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January is National Mentoring Month, which is always exciting news here at Vault. Mentors are so important for students and young professionals who want to learn more about their fields, meet interesting people, and grow in their careers. But finding a mentor is perhaps the hardest part. So read on to get some ideas on where you can look to find someone who can guide you on your school and career paths.
Your School’s Alumni Network
This is perhaps the most obvious answer, which is why it’s at the top of this list. Alumni get involved with the college’s alumni programs expressly because they’re interested in helping students who were exactly where they were move forward in their fields. Trust me, if a person isn’t interested in chatting with someone from their alma mater, they dodge the alumni association’s calls like Neo in The Matrix—so if your school is able to put you in contact with a person, that person wants to help. You’ll be surprised at where folks who went to your college wound up—I guarantee that there are alumni in your school’s network who work at some of the highest-powered banks and law firms in the country, as well as at the most innovative tech startups and nonprofits. Wherever your interests lie, your school’s alumni association will be happy to set you up with someone who wants to talk to you about their career and experience.
Professors & Advisors
Professors are very busy people, and they inherently do not have time to develop a relationship with every single student they have every semester, much as they may want to. I’ve found that the onus more often lies with the student to demonstrate an interest in building a friendship or mentorship with the professor, and one way you can do so is by showing up to office hours. Professors usually have four hours a week or so set aside to talk with students, but in my experience, students rarely use them. Professors are smart, typically lovely people who have a lot of experience in their fields—and they’re usually happy to talk about the subject of your class, but also about careers and internships in their field, what one can typically expect from it, and the like. They can also be a lot of fun just to chat about whatever with—I bonded with my French professor over our mutual love of British television. Your mileage may vary, of course, but if you feel like you may click with one of your professors, take the plunge and see!
Clubs & Sports Teams
Upperclassmen can really seem like they have it all together, or at least more together by comparison. And clubs, sports teams, and other extracurriculars can often be where you have the most contact with them, whether you play soccer, participate in marching band, or attend the same film club. Upperclassmen have a unique viewpoint of the school and its classes and professors, and are usually happy to share which classes are easy or difficult, which professors are helpful or not, etc. I learned project management and leadership skills from the upperclassmen in my college theatre troupes that I still use to this day. So don’t be intimidated by the leaders in your peer groups—try and learn from them.
Coworkers
This is a big one, particularly for those of you taking on an internship. Most professional connections are made, unsurprisingly, through work. Your internship program may offer a formal mentorship program, where they pair you with someone who can guide you through the program. That’s a great start, but there are so many opportunities past that—especially for those whose company doesn’t offer formal mentorship. Your manager is a great option, as you’ll likely be working fairly closely with them over the course of your internship. But perhaps even more important are the people who are working the kind of job that you want. The entry-level folks (or one step higher) who were in your shoes not long ago. They can talk to you about how they landed their current positions in the kind of detail that only comes with having done so in the past year or three. They’re also great for helping to navigate office politics—because even the flattest organizations will, inevitably, have some.
Online Services
Finally, if you’ve found mentorship hard to come by organically, you may have better luck seeking it out in the digital realm. LinkedIn is, by definition, a networking app—it’s perfectly acceptable to reach out to someone on the platform whom you find interesting or who has a job that you want one day and ask them to tell you about it. It’s not weird, you’re not bothering anyone, but you may have a tougher time getting a response just because it’s cold outreach. But if you craft your message well, it may improve your chances. Vault also has a mentor matching program for subscriber schools, so be sure to check with your career services office to see if your school is signed up to Vault Mentoring.
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