How to find a mentor

If you’re looking for ways to boost your career growth in Australia, it might be time to find a mentor. 

A professional mentor is someone who has more experience in your field or career and can offer you help, guidance and advice. Mentors can have vast benefits for your success and career growth.

For example, if you’re still studying and want some insight into your chosen career path, a mentor can help you understand what to expect once you join the workforce. If you’re already working, a mentor can help you discuss and overcome challenges, identify opportunities for growth and plan your career development. 

But do you really need a professional mentor? How do you find a mentor? How can you make sure your mentoring is a success? To help you find out, we’ve put together these handy tips.

A mentorship aims to help you build confidence, pursue career development and find a path towards attaining your professional goals. A mentor can help you to:

• gain industry-specific experience and knowledge
• identify opportunities for professional growth
• make better decisions and develop skills through constructive feedback
• feel supported, provide reassurance and build professional relationships.

In most cases, mentors won’t seek out mentees. This means you’ll need to do the groundwork to find a mentor and initiate a relationship.

Your professional mentor should be someone you can learn from, someone who can support your career development and someone you trust and respect. You could choose an informal mentor, such as:

• a teacher or lecturer
• someone you work with
• a friend or family member.

Alternatively, you can find a mentor through a formal program. Many schools, colleges, and universities run mentoring programs for students.  You can also visit the Mentoring Australia website to find a local program near you.

Other ways to find a mentor are through networking events, LinkedIn or - if you’re brave enough - directly approaching a person you admire or aspire to be like.

Once you find a mentor, discuss with them what you hope to get from the relationship. From the beginning, you should:

• Set career development goals – create a list of what you hope to achieve in both the short- and long-term and talk this through with your mentor
• Be committed – discuss how often you will meet, where and for how long and ensure you stick to this
• Have an open mind – while your mentor is there to support you, they will also provide you with constructive criticism, so be prepared to hear negative feedback as well as positive to help you to grow professionally
• Give back – a mentoring relationship should be a two-way street, so consider what you have to offer to a mentor in return.

There is so much more to connecting with a mentor than career growth. A good professional mentor can give you accountability, confidence, and an accurate assessment of your skills. Still, most importantly, you may gain a friendship that should continue throughout your career and life.

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