How can you seek out mentors or advocates within the organization who can provide guidance and support as you integrate into the company?

I cover both angles here (but more so on the mentor perspective): [Case Study] Mentoring Junior SWEs [E3] to Senior [E5] In Just 2.5 Years At Meta

Here's another good thread: "How does one attract a sponsor who is invested in their growth?"

When it comes to mentorship, my advice is to look at it through the lens of an investor. As a mentor, my goal is to invest time into a mentee, and have them turn that time investment into growth alongside productivity gains for the mentor through delegation. At Meta, I saw (and was part of) mentorship chains where the E6s mentor the E5s (and lead them) and then the E5s mentor the E4s (and lead them).

So the question for the mentor is: "Of these people who I can mentor, who will have the greatest return on investment of my time spent providing them guidance?"

If you flip this, the question for the mentee becomes: "How can I show to everyone that I am someone who grows lightning fast when provided the proper support?"

This all boils down to coachability signal, which is what I cover in-depth in the above resources.

Most people think that the mentee chooses a mentor. In reality, the opposite happens: the mentor chooses the mentee.

That means if you want an amazing mentor, you have to figure out how to demonstrate characteristics or potential that they care about. For example:

• someone likely to get promoted. The mentee promo will reflect well on me.
• someone interesting to talk to. always a plus if the mentor can learn from them (either about some tech, or another part of the org)
• someone who takes the mentor's feedback and applies it quickly

How do I find a proper mentor within my company?