What Are Good Questions To Ask A Mentor?
In the professional world, a mentor is someone who can offer career advice, networking opportunities, skills training, and a solid reference for a future job search. Even though most people pick mentors in their field, one may choose to work with an individual in another industry who is capable of providing broader career insights and perspectives.
The following are some relevant questions that can help you learn more from a mentor and identify professional growth opportunities. You should also consider learning about the 3-A’s of mentorship, and can do so here.
How Did You Get Into Your Current Career?
Mentors tend to be in a more advanced stage of their career than the mentee. Understanding different stages in their journey may help you change or refine your own professional path. You can learn some of the typical steps, such as education and early job positions, to better understand what you need to do to advance your career. You can also use your mentor’s professional journey as an outline to follow, or to gain critical insights into aspects you may not have considered before.
What Are Some Obstacles You Encountered, And How Did You Handle Them?
The ability to overcome obstacles is critical for anyone who wants to succeed in their career. Your mentor most likely has faced similar challenges to those you are encountering. You can use their experiences to anticipate issues and proactively develop appropriate responses.
Ask your mentor how they felt about the results of their actions and how they managed to remain focused during a difficult time. This way, you can learn a lot from both their setbacks and successes. You can also uncover new ways of managing issues that could be troubling at the time, and learn more about the qualities of a good mentor.
What Career Accomplishments Are You Most Proud Of?
Career accomplishments can range from earning a major promotion to overcoming a small but challenging problem. Consider discussing what sort of accomplishments gave your mentor a tremendous sense of pride. Knowing this can help with your own career objectives. Your mentor’s perspective on career accomplishments can also help to encourage and motivate you to make improvements in your work activities. Appreciating career accomplishments is a component of the four main stages of mentoring.
What Are My Strengths?
Knowing which skills you excel at can assist in identifying what professional opportunities are best suited for your expertise and aptitude. Your mentor can provide crucial insights that assess your strengths objectively, and ultimately lead to a list of skills to highlight on a resume or during an interview. Any feedback you get by asking this question will help in refining answers to interview questions about your own strengths and skill set.
Where Do I Need Improvement?
To advance a professional career, you need to clearly understand which areas are in need of improvement. Ask your mentor for guidance on which career skills you should focus on to achieve your goals and objectives. Your mentor will also be in an excellent position to help you to figure out which training programs to enroll in and how to best practice and develop your skills.
How Would You Describe My Leadership Style?
Practical leadership skills are a necessity for anyone hoping to advance into a managerial role. By asking about leadership styles, you can learn some of the philosophies your mentor found helpful and how they impacted their ability to effectively lead others.
In Summary
The best way to learn is to ask questions—and asking the right questions is part of the mentoring process and an integral component of making the relationship a success. Feedback from a strong mentor relationship will help you grow, adapt, and prosper in your career.