“The guidance provided by a mentor, especially an experienced person in a company or educational institution”
Finding a mentor:
There are many programs and companies offering mentors, however, it does not mean that it will be right for you. After having 5 mentors since sixth form, I have ensured that each mentor is reflective of my current academic and professional stage of my career. Finding someone who can support you currently, rather than completely in the long-term future, will enable you to concentrate on progressing for your current stage of your career. It is important to think long-term with your career, but it is also important to ensure that your focus is on applications (to build experience), academia (to get achievable grades) and mental health. The most effective piece of advice a mentor had given me was to always have a strategy and think about what you want to achieve in the next few months and how this will elevate you in years to come.
The importance of mentorship:
Mentorship can expose you to an industry of interest, enabling you to gain knowledge and experience from someone with expertise in the field. It will enable you to understand first-hand the journey of someone else. Personally, it is motivating to hear the progression of others and learn how you can grow. You will gain guidance on your career, life and professional profile. Having a mentor will enable you to have discussions about how you can progress and develop your persona.
You can grow your network and connect with those in the field. By having a mentor, you can gain access to the industry of interest. Ask if you can assist them in their workplace or If they know of any opportunities that you can apply to. The mentor’s role will be emphasised during the sessions because they are actively helping you to progress in your career and teaching them how to professionally develop.
Benefits of having a mentor:
Developing and maintaining communication throughout the experience will enable your relationship with the mentor simple. Having a strategy and plan to work through the sessions will enable you both to gain the most. It is important that listening and actively interacting are major factors to be addressed during the relationship. The reason for this is that you need to listen to the advice given and actively show (in applications and experience) this being applied. It will enable you as a mentee to understand how you can progress your professional profile and interact with individuals in the professional world. Through having this relationship, you can learn how to maintain this professionalism and apply this in the real world.
Mentoring exposes you to gain new perspectives in the professional world. Through having a relationship with someone in the working field it will enable you to learn new skills and understand about the company that they are working at. It will give you the chance to ask questions informally to understand more about their workplace routines, policies and cultures. Gaining this knowledge gives the chance for you as a mentee to gain advice in advancing your career. This enables you to think long-term about your future direction and create a career with support from someone who has experienced a similar journey.
You will develop a relationship with a professional who will give you valuable guidance. The purpose of mentoring should be to continue conversations and learning from one another. An effective mentor will enable you to shift your typical way of thinking, make you become critical of your work and begin to grow your professional profile and career.
How to build a relationship with a mentor?
1. Set up regular meeting dates and times in advance. Think about how you want the mentorship to work, what you want out of this program and how you will be ‘assessed’. (Assessed in the term of understanding that you are learning from the advice given – learning about how to do well in an interview, and the following month doing a test of questions). You should think of maintaining this relationship long term as it can help you to access future career experience and be aware of events that are held by the company. Mentorship will enable you to maintain a professional relationship and have general conversational catchups.
2. Have something to discuss: At the end of the article, there will be ten different sessions that could be held with your mentor, but it is not an exhaustive list. The importance of the mentoring experience is to learn from the experience. The mentor needs to know what you specifically want to gain from the mentorship – therefore, mentorship starts with you! To break the ice, you can look at articles, books or industry news to discuss in your sessions. But also, looking at additional resources will enable you to draw discussions up for you both to highlight and use as a framework for your mentoring sessions.
3. Building a personal relationship with your mentor is important. To understand your mentor and gain a professional perspective it would be great to build a close relationship. Having sessions on understanding their professional journey, why they are in the field and understanding their development will enable you to gain a more impactful relationship. It can be influential in understanding their leadership style, values and mindset as it can be something you could adopt out of aspiration.
Topics of discussion with a mentor:
- The journey into the career
- The workplace – understanding the role, daily tasks, personal views, environment and culture
- Advice / top tips going into the field of interest
- How to build a professional profile?
- Skills and development
- Application process
- Interviews
- CVs and Cover Letters
- Work experience / industry experience
- Looking over applications and writings completed
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