Career mentors. Everyone says millennials ought to have them, but how does one go about finding one, exactly?
Well, there is no one answer. You can find a mentor on social media. You can bump into a potential mentor at a coffee shop. You could even already know your mentor without knowing you know her. Here’s some advice for finding the career mentor who can help you reach your potential.
Use Social Media to Your Advantage
As a millennial, we are masters of social media. We do most of our communication through technology, whether it be in the form of tweets or texts. The downside of this is that small-talk terrifies most of us. I know as an introvert, the thought of making small talk to build relationships with potential mentors at networking events terrified me.
The plus side is I had no problem expressing myself on social media, so I decided to play to my strengths. I created a LinkedIn profile and became active in several groups for freelance writers.
A couple of months in my new journey, I saw a gig for a writers’ training program. The best part? It was PAID. I emailed the poster, a lady by the name of Kate Frank, and expressed my interest. This led to a relationship that taught me how to write effective marketing web copy for businesses, as well as how to run an online copywriting business. If I never put the time in building an active LinkedIn profile, then I would have missed this opportunity to connect with a great career mentor.
Finding a Career Mentor Is Mostly About Perspective
This is going to sound overly simple, but you have to be open to a relationship with a mentor for the universe to send one into your life.
It’s not that believing a mentor is about to come into your life makes it happen. It’s that when you have this attitude, you are more aware of the mentor opportunities available to you.
Embody this attitude any time you are in a place frequented by members of your industry. I’m an aspiring writer, so naturally I spend a lot of time working in coffee shops. After reading an article on networking I made a commitment in October to be more open to conversations while working. Just this past week, the payoff was huge.
I’m at the Barnes and Noble Cafe doing research for an article on resume writing when the gentleman at the table next to me strikes up a conversation:
“Excuse me” he says, “but I see you’re reading a resume book. Are you looking for a job?”
“Oh no” I replied, I actually write for a career advice blog geared towards millennials, and I’m reading this for research.”
His curiosity was piqued. He took interest in me as a young millennial writer and asked to see my writing. I showed him my Ploymint articles and he gave me some encouraging feedback. We talked some more and I found out this guy, whose name is Jay Lang, is a CEO of a local career-development company. Not only has he been a career coach for 15 years, but he wrote a book on an alternative approach to the job search.
I made sure to get his contact information and followed up with an email thanking him for the words of encouragement as soon as I got home. He responded with a request to meet again and talk more about working together.
The moral of the story? You can find your career mentor anywhere. The key is to unplug your headphones, look up from your smartphone, and be open to conversation. You never know who is one table over while you sip your latte.
How did you meet your career mentor? Let me know on Twitter.
