A career mentor, like Kylie Hammond, can help you to get on track with your career. A coach can help you to learn essential skills like writing a good CV, perform well in interviews, make smart choices for your career, and learn leadership skills. If you’re looking for a mentor, you need to find one that is a good fit for you. What are career mentors looking for?
In order to be a good mentee, you should have a few qualities that most mentors are looking for in a candidate they can help to succeed.
Drive To Succeed
A good mentee needs to have the drive to succeed. If a relationship with a mentor is going to succeed, the mentee needs to be willing to drive the relationship at first. A mentee with ambition and drive will have a clearer idea of what they want to get out of a mentorship.
Hard-Working
Mentoring takes time and energy on both sides. Someone who has demonstrated that they are willing to work hard will be a better fit for a mentoring program that will require them to work outside of their time in the office.
Time Management
A good mentee will need to be able to manage their time between their job and the mentorship and be able to properly assess whether or not they have the time to commit to a mentorship program.
A Positive Attitude
A positive attitude can carry you a long way through a challenge. Being positive can help a mentorship be a more enjoyable experience, and will help you perform better under pressure.
Respect For Authority
A good mentee should have a healthy respect for authority. Most mentorship programs are set up with a more experienced employee guiding a younger, less experienced one. Respect needs to be the central connection between mentor and mentee. A mentee without respect for the experience, knowledge, and authority will not do well.
Open To Learning
If mentorship is going to go well, the mentee will have to be willing to learn. They should be prepared to try new things or adapt their current way of doing things. The mentor will offer their expertise, but if the mentee isn’t willing to learn, then they won’t get anything out of it.
Clear Communication
A mentee must be able to communicate clearly and listen well. Listening attentively and communicating with their mentor when they need clarification is important. A good mentorship has a relationship at the heart of it. Effectively expressing yourself will help that relationship to flourish.
Initiative
Someone who can take initiative for themselves will make a great mentee. Someone who waits around for someone else to fix a problem or take action is not a good candidate for mentorship. Those who can take initiative for positive change will also be able to take responsibility for their own success. Instead of waiting for somebody else to recognise their abilities and strengths, a mentee who is in control of their own career will be more successful when being mentored.
