iMantri to Pair Mentors Up with Mentees

So apparently it’s National Mentoring Month and a new site called iMantri wants to celebrate by welcoming TechCrunch readers into its private beta.

iMantri seeks to match mentors up with mentees using a niche social network that focuses on “goals” and “competencies”. All those interested can go here and use invitation code “imaptc178” to sign up.

The website is very text heavy and generally not very well designed, but the idea should gain traction if executed better over time. Members can list themselves as mentors and/or mentees for any needs imaginable. For example, you can become a mentor for someone who wants to develop better time management skills or you can seek help with project management. The service creates a space for people to match themselves up directly instead of going through services like Big Brothers Big Sisters. As such, I don’t really see it being used for the mentoring of young people, especially considering the dangers of the internet (and the public availability of iMantri profiles; you don’t even need to sign in to see them).

In addition to people profiles that display relevant needs and skills, the site also provides survey tools for the identification of competencies that a mentor could help you strengthen.