Finding a Mentor
How do I find a mentor if my school doesn't have a mentor program?
- Michelle
Michelle,
I have two strategies I would recommend using:
- Informational Interviews.
- Find people who are successful in the careers you're thinking about pursuing. You can find these people online, in the media, or through existing contacts you have.
- Learn as much as you can about them.
- Call or email them, invite them out to lunch, and see if you can ask them questions about your career (they will always end up paying).
- If the meeting goes well, ask them if you can meet with them in the future and if they can refer you to three other people who might be able to offer assistance as well
- Send the person a thank you note and keep them updated on your progress.
- If possible, join a local organization that helps young people succeed and that already has a mentor network you can leverage.
Posted at October 19, 2003 09:11 PM
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Thank-you for the good advice. I didn't think about the networking aspect. Another interesting thought is that a mentor doesn't have to be someone in your immediate environment. Correspondence could be done via email. Your comment on making a global impact are profound and those are questions that many people fail to ask themselves.
