By Terkel
What is one way a young professional can find a mentor?
To help you find a mentor as a young professional, we asked CEOs and business
leaders this question for their best insights. By using the business mentorship platform
SCORE to finding the right people where they are, there are several ways that are
recommended for young professionals to best find someone to mentor them.
Here are the ten best ways to find a mentor:
Use The Business Mentorship Platform SCORE
Leverage Social Media
Reach Out To Your College Alumni Network
Search From Online Forums
Join a Mentorship Program
Find Someone You Respect in Your Organization
Connect Through Volunteer Events
Use Networking Events
Find The Right People Where They Are
Actively Seek Them Out, Through Old Channels and New
Use The Business Mentorship Platform SCORE
Finding a mentor takes time. Paying for one takes money. Most early entrepreneurs
have neither time nor money. This is where SCORE comes in. SCORE is a free small
business mentorship platform where you are paired automatically with a mentor in 3
weeks. While I understand that we'd all love to be personally mentored by our heroes
(likely expensive), it's often best to get a free mentor first. It will help kick off your journey
and get you to where you want to go faster.
-Stu Turner, Achieved Fulfillment
Leverage Social Media
I can’t stress enough how important social media can be especially when it comes to
mentorship in the beauty industry. 9 times out of 10 you don’t even have to know or
meet your mentor in person. Just following them on social media and studying their work
through their content postings is often all you need.
For other industries, you're more likely to find a mentor on LinkedIn than on any other
social media platform. You want to stand out from the crowd, which can be hard on
social media. So, once you've found a potential mentor on social media, don't be afraid
to send them a message, but it is wise to do a little research about them first.
-Vanessa Molica, The Lash Professional
Reach Out To Your College Alumni Network
Almost every college or university has a vast alumni network that you can tap into that
has the contact information and email of graduates. Oftentimes, alumni are more than
willing to meet up for a coffee with a recent grad or individual who is looking into
pursuing a similar career.
-Kristine Thorndyke, Test Prep Nerds
Search From Online Forums
Online forums have come to be the perfect meeting place for all those interested in a
particular field or from a particular profession. With deep and open discussions that have
participants exploring every avenue of the topic at hand, these forums dissipate a lot of
vital information. And thanks to the many experienced personnel they have onboard,
they are also a perfect place to find a mentor. For one, the people here are passionate
about their work, which is why they are here. Secondly, they believe in sharing their
knowledge, which is what they do through these forums.
There’s another distinct advantage to finding a mentor online. Your individual habits and
preferences rarely come into the picture when dealing with someone online. Any
personality quirks the mentor or even the mentee may have, do not influence the
mentorship in any way. This ensures that the relationship is purely professional and all
the learnings are strictly relegated to work-related topics.
-Riley Beam, Douglas R. Beam, P.A.
Join a Mentorship Program
When it comes to careers in the medical profession, it’s important to have good mentors.
While you’re still in college, find time to network and try joining a mentorship program
with like-minded individuals who can help you navigate your professional journey. These
are often tailor-made for those in certain industries, so you can be sure that any mentor-
mentee relationship you forge will help you in the way you need it most; as the saying
goes, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” This is why it is so invaluable to have
someone in your corner who has been there and has successfully done it and can thus
lay a clear path for you to do the same.
-Roman Olshansky, On Time Talent Solutions
Find Someone You Respect in Your Organization
Your organization where you work is a good place to start. You can list 3 to 5 people in
your organization from the CEO on down to an area manager that you respect and
admire. Then contact each of them to exchange on their career path. If the meeting
goes well, then you can suggest your need to have a mentor.
-Jeffrey Landau, Business Challenges Consulting
Connect Through Volunteer Events
Sharing the same interest is always the best strategy when looking for a mentor. As a
young entrepreneur, volunteer events are an excellent spot to meet like-minded
professionals, especially those who have retired wealthy and are looking for ways to give
back. You can inquire from friends or use an online platform such as VolunteerMatch to
find volunteering opportunities in your city that fit your interests. Once you start attending
consistently, you'll get to know the regulars, and then you can reach out to a mentor.
-Charles Ngechu, EasyPaydayLoan
Use Networking Events
I think networking events are great for young professionals to find a mentor. These are
great places to meet like-minded people who are interested in the same things you are.
You can also use them as opportunities to practice your elevator pitch and get feedback
on your ideas. I've been to a lot of these myself, and it's always a great opportunity to
meet someone who has been in your shoes before and can give you advice on how they
got where they are today.
-Tiffany Homan, Texas Divorce Laws
Find The Right People Where They Are
Great mentorship is career (and life) changing. After all, everyone owes their career to
someone, and fortunately, people are willing to help. The key is finding the right people
where they are.
When beginning your search, think about what you are looking for in a mentor and what
you hope to get out of the relationship. Then, expand your network. At work, who do you
admire? The close proximity and relatability create a natural environment to form a
strong bond. Outside of the workplace, local networking and professional groups are
always a strong bet but don’t forget about utilizing social networks such as LinkedIn and
Twitter.
Identify people you admire and reach out! Comment on their posts, follow them and
even send them a DM introducing yourself and clearly articulate what you hope to
receive (and give) out of the interaction.
-Brian Adamovich, Chameleon Collective
Actively Seek Them Out, Through Old Channels and New
Ideally, young professionals should look to let these relationships develop organically, with the more senior and experienced leaders in their organization. This can be proactively facilitated by regularly seeking out guidance, asking the right questions, and displaying genuine enthusiasm for benefitting the organization, their own career progression, and emulating the mentor’s successes.
These relationships can commence by the young professional simply leveraging their existing social skills to be forthcoming with their intentions of being a protégé. Or, if lacking, first invest time into building up their networking skills, prior to making direct approaches. Large companies oftentimes have mentorship, or similar, programs already established. And there exist some external mentorship networks that young professionals can join, to more actively seek out continued guidance from seasoned leaders in their field.
-Alex Ugarte, London Office Space