How To Become A Peer Mentor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a peer mentor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

David Dunning

A peer mentor supports you in a number of ways and areas in your life by walking hand in hand with you. Peer mentoring is a relationship between people who are of the same age, in which one person has more experience than the other in a particular domain and can provide support as well as knowledge and skills transfer. The peer mentor meets their mentee at least once a month and is available via email with a 24-hour response window except on weekends. They should attend an event sponsored by your department with their mentee and share their experiences about the program and courses.

The peer mentor adapts their support to the needs of their mentee which may end in academic, social, national, or other backgrounds and prior experience. They should direct their mentee to the director of graduate studies for answers to questions they can't answer.

A peer mentor generally has a good academic and student standing, a positive attitude, is willing to learn, shares information about student life and campus resources, demonstrated good interpersonal and communication skills, and a genuine desire to help their mentee.

What general advice would you give to a Peer Mentor?

David Dunning

Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The classic skills people overlook are the soft ones: communication, time management, self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses, writing, and leadership. The important secret of life is that the better you are at technical skills, the more likely you are to be promoted to positions where they are less important. For the next 3-5 years, see what your mentors talk about and what your peers encounter. Get creative with new things. AI is entering the picture and the question is not how it can make your life easier but how it can help you do new and better things.

ScorePeer MentorUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $28,416

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.0

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 10.64%

Hispanic or Latino 14.20%

Unknown 3.76%

White 67.03%

Gender

female 62.31%

male 37.69%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress Level

9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a peer mentor

Explore peer mentor education requirements

Most common peer mentor degrees

Bachelor's

71.9 %

Associate

13.1 %

High School Diploma

7.0 %

Start to develop specific peer mentor skills

Skills	Percentages
Mental Health	11.49%
Role Model	8.09%
Mathematics	5.94%
GPA	5.31%
Peer Support	5.31%

Complete relevant peer mentor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New peer mentors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a peer mentor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real peer mentor resumes.

Research peer mentor duties and responsibilities

Lead teens in improving their interpersonal relationships via education
Mentore and co-taught a class for incoming freshmen
Help students complete FAFSA applications, verification paperwork, and booking appointments.
Assist FYRST faculty with planning a syllabus, classroom presentations, events, and trips.

Prepare your peer mentor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your peer mentor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a peer mentor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Peer Mentor Resume templates

Build a professional Peer Mentor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Peer Mentor resume.

Apply for peer mentor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a peer mentor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do peer mentors rate their job?