Terms of use
These are the rules for using iMentorLink. Using the platform means you accept them.
The short version. Be honest about who you are. Treat people well. Do not ask anyone here for money, their ID number or their banking details. We check mentors carefully but we are an introduction, not a guarantee, and what you decide to do with advice is your decision.
1. Who may use iMentorLink
- You must be 13 or older.
- If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must confirm your account by email before you can message anyone or be found in search.
- One account per person. Do not share it, and do not use somebody else's.
- Give us real information. An account in a false name will be closed.
2. What we are, and what we are not
iMentorLink introduces people. We check that mentors are who they say they are and hold the qualifications they claim, by having a person read their documents.
We are not:
- An employment agency, and we do not place anyone in a job.
- A guarantee of a bursary, an internship, a job or admission anywhere.
- A provider of professional advice. A mentor speaks for themselves, not for us.
- A substitute for medical, legal, financial or mental health care.
Verification means we checked identity and documents. It is not an endorsement of anyone's judgement, and it is not a background check for criminal history.
3. How to behave
On iMentorLink, do not:
- Harass, bully, threaten or demean anyone.
- Discriminate on race, gender, sexuality, disability, religion, nationality or anything else.
- Ask anyone for money, an ID number, banking details or a password. Ever. No genuine opportunity here requires a payment to apply.
- Send romantic or sexual messages. This is a professional platform, and much of it is used by people still at school.
- Post an opportunity that is not real, or that you are not entitled to post.
- Take contact details, scrape the platform, or use it to build a mailing list.
- Pretend to work for an organisation you do not work for.
- Share what someone tells you in confidence in a mentoring conversation.
4. If you are a mentor
- Only claim expertise you have. Our matching leans on it, and an inflated profile wastes someone's time.
- Set your capacity honestly. We stop new requests once you reach it, which protects both of you.
- Declining is a normal answer, and a quick decline is kinder than silence.
- When mentoring anyone under 18: keep the conversation on the platform, keep it about study and careers, and never arrange to meet a young person alone or privately. Involve their parent, guardian or school.
- If someone tells you something that worries you about their safety, tell us at info@imentorlink.co.za.
5. If you are an institution or employer
- Only post opportunities you are entitled to post, with accurate closing dates.
- Only import contact lists and listings you have the right to use.
- Only broadcast to people who are genuinely in your programme.
- Every submission is reviewed by an administrator before it is listed.
6. What you write
What you write stays yours. By posting it you give us permission to show it to the people it is meant for, and to store it so the platform works. We do not use it for advertising and we do not sell it.
We may remove content that breaks these terms, and we tell you when we do.
7. Our assistant
Mentor is clearly labelled wherever it appears. It is built so it can only point at people and opportunities that already exist here, but it is software and it can be wrong. Check anything important, and never treat it as professional advice. It is off unless you turn it on.
8. Suspension and closing accounts
We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms. We will tell you and say why, unless telling you would put someone at risk.
Some things end an account immediately: anything that endangers a young person, fraud, threats, and using the platform to solicit money.
You can close your own account whenever you like, from your privacy settings. There is a 14 day pause in case you change your mind.
9. Where we stand legally
We work hard to keep iMentorLink running and accurate, but we provide it as it is. To the extent the law allows, iMentorLink is not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from your use of the platform, from an introduction made through it, or from advice a mentor gives you.
Nothing here limits any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or POPIA, or excludes liability for our own gross negligence or fraud.
10. Changes
We will email you before a material change takes effect. Continuing to use iMentorLink after that means you accept the new terms.
11. Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa. Talk to us first at info@imentorlink.co.za. Most things are solved by a conversation.