Finding Mentorship in Your Career Journey

• Katie Hunter
• August 28, 2024
• Career Guide Article

Are you ready to take your career to the next level? Discover the powerful impact a mentor can have at every stage of your professional journey. Whether you’re seeking guidance on your first job or aiming to refine your leadership skills, this guide offers actionable tips on finding and connecting with mentors who can help you achieve your goals and unlock new opportunities.

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Regardless of what phase of your career you are in a mentor can help you throughout your career journey. 

 

“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you than you see in yourself and helps bring it out of you.”

-Bob Proctor

 

WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER FINDING A MENTOR?

As you enter your career, a mentor can be someone you lean on as you try to make decisions on your path. You may be deciding what industry sector you want to enter, what specific company to apply to, or even advice on setting off on the right foot in the industry. 

 

A mentor can help you to make connections and give you advice, sometimes they might be someone who is in the same field as you are, for example, if you are looking to get into marketing and communications and are trying to figure out the best path, finding someone in a job that you think you’d like to be in eventually could be a good person to connect with, they might have good insight as to how they got where they are and the steps you can take to get yourself there in your career. 

 

A mentor can advise from an outside perspective and help you make life choices or decisions.  

 

WHEN IS IT IMPORTANT FOR ME TO HAVE A MENTOR IN MY CAREERS?

Throughout your career, your mentors might shift. When you graduate from college, you might have a professor, a 4-H leader, or an FFA teacher who was influential in your life and would mentor you, helping you find that first career. 

 

Mid-career your needs in a mentor might change; you might know the path you want to take for your career but are looking for more opportunities to develop as a leader or fine-tune another skill, at that point, you might look to someone within your organization who could help give you advice about becoming a leader and growing your skillset. Or maybe you are looking for a way to volunteer and give back to your industry; perhaps they could advise you on different ways to get involved. There are many people inside and outside of the organization that you work at that you could look to be a mentor for you. 

 

Later in your career, even though you have already gained a wealth of experience, you can still learn things from others. Leaning on mentors and peers for advice can help you learn continually and grow. Perhaps as you enter those later career phases and have the knowledge to share, you could consider mentoring others to help develop young talent entering the industry and taking on a mentee of your own. 

 

WHO WOULD BE A GOOD MENTOR?

Before looking for a mentor, consider those around you and in your circle who might be willing to mentor you.  

You might already know someone in your community, in your place of work, or at your college who could be an excellent person to ask to mentor you. If you don’t already have someone in mind who could be your mentor, some things you might want to consider in terms of what you are looking for are: 

 

1. People in the industry you want to work in. 
2. People with skills or qualities you admire and would like to have yourself someday. 
3. Someone who works in a role you hope to work in eventually. 
4. Someone willing to be a positive influence who has time and interest in helping you to succeed. 

 

HOW DO I FIND A MENTOR?

Sure, finding a mentor and someone to go to for advice sounds great, but what if I don’t already have one? How would I go about finding one? For some, your mentor might be a professor you had that you really enjoyed, a club leader that you look up to, or perhaps even a senior student above you in your program or a recent alum who has gone down the career path you are looking to follow.  

 

But what if a mentor isn’t something you can easily find? What steps can you take to find a mentor if there isn’t already someone in your world who has naturally become a mentor to you? 

 

1. Get involved in industry. What part of the industry do you want to enter? Are you looking to work in the food and beverage industry? If so, attend industry events for the food and beverage industry employees or networking sessions put on by an industry organization. Are you looking to enter the plant science sector? Attend a farm show and meet the people working the booths for crop science companies. There are industry events specific to the various sectors; find out what those events are, attend, and make connections.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
2. Step out of your comfort zone. If you don’t already know people in the industry, step out of your comfort zone and reach out to people in the industry who might be good mentors. Fine-tune your LinkedIn profile and use LinkedIn to search for people who are working in the field you want to get into and reach out, maybe they attended the same college as you or are from your same hometown; reach out and ask if they’d be willing to chat, many people happy to help someone excited about the industry.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
3. Be respectful of your mentor’s time. If you’ve found someone who would be happy to help be a mentor and help guide you, remember that they are likely busy and are doing this as a favor to you; perhaps ask them to connect for a video or phone call or even meet for coffee. If they commit to a time, be sure you respect how much time they say they have available for you, be punctual, and come to the meeting prepared. If you want their advice on your resume, interviewing, or the next steps in your career, send them some questions and details ahead of time so that they can think about it and you don’t waste their time when they are with you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
4. Be open to feedback and opportunities to learn. Remember that your mentor is generously giving you their time; when they share feedback with you, be sure to thank them and use that feedback to shift and grow!

 

Throughout your career, there will always be value in having a mentor, a person you can go to when looking for advice, or someone who can help you advance and grow. There is something valuable we can learn and gain from every interaction. Taking the time to learn from others will continue to benefit you throughout your entire career journey.

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