Summary:
Throughout academia, you often focus on the task at hand and pay little or no attention to career mentorship.
Students usually pay more attention to their current duties and neglect career guidance and support.
You ensure you pass that next exam, learn that next piece of content, and finish that coursework.
It’s strange, but it is rarely the case that you look up from your studies and ask yourself: What is this all driving towards?
You can always seem to be chasing that next thing on the horizon until suddenly you have arrived at your graduation ceremony.
Most times, without much idea of how to answer that crucial but incessantly posed question: So, what’s next?
This is where career mentorship comes in.
A career mentor is someone you specifically talk to about what you want to do with your working life.
And how you can go about getting there.
Someone that can help you answer that question of what next?
A career mentor can come from many different places.
They can be a specific employment specialist, like those at CVJury, which you can contact, a professor, teacher, or even a work colleague.
The key is to find someone you trust.
Someone who you think has the proper knowledge to help guide you towards the career of your dreams.
In this blog, we will cover what career mentorship is.
And how it can help you, and the critical information you should leave this blog with.
When picking a career mentor, remember a few key things.
We outline all these below:
- If you’re unsure what you want to do with your career, pick a generalist career mentor. CVJury provides expert guidance for people from all walks of life. We can give you the help to start you towards your goal of a fulfilling career.
- If you know what field you’re interested in, pick someone with knowledge and experience. This may sound obvious. But the more specific the person’s expertise is to your chosen career, the better they will serve you.
- Pick someone who has the time to help you and can commit to regular meetings to check your progress. You may find an excellent and successful person in your chosen field. If they are too busy to include you in their lives, however, there is little point in hanging out for the little advice they give you on the scarce occasion they can.
- Pick someone positive with a galvanising attitude. In addition to being your guide, a career mentor can also be a cheerleader. Someone who can give you the confidence to pursue your dream. FYI, all career mentors at CVJury are super positive people who believe in hard work and positive reinforcement.
What Is Career Mentorship?
Career mentorship refers to the relationship between a career mentor and a mentee.
A mentor is usually a more experienced individual with expansive knowledge.
Whereas a mentee is someone with less knowledge looking for guidance.
Through this relationship, the mentee looks to gain insight, knowledge and understanding about which career they want to pursue.
And how they might achieve this aim.
From the mentor’s perspective, they will learn how to teach and help others effectively.
The relationship is ideally mutually beneficial in this way.
Unlike a coach/student relationship, this mentorship relationship is usually long-term.
However, this is determined by your goals for the relationship.
This is because some may take longer to achieve than others.
Career mentorship, in summary, is about the flow of knowledge from one person to another.
And both parties will benefit in some way, be that learning to teach or gaining knowledge about the career you desire.
How Can Career Mentorship Help Me?
- It grants you a new perspective on what you want from your working life. Career mentors can open your eyes to completely new ideas, career paths and sections of industries that before you didn’t even know existed.
- They can connect you with a much more comprehensive network of contacts. The referrals can help you in finding the right career. In addition, they may be able to find work experience opportunities for you. Leads for jobs or even direct contact with hiring managers are the other supports.
- It can be a way to gain experience and knowledge in a field of work without enduring the constraints of an internship.
- They can give you the practical application dimension to your academic learning. Mentors can provide real-world examples of how things you learn in the classroom can be applied to real life and why they are or are not valuable.
- They can be a valuable touchstone for you as you progress through your career and need advice with crucial decisions at critical junctures in your professional life.
- Mentors can lend you a sense of reassurance and confidence, giving you the impetus to get things done.
How To Ensure You Are A Good Mentee ─ Dos and Don’ts
Dos
Be proactive in the relationship. Set goals, ask to schedule progress meetings, and outline how you want the relationship to work. This will show you are engaged and value your mentor’s input and give you structure for your relationship. This can lead to a faster rate of progression.
Treat the relationship with some formality. Although having off-the-cuff meetings at a bar can be tempting, treating communications with professional decorum will show your seriousness about reaching your goals. This can set the right tone for a valuable relationship.
You will only have so many meetings with this person, so make sure that you take on board what they are saying; so, focus when they are trying to give you feedback or impart knowledge and experience. Absorb their insights, as each information you get can be a stepping stone to your success and growth.
Don'ts
Don’t think that they will do it all for you. No magic wand can give you the right opportunities and skills. Mentors can help in many ways, but the bulk of the work is still on you. You have to make the most of their input and act on it.
Don’t be ungrateful. This person is probably giving up some of their free time to help you. Your mentor will soon lose interest by not showing up to meetings or being complacent. And may then assume that you don’t need their help and end the relationship.
Never view feedback as personal criticism: Feedback is one of the most valuable things in the world. By taking comments personally, you might be missing the point of what they are trying to show you. Chances are they aren’t trying to knock your confidence in any way. Instead, they just suggest how you can do better next time.
Key Takeaways
Career mentorship can be the key to a whole new world of helpful guidance regarding what you want to do with your career and how to get there.
Remember:
- Pick the right mentor for you and your aims.
- Be proactive in the relationship.
- Set a goal and go after it.
To get in touch with CVJury’s career mentors, contact us here.
Meanwhile, learn how to write a resume like a professional resume writer would.
Further Reading: How to be a great employee
How To Become More Employable
Influential career mentors to follow
51 LinkedIn summary templates
How to get job referrals
How to find a job
