Could I benefit from having a mentor?

A professional mentor can be one of the most effective tools for engineers, managers, and workers of any type to progress their own learning and, as such, their careers.

Mentors come in many guises. Some are same-company colleagues (although there are views, as below, that this isn’t optimal); some may be professional career coaches that we hire into a formal working relationship. Some might be merely contacts - friends, family, or industry colleagues we’ve met at a conference - that have similar professions to ourselves, but who are slightly further up the career ladder than we are.

As well as exploring the benefits of mentorship, here, with the help of guests from the Best Work Podcast, we will touch on how best to identify and contact a professional mentor.

The benefits of mentors

The benefits of professional mentors are widespread.

To begin with, someone more senior than us who is able to guide our learning and take it, in a safe way, from the realm of theoretical understanding to that of practical application. UX Consultant Jakub outlines how having someone like this, even on an informal basis, has helped him during his past positions.

VP of Engineering José expands on this view, making the point that a mentor is a powerful learning tool, because they have been through the experience of learning whatever skill or ability you are looking to master at a given point in your career.

Having a mentor that understands the challenges we face on a daily basis at work can be a powerful tool in accelerating our own career progression.

Finding a mentor

However, identifying the right mentor is key. In some respects, a professional mentor is akin to a therapist for our careers, and as with choosing a therapist, it is essential to identify a mentor that matches our needs closely.

Head of Engineering Usman describes the first, introspective steps to take in this search for a mentor that suits us as an individual:

Here, Usman goes into detail as to why, in his view, it’s ideal that this mentor isn’t from within your own organisation.

That said, there is no reason why informal mentorship on day-to-day tasks is a bad thing to accept from seniors within your own organisation, but for the kind of in-depth, career counselling Usman envisages, the objectivity and detachment that is offered by someone from outside your own organisation goes a long way.

Assuming that they are from a different organisation, one of the more daunting aspects of finding a mentor can be making the initial approach to them. COO Emma here shares her advice on how to go about this approach, and explains why it is more than likely to go down well with the recipient.

Becoming a mentor

Having progressed in your career, with or without the assistance of your own mentor, you may find yourself wanting to turn your hand to mentoring others yourself.

Usman has words of wisdom on that front, too.

The insights that Usman provides here on what it takes to set out as a mentor highlight the benefits of having a mentor in the first place. A good mentor will equip you with someone you trust, who understands you personally and your unique story, and is able to offer tailored support and ultimately guide you closer towards your own best work.