How To Find A Mentor: 8 Proven Ways That'll Connect You With Your Mentor

Imagine wanting to follow your dream career but not knowing where to start. With so many unconventional professions on the rise this century, it isn’t a surprise that many students struggle with making the right career choices or even following through with their dreams. Finding a mentor in such cases can change the entire graph and lead students to success. But how to find a mentor? How to recognise them in the crowd of professionals, all excellent in their work? And if you do end up finding a mentor, how to approach them so they accept you as their mentee? 

Looking for a mentor in Hollywood movies like The Karate Kid seems so fantastical, even fateful. Finding a mentor who understands the strengths and weaknesses of their mentees is a blessing. In movies, it is as if to get a mentor, you just need to be that lucky. But that isn’t the case. The right approach and networking on the right platforms can help you find your mentor who not only complements but also enhances your strengths.

So, if you’re looking for a mentor or if you have a person you want to become your mentor and want to know how to approach them, then this is where your search ends. However, before moving on to how to find a mentor, let’s understand why looking for a mentor is crucial.

Why Finding a Mentor is Crucial for Success?

Try to answer this first. If you hear about this cool hangout place that you really want to explore but don’t know the way, what would you do? You’d probably ask around for directions or use your phone’s GPS to find the location and drive along the way, correct?

For your professional journey to your desired location, your mentor acts like a GPS. When you share your goals and aspirations with them, they will share their experiences. This is how they may point you in the right direction towards your professional success.

Here’s how finding a mentor for your career will benefit you.

Exclusive Industry Knowledge

When you find your mentor, they are bound to share valuable industry information that you may not find anywhere else, even on the Internet. This exclusive knowledge will help shape various aspects of your career. From understanding the norms in the industry to expectations, competition, and processes, this knowledge could be anything that most others gatekeep for their apprentices.

Constructive Feedback

Let’s be honest here: Even unintentionally, we are all bound to make mistakes. The insight you gain from that mistake will help you grow into a better professional. But if you are working alone with your limited knowledge, you may not even identify that mistake. That’s where looking for a mentor will help you.

A mentor will offer you constructive feedback on where you might be lacking to fill in the gaps and turn you into a professional.

Instill Accountability

How often have you started a task just to quit it halfway because something else came up? We understand that it happens, there are tasks more important than the current one. But the experience you might have gained from completing the task slipped right through your hand.

Finding a mentor would ensure that you don’t miss such valuable opportunities. Mentors hold you accountable to finish the task you’ve picked up, the quality of your task, and everything else necessary to make that task a success. Perhaps that single quality task can be a competitive advantage for you.

Set Realistic Goals

As an amateur, it is easy to get hyped up and set goals that are perpetually harder to achieve. Of course, who can tame the young energy who wants to do everything at once? However, a seasoned professional whom you choose to be your mentor would know that work needs time, patience, and focus. They will help you set realistic goals and give you tips on how to track and achieve them in the set time. In the long run, this will reduce overwork and burnout.

Introduce a New Perspective

Remember a post you read that made you pleasantly think, “Oh hey, that’s a better way to do things!” That’s the kind of insight you can expect from a mentor. Once you know how to find a mentor, you will be guided to see and understand things from a new perspective, which, in turn, will help you grow into a successful mentee.

Let’s hop on to know how to get a mentor now that you know why you need one.

Where and How to Find a Mentor?

A mentor can be anyone who has expertise in the field you want to pursue and who is ready to share that knowledge with you. So, you must approach the right people at the right times. If you’ve done your research, you must have some names in mind. However, having the name of the person and actually getting them to mentor you is a vast difference. To reduce that gap, here are 8 proven ways on how to find a mentor for fast-tracked career growth.

1. Find Your Mentor

What we mean by this is that before you get someone to mentor you, you will need to make sure that the person has the experience and expertise to be your mentor. See if they are already someone you know. They could be an industry expert whose ideas inspire you to become better or a visiting faculty member at your university. Or someone who you personally know but have never talked about professionally with. Ultimately, it depends on you how to find a mentor, but make sure that they fulfil two conditions of being a mentor to you. One is that they should have the relevant experience and expertise, and two is that they should be willing and able to guide you.

2. Attend the Right Events

Whether you are majoring in arts, business administration or science, there must be different conferences and events happening around the city that align with your majors and your eventual goal. Visit these places to connect with people who are leading the industry. Networking events such as conferences and exhibitions are great places for finding a mentor from your industry. Furthermore, they offer you the opportunity to learn things that are seldom taught within four walls. Such events not only help you identify the extraordinary people from your desired industry but also give you an opportunity to mingle and connect with them.

In addition to networking events, internship opportunities, alumni networks, and cold outreach are some ways to connect with your mentor. Here, where to find a mentor becomes just as important as how to find a mentor. Especially if the person you are willing to work with is not someone in direct contact with you or your professor.

3. Connect With Your Mentor

No, you do not go to them straight and ask them to teach you what they do best. That may have gotten Dre his Kung Fu lessons, but it will not give you the guidance you need. Instead, you get to know them better. As Albert Einstein once said, “The only source of knowledge is experience.” But when you are inexperienced, you gain knowledge from your mentor’s experience. Tell them what you like best about their work. Share your own experience and ask for their opinion on things where you think it will be helpful for you. This is also where you will learn whether they are the right person on your mentor search that fits your requirements.

If your targeted mentor is not someone in direct contact with you, you can send them a cold email asking for a meeting, virtual or otherwise. If you are worried about how to approach your target mentor over email, you can simply find a template email to guide you. However, make sure that even while using the template, your emotions and opinions remain your own. After all, there is nothing more captivating than communicating your genuine thoughts about a person.

4. Thank Them

If your goal is big, then your target mentor must also be busy. If they took time to talk with you, expressing your gratitude will go a long way. Send a thank-you email telling them that you appreciate them taking time out of their schedule to connect with you. You can add things that you learned in your meeting with them. This is also your first step to nurturing your mentor-mentee relationship. 

After your first meeting with your mentor, you need them to remember you so when you connect the next time, they recognise you right away. A follow-up email, like a thank-you note, will help you with that. In the same email, you can also hint at another meeting with them.

5. Be Mindful of Their Personal Space

Now that you have perpetually established your mentor-mentee relationship, it may become tempting to connect with your mentor often to get advice. However, that could easily turn into an invasion of their personal space and time. To avoid that from happening, you need to be respectful towards your mentor’s time and boundaries. 

Always make an appointment before a meeting. If you want your mentor’s insights on your project, give them time to prepare substantial feedback. Understand that they are taking their time out to help you, so respecting their personal space is a prerequisite for your mentor to keep on guiding you.

6. Give Back

Giving back is another way to nurture your relationship with your mentor. Most good mentors do not expect anything in return for their valuable insights and guidance. However, they will appreciate it if you take the initiative to help them. Offer to work with them on their project, where your skills can come in handy. Make sure to ask them where you can be helpful. It will not only reduce your mentor’s burden but will also help you gain more experience right as you work alongside them.

7. Expand Your Network

Now that you know how to find a mentor, don’t stop there. For overall career growth, having just one mentor is never enough. More often than not, you will find that your current mentor has expertise in one area and not in another, which is okay. And that is why most university students seek guidance from different mentors according to their field of expertise. That does not mean that you respect or connect with one mentor more than the other. You learn from and respect all your mentors equally.

By expanding your network, you open yourself up to new opportunities, new perspectives, and new guidance. So, don’t hesitate to connect with more people with higher experience. In fact, you can ask your current mentor to refer you to a person who might be able to help you in areas where they can’t. In most cases, they are happy to connect you with their network of connections.

8. Stay in Touch

As your professional journey progresses, your goals might change, leading to a shift in your relationship with your mentor. That is okay. Remember, by then, a mentor may not remain only a guide who helps you with your goals. They may have become an ally who understands you well and is happy to back you up whenever needed. So, you must express your gratitude to them and stay in contact with them. You never know when they might need you to mentor someone they know.

Knowing how to find a mentor for career and actually finding a mentor are two different things divided by only a thin line of approach. If you know how to approach and hold on to your mentor, then you can be sure to receive guidance from them. The same strategy goes to realise how to find a mentor for adults. So, whether you are a professional seeking guidance or a student looking for a way to make a career, finding a mentor can immensely simplify your journey.

So, what are you waiting for? Based on what we have discussed in this blog, go ahead and make a plan on how to find a good mentor to achieve your goals.