because they don’t feel they’ve earned access to a mentor yet. Recruitment messaging that frames the program as open to anyone wanting to grow, rather than as a reward for high performers, brings in a wider and often more engaged mentee pool.
A mentee application that only confirms interest (name, email, “yes I want a mentor”) gives the matching stage almost nothing to work with. A useful application captures:
The application is also the first real signal of how organised the program is. A short, well-designed form builds confidence that the program will be well run; a long, unfocused one does the opposite before the mentee has even been matched.
Brancher can run recruitment from application to match in one place: a configurable sign-up form, a program sign-up link you can share in your own channels, and matching that uses the answers applicants give, so nobody re-enters intake data. We publish this guide, so treat this section as our own view.
For a handful of pairs, a shared form and a spreadsheet can carry recruitment end to end. Past that scale, applications need to be screened and routed, and intake data needs to feed matching directly. In Brancher, that looks like this:
The platform handles the process, but recruitment still depends on what you say and who you ask. The free Mentee & Mentor Recruitment Kit gives you the materials: role description templates, call-out messages for mentors and mentees, application form checklists, objection-handling scripts, a recruitment timeline and tracker, and a one-page case for leaders. Download the Mentee & Mentor Recruitment Kit and have it ready before you open applications. To see the application and matching setup in action, you can also book a demo.
The most effective approach combines a specific, bounded role description (clear time commitment, defined program length) with direct nomination from leadership rather than relying on open volunteer sign-up alone. Experienced professionals are often willing to mentor but won't volunteer unprompted, so a personal invitation from someone they respect, alongside public recognition of mentors once the program is underway, tends to bring in a stronger pool than a generic call for volunteers.
A strong mentee application captures specific development goals rather than generic interest, current role and seniority, availability and preferred meeting format, and, where the program's matching approach uses it, some indication of working style or personality. The form should be short enough to complete without discouraging applicants, while still gathering enough detail that the matching stage has real information to work from rather than just a name and an interest in being mentored.
Dedicated mentoring platforms are built specifically for this, combining configurable application forms, automated screening and routing, and direct integration between the application data and the matching process, which removes the manual re-entry and spreadsheet tracking that slows recruitment down at scale. Best mentoring software in 2026 compares the leading platforms on this and related criteria, including Brancher (disclosed bias: we publish this guide and are included in it).
Mentors first, or with a head start ahead of mentee recruitment. Opening mentee applications before a mentor pool is confirmed risks a waitlist of mentees with nobody to match them to, which is difficult to recover from once applicants are expecting a response.
This varies by program size and whether recruitment runs internally or draws on external mentors, but most structured programs run recruitment over two to six weeks, with mentor recruitment opened first. For the full program timeline beyond recruitment, see how to start a mentoring program.
Holly Brailsford is the co-founder and CEO of Brancher and a registered organisational psychologist specialising in workplace mentoring design. She works directly with program administrators across enterprise, government and university mentoring programs on the full lifecycle of a program, from the first match through to how a cohort should close, drawing on patterns she's seen play out across hundreds of program cycles.