Let’s face it — our current climate has made it incredibly difficult to connect with our peers.
Both COVID-19 and the current dialogue around systemic racism have amplified the need to connect early-career, isolated individuals who don’t know what they don’t know, with professionals in the know.
How to bridge that gap? By becoming a mentor.
Becoming a mentor can be a positive experience that can not only benefit the underrepresented talent you are connecting with, but can also enhance your own leadership skills to take your own career to the next level.
Why should you consider becoming a mentor? Let’s dive in.
Why You Should Become a Mentor
Recent data shows that more than sixty percent of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) leaders are prioritizing the advancement of underrepresented talent in their organizations. However, we can’t rely solely on the DEI department to enact change.
By becoming a mentor, you can positively impact and influence the next generation of Black and Latinx leaders, both inside and outside your organization.
1. Enhance Leadership Skills
At Mentor Spaces, we believe that a person can’t be who they haven’t seen. By connecting with early-career individuals, you can make an impact in their career, while also enhancing your own leadership skills.
Your positive influence while mentoring can carry over into other career aspirations — you’ll find that your confidence has improved when sharing your experiences with others who are interested in your background.
2. Support Your Company’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Goals
Organizations have finally begun to truly embrace DEI and make it a key pillar of the workplace. Some executives may say “there is a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from,” however this is, in fact, not true. Mentoring early-career professionals can open up incredible opportunities for you to find new diverse talent pipelines for your organization.
While US-based companies may spend more than eight billion dollars on DEI training and initiatives each year, recruiting processes are typically siloed from the rest of the organization. Mentorship allows you to connect with young professionals who are interested in similar career paths, allowing you to expand your network and bring new talent to your organization.
3. Guide Emerging Underrepresented Talent
Many students struggle to identify and execute suitable career pathways, and this issue is only exacerbated for Black college graduates. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we found that 80 percent of seniors graduate without a job offer. On top of that, more than 50 percent of recent Black graduates are underemployed and 12 percent of graduates are unemployed.
Becoming a mentor to underrepresented talent allows you to connect with students to help guide them in their careers. You can become a trusted guide and role model to boost confidence and social capital, unlocking the career potential of the next generation of leaders.
Become a Mentor with Mentor Spaces
At Mentor Spaces, we know that you want to be an impactful leader. In order to do that, you need to grow your influence within your organization. We believe it should be easy to build a diverse culture by involving the right people. That’s why we created Mentor Spaces — a place to have career conversations with people in the know.
Here’s how to become a mentor with Mentor Spaces: apply with our three-minute application and we deliver your answers to underrepresented talent interested in your company or functional role. It’s that easy to get started!
Apply now to stop worrying about not being a part of the solution and be confident that you can shape your company’s culture by attracting diverse candidates in less than five minutes a week.
Become a mentor with Mentor Spaces today: https://bit.ly/apply-to-mentor-ms
