Having a mentor is great idea for anyone regardless of where you are in your career. Whether you are newly graduated or have been in the workforce for well over 20 years, a mentor is a great resource who can help you navigate your career journey or simply give you advice. Often people find mentors with similar paths to theirs, but you can branch out beyond your field and find someone with a completely different career than yours. Every mentor brings a different type of value.
According to this article by Katie Roberts Career Consulting there are five major benefits to having a mentor:
- Learning from real life experience: Your mentor can share their own experience so that you might have a career path with a touch more foresight than you would have otherwise. You can glean new insights from their experience which may then inform your next steps.
- Connections: We love a strong network and mentors can be a major player in helping you develop connections that might impact the trajectory of your career. We have likely all heard the age old saying “it’s not about what you know, but who you know” – well, we have found this to be true in many instances!
- Sounding board: Mentors are your safe place and wise counsel. When you come to a fork in the road, your mentor can be a great person for you to bounce ideas off of before you take any major leaps.
- Increase energy and interest: Mentors are not only the people that can help keep you grounded, but they can fuel your excitement for your career! If you feel a sense of complacency or boredom with your job, your mentor can help you brainstorm ways in which you can contribute to your company and increase interest in your career.
- Advance your career: Your mentor is your advocate. They are interested in your personal and professional growth and can help you develop the skills, confidence, and network that you need to succeed. While a mentor is not intended solely for your career gain, this is certainly one of the many benefits that you can reap from this relationship.
Now that we’ve talked about why a mentor is so great, you might be wondering “how on earth do I find a mentor??” I encourage you to check out this article from LinkedIn. Similarly, it is important that you understand that this relationship is a two-way street. Check out this article by Forbes to better understand what makes a great mentee.
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