Fresh out of college? Just started in a new role? Have a workplace issue that you want to discuss with someone who’s lived through this type of experience? These are all indicators that you may be looking for a mentor.
Mentors can come in all shapes and sizes. You don’t necessarily have to be a young professional to need a mentor. Many seasoned senior executives still turn to their mentors when they need advice or to talk through a problem.
Having a mentor can be incredibly beneficial, but first, you need to find this person or group of people who can help guide you throughout your career. It takes time, energy, and effort — you can’t just spam your LinkedIn connections or Facebook feed asking for a mentor. You need to develop a natural connection to another person and cultivate this relationship over time.
Why Mentorship Is Important
Before we provide the basics on finding a mentor, let’s take a step back to explain why the practice of mentorship is important.
At Mentor Spaces, we are firm believers in the practice of mentorship throughout your career. Mentorship isn’t just an opportunity for someone to vent or complain about their job, it’s a two-way opportunity for individuals and groups of people to learn and grow from each other by leveraging their own experiences.
Having a mentor can give you the confidence and social capital necessary to excel in your career. If you’re wary about starting a job in technology, a mentor who works at Google can share their lived experiences about working in tech. They may even help you get your foot in the door!
How to Use Technology to Find a Mentor
Prior to COVID-19, developing a connection with someone in your industry may have been as easy as swinging by your coworker’s desk to ask them for advice, joining an Employee Resource Group (ERG), or attending a networking event and striking up a conversation with another attendee.
In our current environment, technology can be a great resource to help individuals find and develop a relationship with a mentor. You can use LinkedIn and other social networks to start your search, as well as websites like Find a Mentor.
Better yet, you can even find online communities that align with your background, experiences, and interests to help you find and develop a relationship with a mentor.
For example, MicroMentor is one of the world’s largest communities of entrepreneurs and business mentors. Or if you’d prefer to find mentors that have the same career path as you, there are platforms like PlatoHQ, a platform specifically for engineering and product leaders.
At Mentor Spaces, we help high-performing Black students and young professionals navigate the road to success through mentorship with experienced and influential leaders. Our platform allows mentors to communicate with early-career Black and Latinx candidates, making it easier for companies to attract, hire, and retain diverse talent.
Mentorship Doesn’t Have to Be One-on-One
Technology is a great resource to find a mentor, but setting up your first one-on-one Zoom call or chat can be daunting.
Group mentorship, where one mentor educates and connects with a larger group of individuals, is becoming increasingly popular. This allows an early-career professional who may not be ready to make that one-on-one connection a chance to learn from others in the know via group sessions and asynchronous communication, like a private online forum where mentors ask questions posed by early-career professionals.
Find a Mentor Today with Mentor Spaces
Mentor Spaces is a place to have career conversations with people in the know. Join a community of your peers looking to accelerate their careers through mentorship.
We make it easy to find someone who can be helpful. By engaging with Mentor Spaces, you can get advice, access to resources, and opportunities for a referral to internships and full-time jobs.
Sign up for Mentor Spaces and find a mentor today! Start your journey now.
